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The National Railway Museum is a
museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...
in
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of
rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant railway vehicles such as Mallard, Stirling Single, Duchess of Hamilton and a Japanese bullet train. In addition, the National Railway Museum holds a diverse collection of other objects, from a household recipe book used in George Stephenson's house to film showing a " never-stop railway" developed for the British Empire Exhibition. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001. the museum is about to embark on a major site development. As part of the York Central redevelopment which will divert Leeman Road, the National Railway Museum will be building a new entrance building to connect the two separate parts of the museum together. At the same time, the space around the museum will be landscaped to provide public spaces. In 2020, architectural practice Feilden Fowles won an international competition to create the museum's new £16.5 million Central Hall building—a key element of the museum's Vision 2025 masterplan.


Overview

The National Railway Museum has over 6000 objects on display of which around 100 are locomotives or rolling stock which tell the stories for Britain's railway innovation. The collection also includes fine jewellery worn by railway queens, models of planes, boats and hovercraft, and experimental technologies such as Louis Brennan's Gyroscopic Mono-rail car. It is the largest museum of its type in Britain, attracting 782,000 visitors during the 2018/19 financial year (the largest in the world in terms of floor area of exhibition buildings is Cité du Train in the French town of Mulhouse, although this attracts far fewer visitors than the National Railway Museum). The National Railway Museum was established on its present site, the former York North locomotive depot, in 1975, when it took over the former British Railways collection located in Clapham and the York Railway Museum located off Queen Street, immediately to the southeast of the railway station; since then, the collection has continued to grow. The museum is accessible on foot from York railway station. A "roadtrain" runs from the city centre (near York Minster) to the museum on Leeman Road during half term, holidays and summer. York Park and Ride also serve the museum from the car park entrance, on Line 2 (Rawcliffe Bar-York). Admission to the museum has been free since 2001. It is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm from February to November and 10 am to 5 pm during the winter months. Locomotion – the National Railway Museum in Shildon, County Durham was opened in October 2004 and is operated by the NRM in conjunction with Durham County Council. It houses more of the National Collection in a new building and a historic site around the former workshop of Timothy Hackworth and in the most recent full year for which figures have been published (2011–2012), it attracted more than 210,000 visitors. File:National Railway Museum, York (1981).JPG, The Great Hall (1981) File:31018 at the NRM York.JPG, Class 31 No. 31018 on display in the Great Hall (2006) File:089-SFEC-YORK-20070827.JPG, A Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen (No.22-141) at the NRM (2007) File:Mallardnrmyork.JPG, 4468 ''Mallard'' at the National Railway Museum York (2009) File:Hogwarts Express at York.jpg, Visiting
Hogwarts Express Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional Scottish boarding school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling's '' Harry Potter'' series and serves as a maj ...
engine 5972 ''Olton Hall'' (2004) File:George Stephenson Statue National Railway Museum.JPG, Statue of George Stephenson in the Great Hall


