Railroad Library

Welcome to our trackside railroad library!

Where better to house a railroad reference library than in the base of a restored railroad tower next to one of the busiest rail lines in North America? Located just outside Washington, D.C. the Martin F. O’Rourke Memorial Railroad Library has over 1,000 books and nearly as many periodicals, plus other ephemera such as railroad timetables. Most of our materials are historically focused with some dating to the 1880s.

The library’s collection is focused on the history of railroading in the Washington D.C. area, followed by the Middle Atlantic states and the East generally. We also have a limited amount of books and materials on historical railroads that span the United States, and The Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, a fabulous research tool.