National Railway Museum, York > Reviews (8)

So on with the anorak and out with the note book, a visit to the National Railway Museum (NRM) is on today.

I went on a bright and sunny Monday in mid March

*** What is it? ***

The NRM is the largest collection of railway artefacts in the World, covering some 300 years of railway history. From full size locomotives to stationmaster's hats, it is all here. There are lots of things to do, from wandering round gazing at massive locomotives, to getting hands on with various interactive displays.
The NRM is located right next door to York station, in the old engine sheds and goods yard.

*** How Do You Get There? ***

I was staying in Yorkshire on Holiday, so I took the train from the local station (Malton £6.40 return) directly into York, the NRM is a 5 or 10 minute walk away (you do have a number of stairs to climb at the station - I don't recall seeing a lift)

Also see the parking section below.

The museum is very well sign posted with the Brown tourist signs on all the major routes into York.

There are 2 entrances to the museum, one on Leeman road (this takes you into the Great Hall, and one the City Entrance, which is joined onto the Station Hall (although you can get to all parts from any entrance.)

*** What's There? ***

Trains and anything to do with trains, it is not so much the trains, but the society that was the railway industry, so from the humble porter right up to the Royal Train, it is all here. A fantastic insight into Britain's (and to some extent) the Worlds social history) Did you know that the railways were responsible for us all having the same time in the UK?

Basically there are four main areas to the museum; each one covers different aspects of the railway.

~~~ Great Hall ~~~

You walk in here, and are immediately struck by the sheer scale of the whole place.
Here there are many locomotives, from a replica of Stephenson's Rocket (the real one is in the Science Museum in London) through to a Japanese Bullet Train, it is all here. Many of the locomotives are located around the turntable, you can wander around looking up at the massive engines. There is a "cut away" engine, where you can see all the working bits, (there are regular talks here on how the steam engine works.)

The most striking engine here is Mallard, this engine holds the world speed record for being the fasted steam locomotive. It is an impressive piece of engineering. There is a massive Chinese Loco, its size is awesome! Everyone I'm sure has their favourites, mine today was something called the "Q1" looks ugly, but I just loved it!

On a lot of the locomotives, steps are provided so you can look in the cabs, where the crew would work. Some of the older locos, the cab area looks very exposed, I guess they were a hardy bunch in those days.
There is a pit under one of the display areas, so you can walk underneath a couple of locos, and really see the working parts.
There is a display of travelling post offices, with lots of interactive display boards around.
You are allowed to walk through the Bullet Train, and what you notice is how much more room there is inside compared with our trains.

There is an old footbridge in this hall, it is quite nice to walk to the top, and just look down over the museum.

~~~ Station Hall ~~~

The entrance to this part of the museum is through the shop (more of this later) The whole building has been designed to have the atmosphere of a busy station. In the platforms are various locos, carriages and wagons. You start to realise the sheer size of some of the rolling stock when you can stand right up against it!

In this section they have the Royal Carriages. Various coaches used by various members of Royalty, from the opulence of Queen Victoria's carriage, through to the fairly sparten accommodation enjoyed by our present Queen! The lighting in this area is fairly low to preserve the fabric of the exhibits. There are speakers above various doors, so when you stand looking in, there is a commentary about certain aspects of the coach you are looking at.

From here you can access an outside area called South Yard, here on certain days you can have rides behind various locomotives.
There is a kids play area, which looked very safe, and a miniature railway. One building here is a dedicated "interactive learning centre" again geared up towards children, lot to do and play with.

In the South Yard, there is the diesel depot, where the collection of diesels is stored in a massive tent!

~~~ The Works ~~~

This is an area of railway work, where I guess you really don't see. This is a viewing balcony over the workshops, so you can see various bits of rolling stock being repaired. When I went, Flying Scotsman was in, completely stripped down, being rebuilt from the ground up, for those of us interested in engineering it is very interesting. Around the viewing balcony are various interactive displays about life in the railway works.

From here there is a door to the signalling area. Basically this area discusses all to do with railway signalling, there are lots of things to "play with" which is quite good fun. There are also a number of screen overlooking York station, on these screens is the same display the signaller sees, so you can actually follow trains on the screen, then look up and see them out of the window. I was lucky, as when I went someone was there who knew how it all worked, and he explained what I was seeing on the screen!

==~~~ The Warehouse ~~~==

This is a fantastic area, it is basically their storeroom. In here are thousands of railway related items, there is a plaque commemorating the first Railway Fatality in 1830!
You could spend hours poking around in here find all sorts of little bits and bobs.
There is an exhibition dedicated to the Flying Scotsman in this area, this is well worth the visit. It discusses the origins of this famous train.

*** Other Things ***

Another "attraction" situated at the museum is the Yorkshire Eye. This is located between the 2 main halls.

This is the northern version of the London eye - a bit smaller, the eye rises to 54m above York, you can certainly get some fantastic views, right across the moors to Fylingdales!

York Minster looks fantastic from up here!
Having been on the London Eye, I was surprised by the speed this one went round!
There is a charge for this.
Adults £6
Children £4
It is apparently accessible to wheelchair users

*** The shop ***

Here you can buy many railway related items, such as books and paintings. I actually thought the prices were fair, no more than you would pay outside of the museum. They had a range of kids "pocket money" items too.

