This weekend saw the very popular Modelmotion event at Shildon, showcasing model railways from around the North East. Despite having lived in Shildon for 6 years now, I had never seen Shildon Model Railway Club’s 00 gauge model of our local station as it was in the 1930s, and I couldn’t resist taking this picture…
Today is the sixth #MuseumSelfieDay, a day when Twitter users from across the world share pictures of themselves snapped in museums and galleries. The brainchild of Mar Dixon (@MarDixon), Museum Selfie Day encourages people to share images of themselves having fun and interacting with artefacts and displays, challenging the traditional view of museums as staid,…
Curator John McGoldrick shares a recent acquisition which he hopes will spark trainspotting memories. While looking through one of the railway auction house catalogues, I was intrigued when I came across this sign from the old Nine Elms locomotive depot in South London. We had to have it. For a museum devoted to railways, we…
This weekend at Shildon sees the re-launch of the APT-E support group at the twice yearly Cab It event. The APT-E group are looking for more volunteers to help with their ongoing work to cosmetically restore E-Train, and would love to hear from anyone interested in getting involved. A taster for the weekend –…
After a long pause, work resumes on Sir Nigel Gresley in the National Railway Museum workshop. weeks commencing 19 October, 26 October and 2 November 2020 The tender coal space door frame has now been rivetted in place. This is the last major riveting that will be done on the loco. Riveting the coal door…
The sun is shining and a whole team of people are hard at work preparing for Railfest as 2 June gets closer. Here is the team working on laying a 15” gauge track ready for Hawk and Synolda, under the watchful eye of a member of the Kirklees Light Railway. Meanwhile West Coast Railways are…
If you missed our display of royal train-related items, Search Engine Assistant Peter Thorpe has picked out some highlights for blog readers to enjoy. Last week, Alison mentioned the royal train-related material which was going on display over the weekend to mark the Royal Wedding. Below are a few images of the exhibits that were on show for visitors to browse –…
Relive a dramatic railway disaster with the Lancashire & Yorkshire Signalling School. Our Lancashire & Yorkshire (L&Y) signalling school, the world’s oldest operating model railway, returns to home territory this coming Saturday (7th November) with a look at the Irk Valley crash of the 15 August 1953. Picture courtesy of Manchester Evening News (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/hunt-for-irk-valley-rail-crash-892940) The…
Discover the story of a snow plough design which still has relevance nearly a century later. Why would Network Rail—the company that owns and maintains Britain’s railways—need engineering drawings from the National Railway Museum’s collection that were produced at Darlington in 1924, to maintain a piece of rolling stock they still own and use today? I…
It’s not strictly all trains all the time for our conservation team—far from it. They work to preserve a staggering range of objects, from the quotidian to the truly unusual. Conservation of Fine Art MA student Izzy McKie is with the team for the next few weeks, working on a 19th-century gilt picture frame which…