The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
, England, forming part of the
Science Museum Group
The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums:
* The Science Museum in South Kensington, London
* The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester
* The National Railway Museum in York
* The Locomotion Museum (formerly the Na ...
. The museum tells the story of
rail transport
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant railway vehicles such as
Mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
,
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
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...
's house to film showing a "
never-stop railway" developed for the
British Empire Exhibition
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925.
Background
In 1920 the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government decide ...
. It has won many awards, including the
European Museum of the Year Award in 2001.
Starting in 2019, a major site development was underway. 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 was to 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. In January 2023, the museum's Station Hall (a Grade II listed "former goods station built between 1875–77") was closed for an estimated 18 months for "urgent structural repair" which was to include the installation of a new roof over that area.
Overview
The National Railway Museum has over 6,000 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
Louis Brennan (28 January 1852 – 17 January 1932) was an Irish-Australian mechanical engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the Brennan Torpedo, one of the earliest wire-guided torpedoes, which was adopted by the British Army i ...
'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
The Cité du Train (English: ''City of the Train'' or ''Train City''), situated in Mulhouse, France, is one of the ten largest railway museums in the world. It is the successor to the ''Musée Français du Chemin de Fer'' (French National Railw ...
in the French town of
Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...
, 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 Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
ways collection located in
Clapham
Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
History
Ea ...
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
York railway station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) serving the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is north of and, on the main line, it is situated between to the south and to the north. , the sta ...
. A "roadtrain" runs from the city centre (near
York Minster
York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...
) 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 5 pm during February half-term holiday, then Wednesday to Sunday only from 10 am to 5 pm. Since 3 January 2023, the Station Hall is closed for re-roofing, repair work and redecoration, with some of the exhibits displayed there closed. Due to reopen in September 2025.
Locomotion – the National Railway Museum in
Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...
,
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
was opened in October 2004 and is operated by the NRM in conjunction with
Durham County Council
Durham County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham (district), County Durham in North East England. The council is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, bein ...
. 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:Station Hall, National Railway Museum - geograph.org.uk - 3735683.jpg, A section of Station Hall, 2013
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
The trains were the first generation Shinkansen trainsets built to run on Japan's Tokaido Shinkansen, Tōkaidō Shinkansen High-speed rail, high-speed line which opened in 1964. The last remaining trainsets were withdrawn in 2008 after 44 years ...
(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 engine 5972 ''Olton Hall'' (2004)
File:George Stephenson Statue National Railway Museum.JPG, Statue of George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...
in the Great Hall
National Collection

There are approximately 280
rail vehicles
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...
in the National Collection, with around 100 being at York at any one time and the remainder divided between
Locomotion at
Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...
and other museums and
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
s. The earliest are
wagonway
A wagonway (or waggonway; also known as a horse-drawn railway, or horse-drawn railroad) was a method of rail transport, railway transportation that preceded the steam locomotive and used horses to haul wagons. The terms plateway and tramway (indu ...
vehicles of about 1815. The permanent display includes "Palaces on Wheels", a collection of
Royal Train 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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
's early trains through to those used by
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
s
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...
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
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...
Princess Coronation Class No. 6229 ''Duchess of Hamilton''. ''Flying Scotsman'' is among the exhibits intended for operation on the
National Rail
National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...
network from time to time.
The museum has imported several major vehicles for display: the
Chinese Class KF7
4-8-4
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type wa ...
locomotive donated in 1981 was built in Britain and the ''
Wagons-Lits''
sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...
donated in 1980 had been used on the Paris-London ''
Night Ferry
The ''Night Ferry'' was an international boat train from London Victoria railway station, London Victoria to Gare du Nord, Paris Gare du Nord that crossed the English Channel on a train ferry. It ran from 1936 until 1939 when it ceased due to ...
'' service. The single exception to the rule of exhibits associated with Britain is the Japanese
0 Series Shinkansen
The trains were the first generation Shinkansen trainsets built to run on Japan's Tokaido Shinkansen, Tōkaidō Shinkansen High-speed rail, high-speed line which opened in 1964. The last remaining trainsets were withdrawn in 2008 after 44 years ...
leading vehicle which was donated to the museum by the
West Japan Railway Company
, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...
in 2001 and which now forms part of an award-winning display, and is one of only two Shinkansen vehicles 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
The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...
Gaunless Bridge 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,
poster
A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...
s, drawings and other artwork,
tickets
Ticket or tickets may refer to:
Slips of paper
* Lottery, Lottery ticket
* Parking violation, Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start)
* Ticket system, Toll ticket, a slip of paper use ...
, nameplates, staff uniforms,
clock
A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...
s,
watch
A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...
es,
furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
and equipment from railway companies'
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
s, refreshment rooms and offices (including company
seals) 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 drawing
An engineering drawing is a type of technical drawing that is used to convey information about an object. A common use is to specify the geometry necessary for the construction of a component and is called a detail drawing. Usually, a number of ...
s 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
websitefor 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
The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...
.
What became the
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
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. Some were put on public display, usually at railway stations, displayed in a glass case or mounted on a plinth. ''Coppernob'' at
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...
, ''Derwent'' and ''Locomotion'' at
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
and ''Tiny'' at
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in ...
were long-lived examples of this form of display.
The first railway museums were opened at Hamar in Norway (1896) and
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
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
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
's earliest broad-gauge locomotives, ''North Star'' and ''Lord of the Isles'', which had been set aside at
Swindon Works
Swindon Works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986.
History
In 1835, Parliament approved the construction of the Great ...
, 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 in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
by the
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...
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
The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840, extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton railway station, Norma ...
(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
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world.
Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...
''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 ...
B1 Class ''Gladstone''.
