14th April 2008 - by Steve Kevin
York National Railway Museum
Located in York, the National Railway Museum offers a taste of
rail transport in Britain's history. It is the world's biggest
railway museum, with a large collection of locomotives and
other railway equipment. It is the most widely visited of all
the museums located outside of London.
The museum is located near the railway station in York. A train
from the center of the city provides transport to the museum.
There is no admission fee and it is open from 10 in the morning
to 6 in the evening.
The entire collection located in the National Railway Museum
reaches almost 280 vehicles, including over 100 locomotives.
The locomotives are often transferred to other museums in the
area, including the Locomotion at Shidon. Perhaps the most
impressive among all the displays is the "Palace on Wheels"
display. It is composed of a collection of trains dating back
to the time of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. Some of the
first vehicles used in that time are now on display at the
museum in part to preserve them.
Another popular exhibit is the Furness Railway No. 3. The old
English steam locomotive is also known as "Coppernob". One
prominent feature of the "Coppernob" is the copper firebox
steam engine. It is important historically due to it being a
survivor of that particular period in time. The LNER Class A3
4472, more popularly known as the Flying Scotsman, is another
popular exhibit. It is also slated for occasional operational
use as part of a railway network. However, it is more commonly
used for promotional purposes these days. It is one of the most
famous locomotives due to the amount of exposure gained in both
children's books and the PC game Microsoft Train Simulator.
Several vehicles are also imported. One such example of this is
the Chinese Class KF Locomotive. It was originally built in
Britain and was used as part of the Night Ferry service located
in Paris and London. The Night Ferry is a sleeper train, which
is a type of railroad passenger car that usually travels during
nighttime. It is able to seat a lot of passengers per trip.
Another vehicle, the Japanese 0 Series Shinkansen Bullet Train,
was given by the West Japan Railway Company. It is the only
bullet train located outside of Japan.
The collections are not just composed of locomotive displays.
Other items of note include railway timepieces. Watches used
for timekeeping purposes during railway operation are on
display. Station platform clocks, guard watches and office
clocks are just some of the items on display. Railway tickets
are another prominent display. Different kinds of tickets are
on display too, from gold passes to simple ticket stubs.
Railway models are another significant portion of the
collection. The museum has a host of models with significant
historical importance. There is also a substantial collection
of toy trains built for commercial purposes.
Another exhibit pertains to the railway coins and medals used
in the past. These coins were typically used during the
construction of the railway systems themselves and were used
mostly for trade.
Source: http://www.uksmartguide.com
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