National Collection

There are approximately 280 rail vehicles in the National Collection, with around 100 being at York at any one time and the remainder divided between Locomotion at Shildon and other museums and heritage railways. The earliest are
wagonway Wagonways (also spelt Waggonways), also known as horse-drawn railways and horse-drawn railroad consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded steam-powered railways. The terms plateway, tramway, dramw ...
vehicles of about 1815. The permanent display includes "Palaces on Wheels", a collection of
Royal Train A royal train is a set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the monarch or other members of a royal family. Most monarchies with a railway system employ a set of royal carriages. Australia The various government railway operators of ...
saloons from
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
's early trains through to those used by Queen Elizabeth II up to the 1970s, among them some of the first rail vehicles to be set aside for preservation. Other key exhibits normally to be seen at York include the 1846 Furness Railway No. 3 "Coppernob" locomotive, and the more modern express passenger
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
s London and North Eastern Railway Class A3 No. 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'' (added to the collection in 2004), its streamlined sister Class A4 No. 4468 ''Mallard'' and London, Midland and Scottish Railway Princess Coronation Class No. 6229 ''Duchess of Hamilton''. ''Flying Scotsman'' is among the exhibits intended for operation on the National Rail network from time to time. The museum has imported several major vehicles for display: the Chinese Class KF7 4–8–4 locomotive donated in 1981 was built in Britain and the ''
Wagons-Lits Newrest Wagons-Lits, formerly (lit. ''International Sleeping-Car Company''), also CIWL, Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, or just Wagons-Lits, is a division of particularly known for its on-train catering and sleeping car services, as well as being ...
'' sleeping car donated in 1980 had been used on the Paris-London '' Night Ferry'' service. The single exception to the rule of exhibits associated with Britain is the Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen leading vehicle which was donated to the museum by the West Japan Railway Company in 2001 and which now forms part of an award-winning display, and is the only Shinkansen vehicle on exhibit outside Japan. Rail vehicles on display are exchanged from time to time with other organisations, and examples of new-build stock from the current industry sometimes visit the museum for short periods. Other physically large exhibits are the Stockton and Darlington Railway
Gaunless Bridge Gaunless Bridge was a railway bridge on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. It was completed in 1823 and is one of the first railway bridges to be constructed of iron and the first to use an iron truss. It is also of an unusual lenticular tru ...
and several stationary winding engines used on railway inclines. The many other two and three-dimensional elements of the collection include signalling equipment, road vehicles, ship models, posters, drawings and other artwork, tickets, nameplates, staff uniforms,
clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and ...
s,
watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...
es, furniture and equipment from railway companies' hotels, refreshment rooms and offices (including company
seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...
) and a wide range of models, some of which are operated on the museum's O scale model railway (originated in 1982).


Search Engine

The National Railway Museum holds a large open library and archive of railway related material. This includes an internationally significant collection of locomotive and rolling stock engineering drawings from railway works and independent manufacturing companies. Copies of many of these engineering drawings are sold to the heritage railway movement to assist with their new build locomotive and restoration projects. They are also sold to modellers who can use the drawing to produce accurate scale models. The library holds more than 20,000 books and 800 journals of which around 300 are active. The archive also holds a large collection of technical and test records, as well as timetables including a large number of Bradshaw timetables. The archives also hold some 1.75 million photographs covering the earliest era of photography to the modern day. These include official collections from railway companies and collections from enthusiasts like Eric Treacy and H. Gordon Tidey. In 1999/2000 the Museum began to collect recordings of former railway staff for a National Archive of Railway Oral History. It also holds the archive of steam train recordings by Peter Handford. In 2009 The Forsythe Collection of travel and transport ephemera was acquired for the collection. Many of the museum's artworks and posters can also be viewed through Search Engine although these are now displayed in a series of temporary exhibitions in the museum's new art gallery which opened in 2011. The Search Engine facility opened in late 2007 and is open from 10:00 to 17:30 Wednesday to Saturday. The archive and library collections can be viewed by anyone without an appointment although the website recommends pre-booking archive materials at least 24 hours in advance. The majority of its collections have been listed on it
website
for people to view what materials are available prior to their visit. For those people that cannot visit the museum itself there is a research service offered by the museum calle
Inreach


