Mail Rail and the Postal Museum - is it worth a visit

[bramling]

The train ride is about 55ch from the depot, round the far loop at Mount Pleasant and back again. It takes about 15 minutes with the presentations and pauses on the journey. Imo it is more than worth the price with the accompanying exhibitions and displays, both in the former depot and the postal museum itself - it's very well done to appeal to all ages and interests and being in very small tunnels is quite novel.

It might not appeal to the hardcore basher/gricer etc, but it isn't supposed to: ultimately it is a ride that happens to be in an old railway, rather than a 'preserved railway' in its own right. The 'Walk the Tunnels' tours are absolutely recommended if you are able to do them, though - and come with a train ride to boot.

I agree for most practical purposes the train ride is enough. I can’t see them ever being able to offer a longer ride, even notwithstanding the economics of it, the logistics are very difficult - just the arrangements for emergency escape, fire precautions and the like would be very difficult to formulate.

What would be great is if the track walks could be extended to cover the remainder of the system. Again, logistically difficult, sadly.

 

[WesternLancer]

The train ride is about 55ch from the depot, round the far loop at Mount Pleasant and back again. It takes about 15 minutes with the presentations and pauses on the journey. Imo it is more than worth the price with the accompanying exhibitions and displays, both in the former depot and the postal museum itself - it's very well done to appeal to all ages and interests and being in very small tunnels is quite novel.

It might not appeal to the hardcore basher/gricer etc, but it isn't supposed to: ultimately it is a ride that happens to be in an old railway, rather than a 'preserved railway' in its own right. The 'Walk the Tunnels' tours are absolutely recommended if you are able to do them, though - and come with a train ride to boot.

Thanks for this - I wasn't able to visit on the recent visit to London that caused me to post the question originally - but posts like this mean I'm confident I'll enjoy a trip so it's now firmly on my to do list. Especially since I think I'd probably find it difficult to be in the area on a date when Walk the Tunnels tour is on.

 

[Buzby]

What would be great is if the track walks could be extended to cover the remainder of the system. Again, logistically difficult, sadly.

There was a YT video from some urban explorers who managed to do their own tunnel walk but only managed to get new New Oxford Street before giving up on the westwards walk. The tunnel was intact, complete with station exit, however all ventilation had ceased and they found it too difficult to proceed further.

 

[birchesgreen]

There was a YT video from some urban explorers who managed to do their own tunnel walk but only managed to get new New Oxford Street before giving up on the westwards walk. The tunnel was intact, complete with station exit, however all ventilation had ceased and they found it too difficult to proceed further.

Yeah i've seen that (or a video that does that anyway). Interestingly you can access the basements of various buildings from the PO tunnels.

 

[vlad]

I've been (twice) and enjoyed it. Bear in mind, however, that the entire ride is in a very small tunnel. When the line was in actual service it was completely automated so the tunnels didn't need to be big enough to fit people in. Part of me thinks it'd be nice to have a longer ride but the other part of me says that's just longer spent in a tunnel not being able to see much. Remember it's a tourist attraction rather than a means of getting from A to B.

The exhibition does show how the train used to work, which I found interesting. The museum across the road (included in the price) goes into other details about Royal Mail and its predecessor organisations - it's not just about the train.

 

[Skymonster]

I did the Postal Museum, the Mail Rail ride, and a Tunnel Walk a few weeks ago. Honestly, I thought the Postal Museum wasn’t great - I wouldn’t go again even though the admission fee enables free returns for a year. In enjoyed Mail Rail - the exhibition of stock, etc, and the ride on the train. The best part of day was the tunnel walk though - roughly the same trip as the train does but obviously on foot, and the walk does not include the video presentations but obviously has a guide. I don’t think I’d do it again - the tunnel walk is [IMO] a bit expensive and I’ve been-there, done-it - but I am really glad I did do it.

 

[tumbles]

There was a YT video from some urban explorers who managed to do their own tunnel walk but only managed to get new New Oxford Street before giving up on the westwards walk. The tunnel was intact, complete with station exit, however all ventilation had ceased and they found it too difficult to proceed further.

If you have time the best write up probably found here (website no longer online) https://web.archive.org/web/20120309152708/http://www.silentuk.com/?p=2792

Gives you an idea why longer walks maybe an issue with height amongst other things