Ian Allan Publishing was an English publisher, established in 1942, which specialised in

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

books. It was founded by Ian Allan. In 1942, Ian Allan, then working in the public relations department for the Southern Railway at

Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a major central London railway terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Undergroun ...

, decided he could deal with many of the requests he received about rolling stock by collecting the information into a book. The result was his first book, ''ABC of Southern Locomotives''. This proved to be a success, contributing to the emergence of

trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundt ...

as a popular hobby in the UK, and leading to the formation of the company.Ian Allan…the man who launched a million locospotters ''

The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly United Kingdom, British railway magazine, aimed at the Railfan, railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the ...

'' issue 1174 February 1999 pages 20-27 The company grew from a small producer of books for train enthusiasts and spotters to a large transport publisher. Each year it published books covering subjects such as

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

aviation,

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

and maritime topics, buses, trams, trolleybuses and steam railways, including history, preservation and modern operations. The headquarters was at the western end of Shepperton railway station in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. At the end of 2016, the company announced that it was withdrawing from railway publishing. Crécy Publishing acquired these titles, including the Oxford and ABC imprints. It continued to operate bookshops until the last was closed in October 2020.Thank you and Bon Voyage
Ian Allan Publishing

Company acquisitions

Ian Allan Publishing acquired several companies and

imprints Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

. *

Locomotive Publishing Company The Locomotive Publishing Company was an English publishing house, specialising in railway topics. It was noted for publishing '' Locomotive Magazine'', amongst many other highly regarded titles. It was also notable as one of the first stock ph ...

in 1956 *Oxford Publishing Company, acquired in 1998 from Haynes Publishing *Midland Publishing, acquired in 1999. The Midland imprint provides a range of specialist, highly illustrated titles, covering military aviation subjects from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to the present day. In civil aviation, comprehensive works of reference are published frequently. *Classic Publications, a publisher of aviation titles, was added in 2002, bringing another imprint widely considered important in the World War II aviation market. Ian Allan Publishing's trade representation is provided by Amalgamated Book Services for its own imprints and a growing list of associated publishers. Midland Counties Publications, acquired by Ian Allan Publishing at the same time as Midland Publishing, was established in the 1970s with the objective of selling books at aviation events and by mail order to a growing number of enthusiasts who could not always find the publications they wanted to read on the shelves of their local bookshop. In addition to the above, Ian Allan also owns the imprint Lewis Masonic. Lewis Masonic produces the ritual books used by lodges and

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

s under the

United Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales, and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic Grand Lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron ...

. Ian Allan Publishing also published an extensive catalogue of general Masonic publications, but from the 1990s these were also transferred to the Lewis Masonic imprint, alongside the ritual books.

Stores

The company formerly had stores at

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

(closed 2015), (closed 2016),

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

(closed 2019) and London at

Lower Marsh Lower Marsh is a street in the Waterloo neighbourhood of London, England. It is adjacent to Waterloo railway station in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is the location of Lower Marsh Market. History Until the early 19th century much of no ...

(closed 2020).

Magazines

Ian Allan Publishing was well known for its range of enthusiast-based

magazines A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, including the following titles: *'' Hornby Magazine'', a monthly magazine aimed at enthusiasts of model railways. Despite the title, the magazine covers products of all manufacturers, not just Hornby *''

Railways Illustrated ''Railways Illustrated'' is a British monthly railway magazine. Aimed at railway enthusiasts, it includes news, detail of stock changes, tours, and more. Founded in 2003 by Ian Allan Publishing, it was published by Key Publishing from 2012 ...

'', a monthly publication targeting enthusiasts *''

Modern Railways ''Modern Railways'' is a monthly British magazine covering the rail transport industry, which was published by Ian Allan until March 2012 and Key Publishing since then. It has been published since 1962. The magazine was based originally in Shep ...

'', previously ''

Trains Illustrated ''Trains Illustrated'' is a British rail transport magazine. The first edition of ''Trains Illustrated'' was published at the beginning of 1946. Due to post-war paper shortages, issues 1 to 8 appeared at varied intervals in 1946 and 1947. From iss ...

