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 movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

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 central London 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 Underground station of t ...

, 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 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 British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in ...

'' 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. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

aviation,

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

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 Shepperton railway station is a passenger station serving Shepperton, a small suburban town in Surrey, England. It is down the line from . The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway. The station is a terminus ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. 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. *

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 pho ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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

lodge Lodge is originally a term for a relatively small building, often associated with a larger one. Lodge or The Lodge may refer to: Buildings and structures Specific * The Lodge (Australia), the official Canberra residence of the Prime Ministe ...

s and chapters 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 (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

(closed 2015), (closed 2016),

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

(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 nor ...

(closed 2020).

Magazines

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

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

, 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 Hornby may refer to: Places In England * Hornby, Lancashire * Hornby, Hambleton, village in North Yorkshire * Hornby, Richmondshire, village in North Yorkshire Elsewhere * Hornby, Ontario, community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canad ...

*''

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

'', a monthly publication targeting enthusiasts *''

Modern Railways ''Modern Railways'' is a British monthly 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 originally based in She ...

'', previously ''Trains Illustrated'' 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'') is a British bi-monthly railway publication. History ''Locomotives Illustrated'' was founded in 1975 by Geoffrey Freeman Allen with the intention of creating a series ...

'', previously ''Locomotives Illustrated'' *''

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'', 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'') ...

'' 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 armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equi ...

'' 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'' (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 Production ...

'' (sold) *''

Model Railway Constructor ''Model Railway Constructor'' was a monthly British magazine about model railways. The magazine was first published on 15 March 1934. The founder was Ernest F Carter. It came into the Ian Allan Publishing fold with the take-over of Railway World ...

'' 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 ...

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 (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''."A new look for T&UT – and a new publisher". ''

'', July 2007, p. 244.

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