Nrm+

[HawkeyeTheNoo]

I see in the Railway Magazine published today that the NRM+ project has been cancelled due to funding being refused. Looks like the turntable in the Great Hall will remain uncovered for a while yet!

http://www.railwaymagazine.co.uk/news/nrm-cancelled-after-funding-refused

 

[Bon Accord]

Good news as far as I'm concerned.
York will now remain a Railway museum for a while yet, and not be turned into an 8 year old audio visual specialists' wet dream with one or two items of rolling stock scattered around.

 

[LE Greys]

I have to agree. Now maybe they can spend the money on something more sensible, like restoring some of the derelict stock still remaining.

 

[PinzaC55]

Good news as far as I'm concerned.
York will now remain a Railway museum for a while yet, and not be turned into an 8 year old audio visual specialists' wet dream with one or two items of rolling stock scattered around.

Harsh, but the absolute truth. I used to know a senior staff member there, and I had need to see the little track/signalling setup they had there. When I visited, it had gone!
When I tackled my friend about this he told me "they" (his superiors) had decided to get rid of it in favour of an extended cafe. His opinion of the "Flying Scotsman" audio/visual exhibit was unprintable :roll:

 

[DarloRich]

Good news as far as I'm concerned.
York will now remain a Railway museum for a while yet, and not be turned into an 8 year old audio visual specialists' wet dream with one or two items of rolling stock scattered around.

Agreed - the plans were terrible and would have resulted in a destroyed museum. They would have removed the majesty and spectacle of the exhibits. The NRM needs to use the exhibits they have better. Each exhibit tells a fascinating story. Draw it out and present it to people in a sensible fashion.

 

[60163]

Some of that cash could go to expanding the Royal Train historical exhibit, incorporating some diesels in there.

And giving Prince William a lick ofpaint or indoor storage.

 

[Christopher125]

Its really sad that people are actually happy about this. NRM+ was about much more than just changing the Great Hall and boarding over the timetable - new displays, a new roundhouse, more loco's on the mainline and a lot more besides; its loss is very dissapointing.

Tbh, i wasnt a great fan of those specific changes either, but the museum shouldnt be aimed at me - the NRM is out-of-date and needs to address a significant fall in visitors, so if thats what was needed to bring it up to date then so be it.

Chris

 

[YorkshireBear]

Its really sad that people are actually happy about this. NRM+ was about much more than just changing the Great Hall and boarding over the timetable - new displays, a new roundhouse, more loco's on the mainline and a lot more besides; its loss is very dissapointing.

Tbh, i wasnt a great fan of those specific changes either, but the museum shouldnt be aimed at me - the NRM is out-of-date and needs to address a significant fall in visitors, so if thats what was needed to bring it up to date then so be it.

Chris

Yeah must be said, if this was the way to bring it back to good visitor numbers then im sad to see it go too.

 

[Bon Accord]

Tbh, i wasnt a great fan of those specific changes either, but the museum shouldnt be aimed at me - the NRM is out-of-date and needs to address a significant fall in visitors, so if thats what was needed to bring it up to date then so be it.

Chris

The annoying thing about NRM+ was that it seemed to be the brainchild of a certain individual who seemed hell bent on pressing ahead with it regardless of the ramifications.
Whilst things may need updating, NRM+ would have made the iconic and mightily impressive Great Hall almost completely unrecognisable.
Removing the 2nd turntable in the early 90s is seen by most as a big mistake (does anyone know what happened to it?), but this would have gone so much further, almost as if the NRM were trying to shy the fact that they are a railway museum and were embarrassed about their largest, most high value and most impressive exhibits.
As the saying goes, what price progress?

Regarding visitor numbers, many quote a marked decrease in visitor numbers over the Winter period, a period which not only included one of our worst winters in living memory but also occurred during a recession. Am I the only one to be be slightly underwhelmed by that?
Can anyone provide Yorks year on year figures as they don't seem to be available through Google?

 

[60163]

Why don't they introduce admission fees? Even small ones? I'd happily pay to see some of their exhibits.

 

[DarloRich]

Its really sad that people are actually happy about this. NRM+ was about much more than just changing the Great Hall and boarding over the timetable - new displays, a new roundhouse, more loco's on the mainline and a lot more besides; its loss is very dissapointing.

Tbh, i wasnt a great fan of those specific changes either, but the museum shouldnt be aimed at me - the NRM is out-of-date and needs to address a significant fall in visitors, so if thats what was needed to bring it up to date then so be it.

Chris

Sorry but i think you are wrong - the museum ISNT out of date. Just because other, less popular, museums have big interactive displays telling you this in an X , it is very old and people used to, like, use them innit! DOESNT mean the NRM should dumb down to the lowest, stupidest, chaviest denominator!