'' combined with ''

Locomotive, Railway Carriage & Wagon Review ''Locomotive, Railway Carriage & Wagon Review'' was a British monthly magazine covering the rail transport industry. It was first published in 1896 as Moore's Monthly Magazine. After 65 years and 807 issues, it ceased in November 1959 being inc ...

'' *''

Modern Locomotives Illustrated ''Modern Locomotives Illustrated'' (formerly ''Locomotives Illustrated'') was a British bi-monthly railway publication. History ''Locomotives Illustrated'' was founded in 1975 by Geoffrey Freeman Allen with the intention of creating a series o ...

'', previously ''Locomotives Illustrated'' (no longer published) *''

Railway World ''Railway World'' was an English-based monthly magazine covering rail transport in Great Britain. Founded by GH Lake in 1939 as ''Railways'', in 1940 it was taken over by JW Fowler and renamed ''Railway World''. It was sold to Ian Allan Publishin ...

'', replaced by ''

'' during 2003 *''

Buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

'', formerly ''Buses Illustrated'' *''Buses Focus'', no longer published, was a spin-off from ''Buses'' *''Bus & Coach Preservation'' was first published in 2001 under the Ian Allan banner following a merger of two previous titles *'' Vintage Roadscene''. This now bi-monthly journal covers the world of historic transport *''

Aircraft Illustrated ''Aircraft Illustrated '' was a British monthly aviation magazine covering military and civil aviation topics with an emphasis on photographic features. It was first published in 1968, renamed ''Aircraft'' in 2009 (later, ''Classic Aircraft'') a ...

'' was first published in 1968. It covered up-to-date news and features on civil aviation, airliners and preservation. In 2009 the magazine changed its focus to classic aircraft exclusively and was retitled ''Classic Aircraft'' *''

Combat Aircraft A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type. Some military aircraft engage directly in aerial warfare, while others take on support roles: * Combat aircraft, ...

'' provides in-depth coverage of the men and the machines at the forefront of the missions undertaken in today's combat zones *'' Modern Transport'' (no longer published) *''

Passenger Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

'' (no longer published) *''

Railway Modeller ''Railway Modeller'' is a monthly British magazine about model railways now published by Peco Publications in Beer, Devon. It has been in publication since 1949 with Vol. 1 No. 1 published as ''The Railway Modeller,'' being an Ian Allan Prod ...

'' (sold) *'' Model Railway Constructor'' A history of the company and of its publications down to 1967 appeared in the November 1967 edition of its magazine ''

''. Those magazines still in print were acquired by

Key Publishing Key Publishing is a magazine publishing company specialising in aviation titles, based in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. History ''Airliner World'' was launched in 1999. In 2005 it launched ''Airports of the World'', and in the same year it ...

in March 2012. Through the Lewis Masonic imprint, the company also published the quarterly masonic magazine ''The Square'', the longest running masonic periodical in the United Kingdom. From 1962 to 2007, Ian Allan also published, jointly with the

Light Rail Transit Association The Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA), formerly the Light Railway Transport League (LRTL), is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to advocate and encourage research into the retention and development of light rail and tramway/streetc ...

(LRTA), the monthly magazine ''Modern Tramway'', later as ''Light Rail and Modern Tramway'' and currently as ''

Tramways & Urban Transit ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...

(TAUT)'', and continues to handle printing and some distribution of ''TAUT'', as well as printing of the LRTA's quarterly historical journal, ''Tramway Review''.

Videos

The company was also responsible for producing a number of videos for sale in the shops on the themes of railway lines and military history, latterly under the name of Ian Allen SBS Video. A number of the titles such as ''Then and Now'' were picked up from the archive for broadcast on

That's TV That's TV is a national television network in the United Kingdom, broadcasting via Sky, Freesat, Freeview, and Virgin Media, although only a small number of both local and national That's TV channels are available on Virgin Media. That's TV s ...

in 2024.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Surrey Magazine publishing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1942 Publishing companies disestablished in 2020 Rail transport publishing companies 1942 establishments in England British companies established in 1942 2020 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 2020 History of Middlesex