The GWR assembled a valuable collection of small objects, mounted privately in a long corridor at
Paddington station
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, London railway station and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by ...
, 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
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban ar ...
and built a replica ''Rocket'', with six replica carriages, for the
Liverpool & Manchester Railway centenary in 1930, and a replica
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The line built by the company, which opened in 1837, linked the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham via Warri ...
Travelling Post Office.
The
Southern Railway inherited three preserved carriages of the
Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway, long displayed at York and at
Waterloo station, 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
Euston railway station ( ; or London Euston) is a major London station group, central London railway terminus and Euston tube station, connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sout ...
(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
A bus garage, also known as a bus depot, bus base or bus barn, is a facility where buses are stored and maintained. In many conurbations, bus garages are on the site of former car barns or tram sheds, where trams (streetcars) were stored, a ...
in
Clapham
Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
History
Ea ...
.
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
Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
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 successor to the Glasgow Museum of Transport, the
Riverside Museum, along with the previously mentioned locomotives) no longer form part of the National Collection.
The
Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. It is either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Sur ...
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
A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...
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 a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
now stands on the Clapham site. Some items were retained in the capital and formed the basis of the
London Transport Museum
The London Transport Museum (LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of Transport in London, London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the histo ...
in Covent Garden. Some from York were re-located to the
Head of Steam museum in
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
. 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
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
and elsewhere and restored. Creation of the York museum was largely in the hands of its first keeper,
John Coiley,
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 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...
, 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
Involuntary commitment, civil commitment, or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation, or informally in Britain sectioning, being sectioned, commitment, or being committed, is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qual ...
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
Railway electric traction describes the various types of locomotive and multiple units that are used on electrification systems around the world.
History
Railway electrification as a means of traction emerged at the end of the nineteenth centu ...
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
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It ...
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
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
in 1985: that of the
broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , more known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union countries ...
locomotive
''Iron Duke''.
In 1990, The
Rev. W. Awdry's ''
Railway Series
''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Sodor (fictional island), Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by Wi ...
''
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional, anthropomorphised tank locomotive who originated from the British children's books ''The Railway Series'', created and written by Wilbert Awdry with his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, first publish ...
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 aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
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
Swindon Works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986.
History
In 1835, Parliament approved the construction of the Great ...
.
Meanwhile, the main building was completely re-roofed and reconstructed retaining only one of the two original 1954
turntables
A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...
.

It was reopened on 16 April 1992 by
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. The elder son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, he is a grandson of George ...
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 migh ...
, 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 a ...
from
Percy Main station and a segment from the
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...
. The former goods shed display was retained as the Station Hall.
In 1995 the museum joined forces with the
University of York
The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
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 apprentice An engineering apprenticeship in the United Kingdom is an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering or electrical engineering or aeronautical engineering to train craftsmen, technicians, senior technicians, Incorporated Engineers and Chartered Eng ...
ships and participates in partnerships aimed at delivering heritage skills training.
In 1996 the Museum Garden was created incorporating a
gauge
Gauge ( ) 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, especia ...
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
York railway station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) serving the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is north of and, on the main line, it is situated between to the south and to the north. , the sta ...
hosting a set of
monitors 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
A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends ...
. 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
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...
,
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. 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 ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
.
Major plans under the name "NRM+" were made for refurbishing the Great Hall display, for which a preliminary
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
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
Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...
and
Exporail in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, 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
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
through York to view objects from the collection in connection with locations on the route. It has since been removed from the
App Store
An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...
, 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
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its Great Central Main Line, London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company ...
.
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
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...
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
The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum ...
in
Bradford
Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
.
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
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for Culture of the United Kingdom, culture a ...
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
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional, anthropomorphised tank locomotive who originated from the British children's books ''The Railway Series'', created and written by Wilbert Awdry with his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, first publish ...
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 railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...
s 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
The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
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 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 4-4-0 No. 925 ''Cheltenham''. Currently working on the
Mid Hants Railway. Boiler certification expires in 2022.
*
LNER Class 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, it was overhauled and brought back into steam in time for its 100th birthday in 2023.
;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 4-6-0 No.
30777 ''Sir Lamiel''. Currently undergoing overhaul at the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its Great Central Main Line, London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company ...
. Withdrawn from service in 2017 after boiler ticket expired and undergoing mainline standard overhaul.
*
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,
Swindon
Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
as part of an exchange of locomotives in preparation for Swindon 175 in 2016.
*
LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 5000. On static display.
*
LNWR Class G2 ("Super D") 0-8-0 No. 49395. Currently at Locomotion, Shildon on static display.
*
LNER Class A4
The LNER Class A4 is a class of streamlined 4-6-2 steam locomotive, steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935. Their streamlined design gave them high-speed capability as well as making them ins ...
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, the internals of the locomotive being in considerable disrepair, 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
The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line in West Sussex in England. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between and , with intermediate stations at and .
It is the first preserv ...
, where it was based for many years, to be returned to service.
*
BR Standard Class 9F
The British Railways Standard Class 9F is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 1950s, a ...
2-10-0
92220 ''Evening Star'', the last steam locomotive built for
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
ways. 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,
Swindon
Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
.
*
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 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
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 6000 Class or King Class is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives designed for Inter-city rail, express passenger work and introduced in 1927. They were the largest locomotives built by the GWR, apart from the unique ...
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
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class V2 2-6-2 steam locomotives were designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for express mixed traffic work across the British railway network. They were built at the LNER workshops in Doncaster and Darlingto ...
2-6-2
4771 ''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
Heads of museum
See also
*
List of British railway museums
*
List of railway museums worldwide
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{authority control
Heritage railways in Yorkshire
Museums established in 1975
Museums in York
Museums sponsored by the Department for 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
Grade II listed buildings in York