A Visit to the Railway Museum at York

Let’s look at steam trains!

[sgjunior]

Who could resist a random collection of railway memorabilia? I'm pretty sure we'd all like to see more of your visit and discoveries.

[robin_marriott]

This video has informed me that there is more than one railway museum in the UK. I had no idea. Even more surprising is that there’s apparently about 70 of them!

Edit - the Wikipedia list doesn’t even show the heritage railway collections or places like Railworld so there’s even more than that.

[heidirabenau]

As someone who is born and bred in York, I used to have my birthday parties there as a child but I haven't been in years but it will always be a childhood favourite with many great memories.

[herseem]

My dad did his engineering apprenticeship at the GWR and worked in the drawing office. About 18 months ago I took him to the NRM as he had never been. I have about 30 pictures of the back of his head as he was examining the valve gear of different engines.

[jtsholtod.]

Three things I remember as a child visiting York with my grandad:
1) Seeing Mallard at the railway museum.
2) Walking the walls around the old city.
3) Taking the ride at the Jorvik Viking Centre and being overwhelmed by the scent of apples in one of the exhibits.
Ah, memories.

[SteamLance]

That 4-8-0 narrow gauge loco, was saved David Shepard, a famous artist who loved anything big like planes, animals and locos. He went over to South Africa to save some engines, and came back with that one and another.

He also owned the 9F Black Prince (which hauled my parents' wedding train) and Standard 4MT Green Knight

[Ireland]

It's great to see about the Evening Star. It's uncommon to hear about it. The legend goes, 2 drivers won the competition to name it and called it the evening star. To bookend it with it's much older sister, the Morning Star.

[jamesgilbart]

Great review. Yes, I'd like to hear about the other locomotives you saw in York. York is a good place for museums since it also has the Jorvik Viking Museum and the Castle Museum which are both well worth a visit.

[benjones]

Im getting old and my favourite museums are quiet spaces filled with interesting old things in glass cases with lots to read, not 'interactive history experiences', so i love the odds and sods hall at the NRM. Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford is another lovely example

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

I mean I think dropping the word National to just Railway Museum still gets the point across that it's THE railway museum in the UK to go to! Meanwhile, our National Railway Museum is actually in Wisconsin! Founded in 1956 by community volunteers in the village of Ashwaubenon by Green Bay. Two years later, a joint resolution by Congress recognized it as the National Railway Museum, and it has been a nonprofit since!

They have everything from a GM Aerotrain (a streamlined train envisioned in the 1950s to go up to 100 mph/161 km/h and between NYC and Chicago in 10.5 hours...but due to modifications, it reduced its speed to 80 mph/129 km/h) to a Union Pacific Big Boy (which weighs over a MILLION pounds; one of the world's largest steam locomotives) and even a British Rail Class A4 (the one they have is the specific one named after Eisenhower). The A4 one was restored in 1963 and made it to Wisconsin in 1964, but it returned to England from 2012 to 2014 as a temporary display at York!

[colin.d]

Not forgetting the sister museum "Locomotion" near Darlington and also well worth a visit.

[railwayjade]

So cool to see a South African engine next to a Japanese power car and other British locos

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

We actually have our own railway museum in Pyongyang called the Railway Revolutionary Museum dedicated to the DPRK's railway construction projects. When you enter, there's a huge mural of my father and grandpa opening the main Pyongyang station (first opened in 1906 but had to be rebuilt after the war in 1958). You then see maps of both the DPRK and Eurasia, with the specific lines lit up in red that my grandpa and father traveled on (my grandpa did a big Europe and China trip by train in 1984)!

There are big dioramas of both the bombing of the DPRK railway network during the war as well as the construction in the war's aftermath. We heavily took advantage of our railway to transport troops and military hardware, in addition to using them as ‘gunships’ in their own right, so of course the South and the US wanted it to target it. But we managed to rebuild everything because we keep moving forward and rose out of the ashes. Besides those, we also have old rolling stock dating from the Japanese period, as well as recent pictures showing us building our own rolling stock, and our main goal of electrifying the whole network.

[joarnold]

Such an integral part of my childhood. My grandad was first fireman then driver on British Rail, based out of Wath, and with my dad also being an enthusiast, this was a staple part of 'things to do on a day out'. The last time we went, we took our three small boys (now in their mid-late teens, so it was too long ago - must go back!). My parents were with us, and dad eagerly called them out into the yard to see the rocket. The were so confused when they couldn't see a rocket at all, just a very strange looking yellow and black locomotive!

[HerbertDuckshort]

Duchess of Hamilton looks like she’s doing 100mph stood still. Sublime.

[andrewnoble]

I have a clear memory from primary school days of seeing Evening Star hauling - yes - a goods train on the line between Bristol and Avonmouth slowly past at Sea Mills. I’d been told it was the last steam locomotive and had just built an Airfix model of it so it made a strong impression.

[zetectic]

That was an express run through some highlights. Enjoyable none-the-less

[Themclachlans]

I am very proud to say that the museum accepted my donation to their collection. It was a (drumroll) British Rail / Roland Rat / Keep Britain Tidy activity pack.
Apparently they didn't have one.
The form signing ownership over to them had to be countersigned and witnessed, presumably the same form was used for Flying Scotsman.

[NickyMitchell]

Glad 🙂 you had an adventurous time at the Railway 🚃 Museum in York. I used to go there with my autism group there between 2007-2011. In 2012, story short, things didn’t quite work out the way I wanted them to so that year we never 👎 went back there. But I enjoyed every trip there with my group. Sweet memories of my rather difficult 😥 20s.

[trevorveail]

The last time I went to The Raily Museum was when there 6 A4's side by side to celebrate the anniversary of Mallard geting the world speed record for steam locomotives. It was a great day out from the south of England. I had been many times before when I lived in the North. It was always a great place to visit.