Origins

Although there had been amateur attempts to establish a national railway museum from the late 19th century, the National Collection today results from the fusion of two long-running official initiatives. One was led by the State museums sector, evidencing pioneering technology, and the other by the railway industry, in which the key contribution came from the North Eastern Railway as successors to the historic Stockton and Darlington Railway. What became the Science Museum collection was begun in the 1860s by the Patent Office, whose museum included such early relics as ''Puffing Billy'', Stephenson's ''Rocket'' and ''Agenoria'' (sister locomotive to '' Stourbridge Lion''), which was outhoused to York at an early date. Preservation of redundant equipment by the railway companies themselves was a matter of chance. Sometimes relics were stored in company workshops and offices and some were destroyed as circumstances changed. Where put on public display at all the equipment was usually mounted on railway stations in a case or on a plinth. ''Coppernob'' at
Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 t ...
, ''Derwent'' and ''Locomotion'' at Darlington and ''Tiny'' at Newton Abbot were long-lived examples of this form of display. The first railway museums were opened at Hamar in Norway (1896) and
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in Germany (1899). These inspired talk of doing the same in Britain, both in the 1890s and again in 1908, but this came to nothing at that time. Indeed, two of the Great Western Railway's earliest broad-gauge locomotives, ''North Star'' and ''Lord of the Isles'', which had been set aside at Swindon Works, were cut up in 1906 for lack of space and several other relics were similarly lost in subsequent years. From 1880, J. B. Harper of the North Eastern had been collecting material much of which was exhibited on the occasion of the S.& D.R. centenary in 1925; and which then formed the basis of a museum opened at
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1928 under the curatorship of E. M. Bywell. The smaller exhibits were housed in the old station buildings and the rolling stock and other large exhibits in the former locomotive erecting and repair shops of the old York and North Midland Railway (demolished after the museum closed). Despite this however, the locomotives were displayed on short lengths of track acting as plinths, very much in traditional museum style. It was only when the NRM was formed that Britain acquired a rail-served railway museum where large exhibits could come and go with ease. The collection was dominated by items from the North Eastern Railway, together with Great Northern Railway items. The other three ‘ Big Four’ railway companies showed little interest in contributing to the LNER's initiative, though eventually one locomotive representative of each did find its way there: the Great Western's ''City of Truro'', London and North Western Railway ''Columbine'' and
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...
B1 Class ''Gladstone''. The GWR assembled a valuable collection of small objects, mounted privately in a long corridor at Paddington station, and in 1925 it built a replica of ''North Star''. It preserved ''City of Truro'' and ''Tiny'' in 1931 and purchased ''Shannon'' for preservation in 1946. The LMS had its own collection of small objects at . It also began to build up a collection of historic locomotives, which included Caledonian 123, ''Columbine'', ''Cornwall'', ''Hardwicke'', Highland 103, Midland 118 and ''Pet''. Three others, set aside for preservation at Crewe Works, were scrapped in a change of policy in 1932. The LMS set aside one further locomotive (Midland 158A) before it was overtaken by nationalisation. It also succeeded in preserving a collection of historic royal saloons at
Wolverton Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located at the northern edge of Milton Keynes, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and ...
and built a replica ''Rocket'', with six replica carriages, for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway centenary in 1930, and a replica Grand Junction Railway Travelling Post Office. The Southern Railway inherited three preserved carriages of the
Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line opened in 1834 in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It linked the quays at Wadebridge with the town of Bodmin and also to quarries at Wenfordbridge.Sources use Wenfordbridge and Wenford Brid ...
, long displayed at York and 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 ...
, but otherwise had no policy of preserving redundant equipment. ''Ryde'' was preserved from 1934 until cut up in 1940; the only other locomotive preserved by the Southern was ''Boxhill'' in 1947. (''Gladstone'' was preserved by the Stephenson Locomotive Society as a private initiative and much later (in 1959) donated to the British Transport Commission.) The nationalisation of British Railways in 1948 gave the opportunity for a more consolidated approach and a report was produced by the British Transport Commission in 1951. Amongst other things this recommended a curator be appointed for the commission's holdings (John M. Scholes), retention of the York museum, creation of other regional museums (not carried out in the way proposed), a small relics display in the old Great Hall at Euston railway station (done on a temporary basis) and a large museum of collections elsewhere in London. For the latter, the former station at Nine Elms was originally favoured as a site, but what was eventually opened in 1961 was the Museum of British Transport in a former bus garage in Clapham. An official list of locomotives for preservation was compiled, and many were stored in sheds and works throughout the country, others being placed on loan to local authority museums. The 'Steam' Museum at Swindon still displays a large number of items from the National Collection, while the Glasgow Museum of Transport was also indebted to it, although many of the Scottish relics (including NBR K 'Glen' Class 4-4-0 No. 256 ''Glen Douglas'' currently at the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway) no longer form part of the National Collection. The Beeching Report recommended that British Rail should stop running museums, and a campaign was led by transport historian L. T. C. Rolt and others such as the historian Jack Simmons to create a new museum. Agreement was reached under terms in the Transport Act 1968 for B.R. to provide premises to be occupied by a National Railway Museum which would be a branch of the National Museum of Science and Industry then under Dame Margaret Weston and the first English national museum outside London – a move which was at the time criticised by Londoners. The building provided was the former locomotive roundhouse at York North (rebuilt in the 1950s), alongside the East Coast Main Line. The old museum and that at Clapham were closed in 1973. A
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limit ...
now stands on the Clapham site. Some items were retained in the capital and formed the basis of the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. Some from York were re-located to the
Darlington Railway Centre and Museum Head of Steam, formerly known as the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, is a railway museum located on the 1825 route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was the world's first steam-powered passenger railway. It is based inside the ...
. Exhibits from the previous museums at York and Clapham moved to the new site were supplemented by vehicles taken from storage at Preston Park in Brighton and elsewhere and restored. Creation of the York museum was largely in the hands of its first keeper, Dr
John Coiley John Arthur Coiley (1932–1998) was an English museum curator, principally associated with the National Railway Museum in York from its formation in the 1973-5 period, through to his retirement as keeper of the museum in 1992. Biography Coiley wa ...
, his deputy Peter Semmens, John Van Riemsdijk of the Science Museum and David Jenkinson.


