The City of York is where you will find the largest national railway museum in the world. It is full of railway memorabilia, remarkable archive material and gleaming engines from the romantic age of steam, with engines dating as far back as 1829.
The National Railway Museum has been built up over a period of years since 1948 when British Rail began inheriting railway stock of previous railway companies. With the closure of so many rail lines expansion of the museum became quite rapid in the period between 1960 and 1975, the museum has all of British Rail's collection and the entire exhibition covers three large exhibition halls.
Memorabilia to be seen is wide and diverse, it ranges from the 1938 Mallard, holder of the record as the fastest ever steam locomotive, to earlier engines and a dining car of 1913 and there is even an interesting Japanese Bullet Train. These can be seen in The Great Hall along with a replica of Eurostar's nose cone set in a ring depicting the channel tunnel.
Historic locomotives can be viewed on a giant turntable, this demonstration takes place twice daily, thus giving a "birds eye view" of 170 year old winding engines.
Visitors can also enjoy a re-created period railway station with evocative sights and sounds. Here, in Station Hall the exhibits include a variety of carriages, wagons, sleeping compartments and dining cars.
One of the most delightful of all the exhibits is the carriages from the Royal Train. These cover the period from 1840 to 1940 and demonstrate the style and luxury in which Royalty travelled, with bedroom, dining room and saloon carriages.
There are displays on railway safety, this explains signals and computer communications systems. You can even see the computer system that controls York's present day railway movement.
Another section covers restoration and renovation, visitors are invited to see whatever work is on-going with the restoration of a wide range of museum items.
In another part of the museum you can learn about Women at Work on the railways, take a look at mail carriages and find out just how the mail was sorted in the past, and present. You can further explore freight and passenger services.
Included in the thousands of items to be seen are railway clocks, gold and silver travel passes, the bullion box involved in the Great Train Robbery of 1855. There is all of this and so much more, from interesting mechanical models, to service medals, humble buttons, with documents, paintings and prints being available in the library archive by prior appointment.
Not in any other place in the world can you find a museum documenting the heritage of rail travel in such fine detail. The National Railway Museum is an exciting, fascinating experience, not just for the railway enthusiasts, but for everyone - regardless of age.
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