York, England: National Railway Museum (not just for train enthusiasts!)
japra | Apr 23, 2009 | Comments 15
After spending four hours at the Castle Museum in York, we decided to hike over to the National Railway Museum. It is a bit of a walk, so if you are short on time, you might consider taking a taxi. Also, you might want to save your touring feet for all the walking you’ll do in the Railway museum. It is impressively large.
How large, you are wondering? Well, it is the world’s largest railway museum. That’s still hard to imagine, isn’t it? How about trying to picture over 100 locomotives–from steam to Japanese Bullet (the only one outside of Japan). They even have a locomotive turntable, a demonstration of which we were lucky to see.
I am not a HUGE train enthusiast, but there is someone in our family who is… Look how little Mr. DJ looks standing there between these two beauties. I was very impressed at how well restored these trains were. The folks here obviously LOVE their trains.
I was particularly drawn to this one. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that our London terminus is Waterloo Station. Perhaps 100 or so years ago, we might have ridden into Town on a train like this one.
The commuter trains these days look like this, by the way. And they’re mostly electric (I believe this one is, anyway). I took this photo in our old town (“the Shire”) two years ago.
Roxi and I liked the royal carriages best. This is the oldest one, I believe. It looks a lot like a coach, doesn’t it?
This one was my favourite–King Edward VII’s royal carriages. They were very fine. Each car had a separate purpose: living room, study, his room, her room, even a bathroom with a TUB (though the water couldn’t be higher than inches or else it would splash over)! Also on display are Queen Victoria’s (padded and posh) and Queen Elizabeth’s (WWII era) carriages.
I thought this was a good name for the museum’s restaurant: Brief Encounter. I’ve not seen the movie, but I’d like to!
We grabbed a quick tea at the Signal Box cafe. This is a Simnal cake–a light fruitcake served around Easter time. That’s marzipan on the top and in the middle, in case you were wondering. At any rate, it was a nice little break before we did a bit more looking around.
National Railway Museum in York, England
Length of our visit: 3 hours but only because we forced to leave at closing time. We certainly could have stayed longer! There is a lot to see, so make sure you study the map. And keep your ears open for announcements regarding demonstrations.
Recommended for families. A great place to wear out the kiddos (and mom and dad)!
Admission is FREE. Check website for opening hours. Make sure to save a little time for giftstore too. They have some interesting things.
PS If you love trains and you have an extra day in the York area, you might want to consider a ride on the North York Moors Railway. We really wanted to do this, but we were short of time. Darn. If you’ve done this, please feel free to leave a comment and rub it in. Especially if you rode it all the way to Whitby. :-)
Filed Under: Blog • Destinations • Featured • Museums • United Kingdom • What to Do • York
About the Author: JaPRA is an expat Texan living in England with her husband (Mr. DJ), their 17-year old daughter (Roxi), and their dog Trudy.
MWM loves the Railway Museum. My favourites were the royal carriages too – did the furniture seem small to you?
We stayed in Scarborough for a long weekend last year and rode on the North York Moors Railway from Pickering to Goathland (Heartbeat country) and back – you missed a treat the scenery is breathtaking.
Yes, everything seemed a little on the small side, but I thought that was probably because they had such little space to start with.
And OOOOOOOh (stamps feet!), I knew I missed something good. Well, that is a good excuse to make another visit. Can’t do everything in one go, right? ;-)
PS Mean to say your photos are great!
Thank you, friend! England is a lovely model.
The Royal Carriages are interesting and the simnal cake looks delicious! We have place names here in Ontario, Canada such as Whitby, Scarborough, Pickering, North York…wonder where they got those from (-:?
Christine, interesting about the namesakes you have over there. Then there’s NEW York. lol!
Now I know that Chattanooga is a lame substitute for the real thing…hmmm…I feel cheated….it would be so cool if they let people spend the night there.
Julia, that would be awesome! And kind of spooky. It’s a huge place, and I’m sure someone with imagination could picture all sorts of things lurking… Boo!
I love these tours you’re giving us. This is remarkable. I think I’d just lie on the floor and take it all in for hours!
But: would you bail me out of jail?
Chris, I have felt that way about many of the museums I’ve seen. I totally know what you mean. I often felt like I’m going to pass out from joy.
And of course I’d bail you out!
I could probably spend all day marveling at the royal carriages! You’ve also reminded me of something absolutely wonderful that I just could not live without: MARZIPAN!!!!
Xoan-Wahn, I wish I had had a wide-angle lens to take photos of the interiors of the trains. They were amazing. I could have moved right in!
Can you not get marzipan in Spain? Do you need me to send you a care package of Sun Chips and marzipan?
Great to hear you had a good time at our museum, and enjoyed the royal carriages – they always seem to be the biggest draw! If you’ve got any feedback from your visit then you’re always welcome to get in touch, either through the website or via the @railwaymuseum Twitter channel.
Oh, and the simnal cake at Brief Encounter IS great!
Regards,
Peer on behalf of the NRM
Hi Peer! We had an amazing time at your museum the other week. I hope we have the chance to visit again soon. Thanks for stopping by to say ‘hello!’ :-)
I just got done watching The Bounty Hunter and I will tell you it is awesome! I enjoyed every minute of it from start to finish. I very highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves good flicks.