National Railway Museum reveals plans for double celebration year

Picture of Janine Booth

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National Railway Museum reveals plans for double celebration year

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Picture of Janine Booth

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NRM Turntable
NRM Turntable // Credit: Science Museum Group

The in York has announced its plans for two anniversaries this year – its own fiftieth birthday and the bicentenary of the railway.

NRM 50
NRM 50 // Credit: National Railway Museum

Station Hall

The Museum’s Station Hall, which has been closed for refurbishment since 2023, will reopen in September.

The exhibition space will play a central role in a 50th birthday weekend event on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 September.

The open weekend will include the chance for visitors to see behind the scenes at the museum.

Station Hall was previously a goods station and has Grade II listed building status.

It takes up about one-third of the museum’s exhibition area. Its refurbishment has included refreshing interior decoration and installing a new roof, fitted with solar panels.

It also has some new collection items, as well as continuing to display items such as the royal carriages.

Railway Firsts CGI2 credit Skellon Studio and Seeing Things
Railway Firsts CGI2 // Credit: Skellon Studio and Seeing Things

Visitors will be able to book afternoon tea in Station Hall. They will eat aboard a former London & South Western Railway carriage, built in 1907 and restored by the National Railway Museum.

Exhibitions

A new exhibition at both the Museum in York and the museum in County Durham. The exhibition, Railway Firsts, will run from 8 February.

Shortlisted entries to the Young Railway Photographer of the Year competition will be on display at both venues from June until December. The competition has a theme of the railway’s bicentenary. People aged 25 and under may enter until Friday 31 January.

The museum’s interactive engineering gallery, Wonderlab: The Bramall Gallery, will open a brand-new show in February’s half-term break. The exhibition, ‘Ultrasonic’, will show modern technology that detects faults on railway lines.

CAG_Wonderlab_NRM_York-002
Wonderlab // Credit: Charlotte Graham

The museum’s golden jubilee campaign, NRM50, will include photographs of the museum taken by visitors during the last half-century.

The two museums are part of Railway 200, which celebrates two centuries since the first fare-paying, locomotive-hauled passenger journey.

This took place on 27 September 1825 on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and is widely seen as the start of the modern railway.

The National Railway Museum opened on the same date in 1975. It was the first national museum to be located outside London.

The National Railway Museum is co-curating ‘Inspiration’, a four-carriage touring Railway 200 exhibition train.

It will travel around Britain for a year from this summer, with the aim of promoting innovation and careers on the railway.

‘Inspiration’ will visit both the National Railway Museum and Locomotion during 2025.

Iconic locomotives

Flying Scotsman will returning to the track this year, with both static display and operational trips.

The museum includes a Flying Scotsman Story exhibition and Flying Scotsman Virtual Reality Experience.

Other locomotives at the museum include Mallard, and the Japanese bullet train Shinkansen.

Flying Scotsman will return to the track in 25 - credit Science Museum Group
Flying Scotsman will return to the track in 2025 // Credit: Science Museum Group

“I stepped on board as Director at the start of one of the most exciting years in the history of the railways.

“We have a truly exciting programme of activity ahead, and through our partnership with Railway 200, we are thrilled to be at the heart of a national celebration of the past, present and future of the railways.

“I can’t think of a better 50th birthday present than a restored and revitalised Station Hall. I know how keen our visitors are to see the results of our hard work inside the space – with plenty of surprises still to reveal as we approach the reopening.”

Craig Bentley, Interim Director of the National Railway Museum

Responses

  1. I played at the opening with the York Railway Institute Brass Band. I seem to remember that the Duke of Edinburgh was late as he was coming in the new HS1 or possibly 2, which broke down en route.

  2. The Station Hall was not previously a goods station as stated in the article. It was the roundhouse for the former York Engine Shed coded 50A.
    Also, when it says They will eat aboard a former London & South Western Railway, built in 1907, where exactly will they be eating?

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