The NRM has what many museums don’t - presence! You can touch the exhibits, get inside some of them, walk underneath them.

Just take a 5 year old and watch them stare in wonder at the exhibits. They are full of questions and are interested in what they are seeing, what is it, how does it work, how fast can it go etc. They don’t need a video to do that. The size and majesty of say mallard is enough

IMO what the NRM needs is to make MORE of the fact that it has "stuff". I don’t just mean the large locos or other exhibits but the small things they hold. Where they fall down is in "hands on" education.

They need more "explainers". There is nothing more "interactive" than the bloke who used to drive/fire/mend/paint/clean the bloody thing. THAT man can tell you much more about an exhibit than some cheesy actor in a video display. He can bring it to life, he can tell you that it never worked right, or was the best thing in the world or that the £2.50 wrench from the hardware shop was better than the £25,000 tools in fixing it.

I don’t think visitor numbers are down that much, but we are in a recession, and while the museum is free, and should remain so, travel is not. I wonder how they fare in the league table of visitor numbers overall?

 

[LNER]

there are some valid points being made here, I think its important to remember thought that audio visual does not mean dumbing down take the RAF Museum for example the touch screens there are wealths of information fo the visitor of any age to look through even with the recession if numbers are falling then something must be done I do agree with a lot of the points made in the post above about floor walkers who can talk from experiance about the exhibits

Its a shame over all that they have lost funding though

 

[CosherB]

Could it be more than a co-incidence that NRM+ is dead, and that Steve Davies, a rail enthusiast through and through (and a brilliantly talented manager and 'mover & shaker' as well) is now in the driving seat?

Steve worked wonders for the railway and the rest of the museum at MoSI before he got the NRM appointment. I suspect he has big ideas for NRM, and the NRM+ 'dumbing down' are not compatible with them.

NRM will change, but not in a 'dumbing down' way. I await Steve's announcement of how NRM will change. I suspect it will be one that will both boost 'numbers through the door' and enhance appeal for rail enthusiasts as well.

 

[DarloRich]

there are some valid points being made here, I think its important to remember thought that audio visual does not mean dumbing down take the RAF Museum for example the touch screens there are wealths of information fo the visitor of any age to look through even with the recession if numbers are falling then something must be done I do agree with a lot of the points made in the post above about floor walkers who can talk from experiance about the exhibits

Its a shame over all that they have lost funding though

Hendon? - I am never sure about these sort of things, but if done well they can be good. The only problem is that some just arent very good.

I still think the exhibits have enougth sorties of their own, you dont need a plastic "story" made up for some stupid "resting" actors to play out for idiots. You just need to draw these stories out.

 

[Christopher125]

Could it be more than a co-incidence that NRM+ is dead, and that Steve Davies, a rail enthusiast through and through (and a brilliantly talented manager and 'mover & shaker' as well) is now in the driving seat?

As has already been pointed out, NRM+ was a huge project - it was quite clear that Steve was fully behind the plans, especially the new roundhouse and the return to the mainline of some exhibits, but there just isnt the money.

Chris

 

[1862]

Why don't they introduce admission fees? Even small ones? I'd happily pay to see some of their exhibits.

Agree 100%
When you think of all the overseas visitors that YORK attracts,its crazy that they can have a free half or full day out at the NRM.

 

[John Webb]

Interestingly the South of England branch of the Friends of the NRM had a stand at the SW Herts Model Railway Show on Sat May 7th. There was a leaflet available explaining certain closures during May, June and into early July.
The City entrance and shop is closed 3rd May-23rd July and the underpass closed 4th-18th July.
South Yard and the Depot will be closed from 6th June.
Whole of the Station Hall closed from 13th June 'for a great shunt' repositioning the royal coaches and exchanging some locos and other vehicles.
South Yard, Station Hall, the Depot and the shop reopen on the 18th July.

Building work has already started to form a new art gallery in the 'lean-to' section alongside the Station Hall.

So despite the stoppage of 'NRM+' they are still carrying on with some revisions - be interesting to see how they work out.

 

[HawkeyeTheNoo]

Agree 100%
When you think of all the overseas visitors that YORK attracts,its crazy that they can have a free half or full day out at the NRM.

I'd definately be happy to pay an entrance fee on my yearly visit. I'm always amazed that they don't!

 

[John Webb]

Why don't they introduce admission fees? Even small ones? I'd happily pay to see some of their exhibits.

The NRM did have admission charges imposed on it, as did many other museums, by a previous government. Result was, I recall, that visitor numbers fell considerably, as did shop sales and donations. On the abolition of charges by the last government visitor numbers, sales and donations all significantly rose. So it's not an easy line to walk in terms of working out the finances.

Personally I think that national collections should be admission free, and I also make donations when I visit a free-entry museum. (Knowing the effort needed to run a museum from helping to run a small railway museum myself!)