Growth 1975–2000

The museum was opened by
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
, in 1975. The opening coincided with the 150th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, for which several working exhibits were provided. By comparison with the museum's predecessors coverage of ordinary passenger coaches and non-steam motive power was enhanced, but a popular new exhibit was ex-Southern Railway Merchant Navy Class No. 35029 ''Ellerman Lines'' sectioned to show the workings of a steam locomotive. The new museum received over a million visitors in its first year and was favourably received by critics. Significant events of 1979 were the restoration of a train of appropriate vehicles to mark the centenary of on-train catering and an exhibition to mark the centenary of railway electric traction which drew attention to the museum's important collections in this area. Also in 1979 the museum commissioned a working replica of Stephenson's ''Rocket'' for the following year's Liverpool and Manchester Railway 150th anniversary. This has since represented the museum at events around the world. Another working replica was added to the collection for the 150th anniversary of establishment of the Great Western Railway in 1985: that of the broad gauge locomotive ''Iron Duke''. In 1990, The
Rev. W. Awdry Wilbert Vere Awdry (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997) was an English Anglican minister, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He was best known for creating Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas and several other characters he created appeared in ...
's '' Railway Series'' Thomas the Tank Engine books were assured a permanent place in the NRM's collection of historical railway books, due to their role in maintaining children's interests in railways. In 1991, Christopher Awdry chose to fictionalise this event in '' Thomas and the Great Railway Show'', where Thomas (the most iconic of Awdry's characters) was made an honorary member of the NRM collection by Sir Topham Hatt and the Director of the NRM. Concerns about the condition of the
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
roof structure on the main building brought forward major changes to the museum in 1990. To maintain a presence at York, the former York goods depot across Leeman Road, already in use as a museum store (the Peter Allen Building), was configured to display trains as if in a passenger station, and this together with the adjacent South Yard was marketed as ''The Great Railway Show''. A further selection of exhibits formed the ''National Railway Museum on Tour'' on display for a season in the former Swindon Works. Meanwhile, the main building was completely re-roofed and reconstructed retaining only one of the two original 1954 turntables. It was reopened on 16 April 1992 by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent as the Great Hall giving enhanced opportunities to display large artifacts such as
railway signals A railway signal is a visual display device that conveys instructions or provides warning of instructions regarding the driver’s authority to proceed. The driver interprets the signal's indication and acts accordingly. Typically, a signal mi ...
, a
footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at ...
from Percy Main station and a segment from the Channel Tunnel. The former goods shed display was retained as the Station Hall. In 1995 the museum joined forces with the University of York to create an academic research base, the Institute of Railway Studies (and Transport History). It has also since partnered with York College to create the Yorkshire Rail Academy to teach vocational skills. The museum has also provided engineering apprenticeships and participates in partnerships aimed at delivering heritage skills training. In 1996 the Museum Garden was created incorporating a
gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...
ridable miniature railway. A playground was also added. Continued concern over the condition of the remaining 1950s buildings on the site led to their replacement by ''The Works'' in 1999. This gave several functional areas: the ''Workshop'', for maintenance of rolling stock; the ''Workshop Gallery'', from which the public can look down on this work; a ''Working Railway Gallery'', giving an insight into current and recent operation including a balcony overlooking York railway station hosting a set of
monitors Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...
showing live feeds from the monitors at York IECC; and the ''Warehouse'' which provides an innovative open storage area, which has proved popular with both public and museum professionals.


