 The National Railway Museum have cited the society as one of the "bodies that shaped railway preservation and historical study," and it has been described as "the premier British society for scholarly transport research" by the bookseller Robert Humm in an interview for "The Bookseller" magazine.The Society is now the guardian of the monumental work by George Ottley.His bibliography of British railway history was first published in 1966 by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO).