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GAZETTEER

Technical Notes
To access the online gazetteer, please click on the link below. This is a secure area and there will be a slight delay while each page is loaded on screen. This should take about 5 seconds, or perhaps a little longer depending on the speed of your PC. Please note that a 'cookie' will be created on your computer to store the password you enter, but this will be deleted when you end your session. Your browser must support Javascript. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox give the best results; other browsers have not been tested.

Click here for the gazetteer login page.

This section of the website is for members only and, when complete, will contain an online and fully up-to-date version of Vinter's Gazetteer, which lists railway paths of two miles' length or more throughout the British Isles. You will need a username and password to access this area; these are circulated to club members via the quarterly magazine, Railway Ramblings. To assist members, the login page displays the magazine and page number where these details were last published. (If you would like to join the club, click here for membership details.)

Although the gazetteer is not yet finished, even as a 'work in progress' it is extremely useful for anyone who wants to know where the country's railway paths are to be found. The reason for the gazetteer's incomplete state is the size of the project: creating this online resource is a huge task which will take until at least 2009. The current situation is as follows:

  • Introduction: Complete.
  • England: Complete and updated to 2008.
  • Ireland: Complete and updated to 2008.
  • Scotland: Complete and updated to 2008.
  • Wales: Complete and updated to 2008.
  • Illustrations: Complete.

The three stages of the project are to:

  • Get the basic information in place as at April 2000, when Vinter's Gazetteer was lasted published in printed form (complete).
  • Update it with details of new and extended routes published on this website (complete).
  • Ensure that all entries include six figure grid references (in progress). Note that this may not always be possible. A case in point is the Mineral Tramways Project in Cornwall, whose published materials do not distinguish between sections on old tramways and new construction.
  • Check all entries with the relevant local authorities (outstanding). This will be the most time-consuming activity, but is the most effective way of ensuring that nothing has been missed.

The Introduction to the gazetteer provides a more detailed account of the project.