Ken Hoole Collection
A collection of railway records, photographs, maps and more.
Hopetown Darlington's Collection
As well as visiting Hopetown in person to view our collections, there are lots of ways that you can access our collections from home and around the world
We're making it easier to connect with Darlington's rich railway history
We have made access to some of our records free of charge and there is now an option, for those closer to us, to make your own copies too.
We are constantly exploring options to make our collection and records more accessible for private, academic and commercial purposes.
Free online records
John Mallon Collection
A collection of railway records, photographs, maps and more.
NER Servants' Pensions
A collection of railway records, photographs, maps and more.
Find out options for making your own copies of our collection, including drawings, photographs, posters, books, magazines, maps and archive materials.
Further items from our collection are available to view on request.
If you cannot find what you are looking for online, you can also obtain copies from the museum.
Making your own copies
Provided that your copying is for private research (see below for more about copyright) you can plan a research visit and take photographs of items in our library and archives for free. You will need to sign a declaration that your copying is for private research. If your research is for commercial use or publication, you cannot take photographs, but you can view the material and make notes of any information contained within it.
Ordering copies
Unfortunately you cannot order copies of our collection at this time.
For any further information please email thestores@darlington.gov.uk. Thank you.
Copyright and pricing
Most of the material in our collections is subject to copyright, which places restrictions on the ways copies of that material can be used.
- If you are carrying out private research, you can obtain copies under a copyright exception.
- You can take a limited number of photocopies from books and journals. You can also photograph archive material for free using a handheld camera, provided you complete a declaration that the images are for private research.
- If you're not sure if your research is private, please ask us before making copies.
Please be aware that copyright only applies to the production of copies. You may still view (but not photograph) items in our collection in person and you may still take notes of any information contained within those items, even if your research is for commercial purposes.
If you would like to reproduce the items you are taking copies of in a book or journal article, display the images in a public space, share the copies online or give them to someone else, you will need to obtain permission to do this.
You will also need to obtain permission if your research is for a commercial purpose (even if you do not plan to share the images with anyone else at any point). Research would qualify as commercial if your research is used in producing an item to be sold or to provide a service for which you (or someone you share your research with) are paid, even if you do not expect your project to make a profit.
Common examples of commercial research include; research to produce a model that will then be sold, being paid to carry out research on someone else’s behalf, or research for restoring something that is used for a commercial purpose.
If your copying is not for private research, you will need to contact the thestores@darlington.gov.uk to arrange a license for this purpose. Depending upon how you plan to use your copies, you may not be charged for a license.
If you would like a copy of material for which Hopetown Darlington does not own the copyright, you may need to contact the copyright owner to agree permission before we can provide you with a copy.
Info coming soon