The drawings held by the National Railway Museum do not represent the full range of locomotives repaired or constructed at the Gorton Works. They are confined to a number of rolls of contractor’s drawings. These are sets of drawings for particular types of locomotive produced by outside contractors. Originally covering all drawings that might be required for construction and repair, in virtually all cases the drawings showing the general arrangement of the locomotives and tenders are missing, but the bulk of the sets remains. In the majority of cases there is also an index with each set, listing the individual drawings originally provided.

The associated list provides a description of the sets of drawings as boxed, using any descriptive information found on the rolls. It does not list the individual drawings, which are in most cases still attached in their sets to wooden rods. To make the best use of the rolls some knowledge of the successive classification systems used by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), the Great Central Railway (GCR), London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) and British Railways is required. In most cases the rolls already indicate the GCR and sometimes the LNER classification numbers, occasionally only a locomotive number series.

In the case of some sets of drawings, as well as the original drawing numbers for the set, there is also an LNER drawing number. However, to access individual drawings from the collection the only numbering system that works comprehensively is to use the box number, coupled with the drawing number as per the index. It is sometimes also necessary to distinguish whether the drawing relates to the locomotive or the tender where the latter are listed to a separate sequence.

Included within the collection are 64 drawings from the LNER period. These mostly relate to O1, O4, O5 and Q1 locomotives, though some other classes are included. These drawings have been separately listed.

Related to these drawings are the registers from the Gorton Works Drawing Office and a wide selection of drawing schedules, some of which will relate directly to the rolls of drawings in this collection.

A full listing can be found on the National Railway Museum website under 'Drawing Lists' at https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/research-and-archive/further-resources/catalogues.