The recently opened Whitehead Railway Museum, in Ireland, has received a massive boost after winning a top award in a UK-wide competition.
The Museum won the award at the Annual Awards ceremony of the Heritage Railway Association which took place in Birmingham on Saturday night (10th February).
The railway museum was judged to be a dead heat against the Swanage Railway, in Dorset, so the judges made an unprecedented move and awarded the Manisty Award to both on this occasion.
The £4m museum opened its doors in March 2017 and was officially opened last October.
What did the officials say?
Lord Faulkner of Worcester, President of HRA, said: “This is recognition of the contribution made by RPSI and Whitehead Railway Museum to railway heritage in Ireland and a tribute to all those volunteers who have made such a contribution over many years.”
Canon John McKegney, the RPSI chairman, who was presented with the award at the ceremony, said they were delighted that the Whitehead Museum had received such a prestigious accolade. He said: “We are thrilled to have received a cherished Manisty Award and look forward to showing it off back at Whitehead. It is always particularly rewarding to receive recognition from a peer group.
“Our museum gives us a chance to reflect the social history of railways, tell how Whitehead developed as a railway town and most important of all, show off some of our heritage locomotives and carriages which would otherwise be languishing at the back of one of our sheds. We are already attracting enthusiasts from across Britain and Ireland and this award will put us ever more firmly on the map.
“Whitehead is in a prime location on the Causeway Coastal Route and we are close to another leading attraction, the Gobbins Cliff Path which was itself originally developed by the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway.”
- Visit the Whitehead Railway Museum website
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