~~~ The Explainers ~~~

At various times throughout the day - these are published around the site, and announced five minutes before they start, a member of the Museum staff (Explainers) will give a short talk on a certain aspect of the museum, the Turntable, the Royal Train etc. I attended two while I was there, One on the Warehouse, and what was in it (Eisenhowers' chair! and the bullion box from the first train robbery in 18 something or other!) I actually found this very interesting, it only took around 20 minutes, but the Explainers focus on a few relevant pieces of the massive collection giving you a real insight to the massive collection.

The second one was on the Japanese Bullet Train - Having worked in Japan I sort of knew a bit about them, so I could actually fill in some gaps in the Explainers knowledge - maybe next time you go, it will be my words!

The Explainers were very receptive to questions, so just ask.

*** Brief Encounter ***

This is the restaurant

It is situated in the Station Hall, on the "platform" between various trains - Holiday Excursions & Express, and the humble commuter.
The food looked very good, and reasonable priced. I only went for tea and a piece of homemade Simmnel cake, and it cost £3.60.
They have a hot serving area, where you can get the daily specials, these were around £5-£7 depending on your choice. There was a good selection of sandwiches and snacks, hot and cold drinks.

When I arrived at about 12:30, there were no clear tables. The restaurant wasn't that busy (it was a Monday) but the staff just hadn't cleared any tables, so I was left to stack up plates and cups, to give myself space.

I only saw two staff on duty, it seems that the girl who served the lunches/hot drinks was also the one who cleared the tables!
Maybe I caught it on a bad day, I must admit I thought they would have had "self clearing" but no they don't.
I think the "brief encounter" experience was spoilt for the lack of clearing up. That said it was nice just to sit there and look around at the exhibits thinking "I wonder when Celia Johnson will get the soot in her eye!"

You can apparently book this area for weddings, or business functions!

*** Details ***

National Railway Museum
Address:
National Railway Museum,
Leeman Road,
York,
YO26 4XJ,
UK
Telephone 08704 214001

Hours:
10:00 am - 6.00 pm
Open every day except December 24-26.
Admission: Free
Parking:
Yes, public parking is £7.00 for all day, so you could use it to wander around York. There are Park and Ride schemes around York, so these may be a good choice
A much better bet would be to do what I did and "let the train take the strain" the museum is adjacent to York station, and very well signposted.

*** Web Site ***

http://www.nrm.org.uk

If you are planning to visit, the web site should be your first port of call, full of fantastic information, what exhibits are being changed, lots of info about the various collections - you can even look for a job!

*** Disabled ***

The whole museum is totally suited to disabled/infirm visitors, there is a lift going between ground floor and The Works level, there are also ramps between the different levels. You can apparently ring in advance of your visit and book a wheelchair!

*** General ***

Time your visit well, I went on a Monday in March 2007, and the whole place was fairly empty, but then it is so large, you could easily have several hundred people there and not really notice them. There were a few School groups about, but as it was close to half term I suspect many schools don't go out.

There is a lot of building work going on at the moment, so you will see one wall of the great hall covered in sheeting etc. This is for a new project called "The Search Engine" which I believe will be the public library and research area. Due to this work, there are a couple of areas closed off, so it is best to check the web site for details - the project should be completed by the end of 2007.

All told, a very education day out (and you do want to leave a day for this trip) I find it fascinating seeing all the old engineering masterpieces, it you like history, you will really like this museum. There are so many exhibits, a review such as this really couldn't do them justice, whether you like trains or not, this is a fantastic museum to visit.

For those that want more, there is a further part of the museum in the town of Shildon, where they have built "Locomotion" again a visit to the web site will give you information on this.

Thanks for reading this.

Larry