Developments in the 21st century

In order to provide step-free access from the main hall to the Workshop Gallery, the Museum Inclinator was constructed. Besides its primary function, this also served to demonstrate the workings of a funicular railway. To that end its workings were exposed in the style of a larger open air funicular railway, rather than being concealed in the fabric of the building as is more normal for intramural lifts. It ceased working due to lack of spare parts, and with no plans for repair it was removed by August 2013. 2004 saw several major developments at the museum. Several railway anniversaries were celebrated by a major "Railfest". Another took place from 25 to 30 May 2008 with a Sixties theme. The Locomotion museum was opened at Shildon, County Durham providing undercover collection care facilities for more rail vehicles (particularly freight wagons) from the museum's collection. In addition, the museum had a high-profile campaign, supported by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, to purchase ''Flying Scotsman'' which arrived at the Museum as the climax of Railfest. The first stage of a new centre providing easy access to the museum's Library and Archives, called "Search Engine", opened at the end of 2007. From 18 July to 23 August 2008, a popular new venture was the staging by York Theatre Royal at the Museum of the play of E. Nesbit's '' The Railway Children'', awarded five stars in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
''. Following this success, it was repeated in 2009, from 23 July to 3 September, and the museum provided locomotives for subsequent performances at Waterloo International station and in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
. Major plans under the name "NRM+" were made for refurbishing the Great Hall display, for which a preliminary Heritage Lottery Fund contribution was announced in 2009, and seeking potential partners for a further outhousing project. There are other partnerships for development of the museum estate and the land around it (much owned by Network Rail) as "York Central" but the economic situation during 2009 put these particular plans in abeyance although a similar York Central project was launched by the city council at the beginning of 2016. The NRM+ project was cancelled in April 2011 due to lack of success in assembling the funding package. However, major changes to the displays in the Station Hall began later in 2011. In 2012, the NRM decided to repatriate temporarily the two LNER A4 class steam locomotives, numbers 60008 ''Dwight D Eisenhower'' and 60010 ''Dominion of Canada'' from their respective North American homes at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Exporail in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
, as part of the Mallard'' 75' event in 2013. The two locomotives would be on loan for up to two years, during which time the locomotives would be cosmetically restored, 60008 in BR Brunswick Green (as it appeared in 1963 on withdrawal) and 60010 as LNER 4489 in Garter Blue with its original Canadian Pacific Railway bell (as it appeared in 1939). The same year, the NRM created an iPhone App in association with East Coast that allowed people travelling between London and Edinburgh on the East Coast Main Line through York to view objects from the collection in connection with locations on the route. It has since been removed from the App Store, and the page removed from the official NRM website. On 8 December 2012 it was announced that an annex to the National Railway Museum would be built close to Leicester North station on the Great Central Railway.


Funding crisis point

In June 2013, the ''York Press'' reported that NRM was facing a funding crisis due to a potential 10% annual cut to the Science Museum Group's funding, an estimated real-terms 25% cut following lay-offs and disbandment of projects. The museum was considering scaling down its functions, re-introducing admissions charges or facing complete closure. However, following a campaign by local residents the Chancellor George Osborne announced a 5% cut in the museum's budget. This prompted Science Museum Group director Ian Blatchford to announce two weeks later that the museum had been doubly saved — he added that had the 10% cut taken place the Group would have chosen to close the National Media Museum in Bradford.


