Violette
Member
How many railway museums are there in England? What type? Any recommendations? Favourites? I could use some travel tips.
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Railway Museums
- Thread starter Violette
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hexagon789
Veteran Member
By 'museum', do you mean building or buildings full of purely static objects or would heritage lines which are, in essence, living museums also count?
The former would run to only a handful, slightly more if transport museums with railway vehicles and objects in their collections were counted, while the latter would total considerably more.
Mcr Warrior
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@Violette. Good question! The obvious one is the National Railway Museum up in York, although that's possibly a bit far if you're travelling from the South Coast.
There's a list of other (slightly nearer) possibilities on Wikipedia..
en.wikipedia.org
There's a list of other (slightly nearer) possibilities on Wikipedia..
List of railway museums in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia
Violette
Member
Ah! Living museum sounds cool. Are those trains you can ride on as a passenger? Do they still have locomotives around?
Farigiraf
Member
Near Southampton there's Havenstreet station on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway which hosts a small museum in addition to the heritage rail services. Train to Portsmouth, ferry to Ryde, train to Smallbrook then 1 stop on the steam railway, or alternatively you can take the ferry to Cowes and then two buses (route 1 and 33).
It's an obvious one but if you haven't been already, the London Transport Museum is also worth a visit.
Just in terms of ones near(ish) Southampton, depending on what exactly you're counting as a railway museum, I can think of the Mid-Hants Railway, Isle of Wight Steam Railway, Swanage Railway, Hayling Light Railway, North Dorset Railway, Amberley Museum, Milestones Museum, Didcot Railway Centre, and STEAM (Swindon). Of those, I'd call the first five preserved, heritage or other private railways*, the next two museums with trains (well, a train and tram, for Milestones), and the last two proper railway museums.
*From memory, Mid-Hants has some sort of museum or workshop viewing area; I'm unsure for the others.
*From memory, Mid-Hants has some sort of museum or workshop viewing area; I'm unsure for the others.
Llanigraham
On Moderation
Do you mean just England, or are you including the whole of the UK?
hexagon789
Veteran Member
Yes, heritage railways to give them their proper term.
These are mostly re-opened sections of closed railway lines over which a variety of preserved and restored historic locomotives, carriages and multiple units operate.
There a few dozen of them throughout the England.
A comprehensive list of heritage railways and museums can be found at https://www.heritage-railways.com/index.php
This website is run by the former webmaster to the Heritage Railway Association (HRA) who have their own listing at https://www.easymapmaker.com/map/HRA-members - it is less comprehensive than the first website I've listed as some minor railways and museums are not members of the HRA.
John Webb
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
80 Standard Gauge railways
40 Narrow Gauge lines
5 'Steam Centres'
20 Museums
20+Tramways and Funiculars ('cliff railways')
to total just under 170 locations across the UK - rather more than "...a few dozen..."!
This website is run by the former webmaster to the Heritage Railway Association (HRA) who have their own listing at https://www.easymapmaker.com/map/HRA-members - it is less comprehensive than the first website I've listed as some minor railways and museums are not members of the HRA.
John Webb
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
A look at the Heritage Railway Association website gives figures of about:
80 Standard Gauge railways
40 Narrow Gauge lines
5 'Steam Centres'
20 Museums
20+Tramways and Funiculars ('cliff railways')
to total just under 170 locations across the UK - rather more than "...a few dozen..."!
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ThirteenArches
Member
19+ now .. the Scarborough South Cliff Lift has closed.
They were not on the HRA list, only the Spa cliff lift!
WesternLancer
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Yes. A heritage railway would have historic trains you could ride on hauled by steam engines or old diesel engines.
Many of them have small museums on site too about the history of the railway line concerned etc
Their websites would detail when they are operating. It would not be every day all year but most weekends and other days too typically during school holidays.
ThirteenArches
Member
Warning though, for planning your visit: most "live" railways hibernate for the winter, only waking briefly for Satan Specials in the run-up to Christmas.
barringtoncem
Member
Hopefully Thirteen Arches means Santa Specials and not Satan Specials 
Run for the benefit of the spawn of satan!Hopefully Thirteen Arches means Santa Specials and not Satan Specials
Quite a few lines have started running Halloween ghost trains in recent years so nothing would surprise me!Hopefully Thirteen Arches means Santa Specials and not Satan Specials
Only temporarily for repairs.
Bertone
Member
I noticed recently that the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton Road station has a Museum Open Day on Sunday 20th September.
This day seems to give an opportunity to visit the whole site, inside and outside, the majority of which is not normally accessible to view except on steaming days. Nothing in steam operational on this occasion apparently.
However, an added bonus is that it is free and no booking required. The only downside is that the site can only be reached by car but one can also checkout the nearby HS2 works!
This day seems to give an opportunity to visit the whole site, inside and outside, the majority of which is not normally accessible to view except on steaming days. Nothing in steam operational on this occasion apparently.
However, an added bonus is that it is free and no booking required. The only downside is that the site can only be reached by car but one can also checkout the nearby HS2 works!
Attachments
... on Sundays, whilst there's seven buses on weekdays and four on Saturdays (though Southampton to Aylesbury by train (or train and bus via Oxford) isn't particularly easy anyway).
WesternLancer
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Sounds like a free Heritage Open Days event - as an aside it's worth looking in your area to find out for any railway related things going on - often things like behind the scenes visits can happen and free access.
Often if a group has received Heritage Lottery funding there is an expectation that recipients engage with Heritage Open days I think (well it did used to be the case anyway)
Central website has listings of things available
you can search by area and radius from area or by word choice - I put in 'railway' and a large number of fascinating looking things is generated from all over the place.