The National Railway Museum in York, and its sister site in Durham are both well worth a visit – even for non train lovers.
In 1862 the Science started its collection of railway artefacts by acquiring Rocket. Individual railway companies began preserving their collections since the 1900s. The
London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) opened a public railway museum in York in 1927. By the late 1930s Great Western Railway (GWR), London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Southern Railway (SR) had all acquired significant railway collections. In 1948 these collections were united, and in 1951 a curator was appointed. British Railways then opened the Museum of British Transport in Clapham and another in Swindon, was opened in conjunction with Swindon Council.
The National Railway Museum
In 1975 the National Railway Museum was opened at the former steam locomotive depot in Leeman Road in York. Only 700m from York Minster the museum was an instant success. The museum was first extended in 1975, and has undergone a number of extensions since then. In 1990 the Station Hall opened nearly doubling the size of the museum, and winning that year’s Museum of the Year Award in the process. More extensions were added and the museum won the European Museum of the Year award in 2001.
The NRM has also gained credibility as an academic and learning facility, and together with the University of York launched the Institute of Railway Studies in 1994. In June 2004 a purpose-built rail training centre – th Yorkshire Rail Academy was opened.
The new museum, Locomotion was opened in 2004 at Shildon in Durham. A joint venture with the local authority, and funded by grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund.
Some of the interesting items housed in the NRM include:
- The Chinese Locomotive which is 1 foot too wide and 2 foot too high to operate on the British mainline. A lock of hair from Robert ,only son of George Stephenson, and builder of the steam locomotive Rocket
- The only Japanese Bullet Train outside Japan
- A photographic collection that includes an average of 29 photos for every day since 1850
- 300 locomotives and rolling stock
- 628 coins and medals
- 4899 pieces of railway uniform and costume, railway equipment, documents, records, artwork and railway related photographs
- A collection of Royal trains and carriages including the carriage that Queen Victoria regarded as her palace on wheels
- An art collection containing a number of works painted by important British artists including Spencer Frederick Gore, Abraham Solomon, William Powell Frith and John Piper
- The largest collection of model railway vehicles built by one man, James Peel Richards – over 610 model railway
The National Railway Museum is the most popular railway museum in the world with the largest collection of railway objects in the world it attracts over 700,000 visitors per year. It has won more than 20 prestigious awards since 1975
If you haven’t been yet then you really should visit the NRM in York or Sheldon