Policies

Criticisms of the museum which have been raised include claims that it has devoted insufficient attention to modern traction; that it was neglecting scholarship in favour of commercialism; or that its photographic collections constitute a "black hole". The museum's response is that these criticisms do not always take into account the financial constraints under which the museum operates: its Grant in Aid from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport amounts to £6.50 per visitor which delivers less overall income than for comparable London museums. For some of its funding the museum depends on money-making events such as the Yorkshire Wheel, which operated at the museum from 2006 to 2008 and visits from Thomas the Tank Engine as chronicled in '' Thomas and the Great Railway Show''. The museum has also suffered a few thefts of objects. The museum can be allocated material from the railway industry by the Railway Heritage Committee. Because of the diversity of material falling potentially within the museum's collection policy and the problems of caring for it, decisions on acquisition of new items for the collection can be difficult. Previously the museum has treated rolling stock as if it were effectively still in railway service and capable of undergoing repeated heavy repairs and restoration. Since being preserved many of the museum's locomotives have operated on the main line, heritage railways or at the museum. More recently, there have been moves to less interventionist forms of conservation in some cases leading to some exhibits becoming non-operational. The Museum's management of the protracted overhaul of LNER Class A3 4472 ''Flying Scotsman'' was heavily criticised in an internally commissioned report in 2012. Since 1977, the Friends of the National Railway Museum have been in existence as a group to give financial and other support to the museum, such as financing the original restoration to steam of ''Duchess of Hamilton''. The 1990 "Great Railway Show" won the Museum of the Year award and in 2001 the museum gained the European Museum of the Year Award. It has also won White Rose awards from the Yorkshire Tourist Board, and in recognition of the several major developments in 2004 was given the Heritage Railway Association's Peter Manisty Award.


Online presence

The National Railway Museum website offers a facility for visitors to plan their visit to the museum in advance. The museum also has a policy of improving access to its collections via its website. It has uploaded some of the recordings from the National Archive of Railway History to its website. The museum's archives and library service Search Engine is increasingly making its collection accessible online by providing catalogues and lists for researchers to search before visiting and adding low resolution copies of its drawing online. The library collection can be searched through the University of York library catalogue. All of the museum's rolling stock and a large amount of other material has also been added to the website. The National Railway Museum also has a presence on a number of other websites. Copies of many of its posters, photographs and artworks can be ordered through the Science and Society Picture Library. The National Railway Museum has a presence on the
National Preservation National Preservation is the trading name for Nat Pres Ltd, a British-based online company that specialises in retail and discussion among Railfan, railway enthusiasts. The company was created on 25 June 2008 as an extension of the original Nat ...
forums. Members and Readers are able to talk and comment directly to members of the staff. Providing both feedback and constructive criticism, a valuable source of information for the museum. Members of staff can usually answer questions when they are not busy and are part of the National Railway Museum group. National Railway Museum staff also publish a blog via WordPress.com where staff write stories about events behind the scenes in the museum such as conservation work or preparation for major events.


Locomotives

These are a few of the Museum's locomotives (listed by operational state, and then by date the design was introduced). ;Operational steam locomotives *
SR Schools class The SR V class, more commonly known as the ''Schools'' class, is a class of steam locomotive designed by Richard Maunsell for the Southern Railway. The class was a cut down version of his ''Lord Nelson'' class but also incorporated components ...
4–4–0 No. 925 ''Cheltenham''. Currently working on the Mid Hants Railway. Boiler certification expires in 2022. ;Steam locomotives under overhaul/stored * SR Lord Nelson Class 4–6–0 No. 850 ''Lord Nelson''. Currently working on the Mid Hants Railway. Boiler certification expired in 2016. *
SR N15 Class The LSWR N15 class was a British 2– cylinder 4-6-0 express passenger steam locomotive designed by Robert W. Urie. The class has a complex build history spanning three sub-classes and eight years of construction from 1918 to 1927. The first ...
4–6–0 No. 30777 ''Sir Lamiel''. Currently undergoing overhaul at the Great Central Railway. Withdrawn from service in 2017 after boiler ticket expired and undergoing mainline standard overhaul. * LNER Class A1/A3 4–6–2 60103 ''Flying Scotsman''. Overhaul started in 2006 by the NRM. After an external review the restoration was taken over by Riley and Son and completed in 2016. Withdrawn from traffic in early 2022 for mainline standard overhaul with plans to run again in 2023 for its 100th birthday. * Great Central Railway O4 Class 2–8–0 No. 63601. Currently on the Great Central Railway. Withdrawn in 2012 for overhaul. * British Railways Standard Class 7 "Britannia" 4–6–2 70013 ''Oliver Cromwell''. Overhauled at the Great Central Railway (Loughborough) between 2004 and 2008. Boiler certificate expired in December 2018. Currently based at Loughborough undergoing mainline standard overhaul. ;Steam locomotives on static display * Stephenson's 0–2–2 ''Rocket''. Two replicas are also in the York collection, one built for operation (rebuilt 2019) and one sectioned. The original was with the parent body, the Science Museum in London, until 2018. * NER No. 66 ''Aerolite''. On static display in York since 1934. * GWR 4000 Class 4–6–0 4003 ''Lode Star''. Returned to the NRM in November 2015 from the
Museum of the Great Western Railway STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway, also known as Swindon Steam Railway Museum, is housed in part of the former railway works in Swindon, England – Wiltshire's 'railway town'. The museum opened in 2000. The site The museum is ...
, Swindon as part of an exchange of locomotives in preparation for Swindon 175 in 2016. *
LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 5000 LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 number 5000 is a preserved British steam locomotive. It is part of the National Railway Collection. Service 5000 was built at Crewe in 1935 and was initially the first numerically of its class. It however was not ...
. On static display. *
LNWR G Class The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Class G were several related classes of 0-8-0 steam locomotives. These 0-8-0s were the principal work-horses for freight traffic on the latter-day London & North Western. History 32 of this class we ...
("Super D") 0–8–0 No. 49395. Currently at Locomotion, Shildon on static display. * LNER Class A4 4–6–2 4468 ''Mallard''. Restored to steam for a time from 1986; now on static display. Unlikely to run again due to exhibit popularity and the fact that all the other A4s in the UK have been restored to working order. * SR Class Q1 0–6–0 No. C1. On static display. However it is possible it will return to the Bluebell Railway, where it was based for many years, to be returned to service. * BR Standard Class 9F 2–10–0 92220 ''Evening Star'', the last steam locomotive built for British Railways. On static display and not expected to return to working order due to class being barred from running on the national network. Returned to York in 2010 after a two-year loan to the
Museum of the Great Western Railway STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway, also known as Swindon Steam Railway Museum, is housed in part of the former railway works in Swindon, England – Wiltshire's 'railway town'. The museum opened in 2000. The site The museum is ...
, Swindon. * LMS Princess Coronation Class 4–6–2 6229 ''Duchess of Hamilton''. Returned to the NRM in 2009 after being re-streamlined, it was at first displayed in an exhibit, ''Streamlined: Styling an era''. ;Steam locomotives located away from York *
GWR 3700 Class The Great Western Railway 3700 Class, or City Class, locomotives were a series of twenty 4-4-0 steam locomotives, designed for hauling express passenger trains. Construction In September 1902 a member of the Atbara Class, no. 3405 ''Mauritius' ...
4–4–0 3440 ''City of Truro''. Loaned to the Museum of the Great Western Railway in November 2015 as part of an exchange of locomotives in preparation for Swindon 175 in 2016. * GWR 6000 Class 4–6–0 6000 ''King George V''. Loaned to the Museum of the Great Western Railway in November 2015 as part of an exchange of locomotives in preparation for Swindon 175 in 2016. * LNER Class V2 2–6–2 4771/60800 ''Green Arrow''. After many years of being a popular operation engine, her boiler certificate was due to expire Spring 2008, but failed beforehand on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. In need of extensive repairs to her one-piece three cylinder block, consideration being made to potential future overhaul. Currently at
Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery is a museum in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. History The first Doncaster Museum opened in 1909 at Beechfield House, utilising only the ground floor of the building, and operated a small zoo at the site f ...


Heads of museum


See also

* List of British railway museums * List of railway museums worldwide


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * *


External links


Official website
{{authority control Heritage railways in Yorkshire Museums established in 1975 Museums in York Museums sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport National museums of England National railway museums Railway museums in England Rail transport in York 1975 establishments in England 7¼ in gauge railways in England Science Museum Group