UK National Rail Museum in York

 

The UK National Railway Museum in York is the largest railway museum in the world. They have an impressive collection of over 100 locomotives and nearly 200 other items. And the entrance is free.

 

 

There are railway museums all over the world, many of them well worth visiting. But the UK National Railway Museum in York seems to be the most impressive. According to themselves, they are the largest railway museum in the world. Nowadays, they have a second site in Shildon that opened in 2004. Shildon is close to the Darlington – Stockton Railway.

 

The railway museum is within walking distance from the York railway station. It is supposed to be the former York North locomotive depot. Car parking is also available but it is pretty expensive. Trains from London to York generally depart from London King’s Cross and the journey to York takes a little bit more than two hours. By car, the journey from London to York takes roughly four hours, the distance is about 200 miles (or 320 kilometers)

 

The free entrance is a mixed blessing. The museum in York can be very crowded, especially on weekends. For train buffs the museum is a must, as one of their slogans say, they have trains from the rocket to the bullet train. Although the Rocket is just a replica, the original Stephenson’s Rocket (built for the 1829 Rainhill Trials) is in the Science Museum in London.

 

Replica of Stephenson's Rocket

The replica of Stephenson's Rocket

 

The railway museum has a Bullet Train, supposed to be the only Bullet Train outside Japan, and some other non-UK trains but the lion part of the trains are from the UK. This is not a problem since the UK was for long time the dominant force in railways. You can see famous steam trains like the Flying Scotsman, the Mallard and the Evening Star.

 

Note that some of the rail vehicles are not always in York. They may be on display in other parts of the UK or out on a promotion journey on the railway network from time to time.

 

As well as railway vehicles, the museum has a huge warehouse containing posters, drawings, uniforms, plaques, tea & coffee sets, tickets, signs and other railway related items.

 

You can go inside the Bullet Train and sit in a seat but that is an exception. Most of the exhibits you can not get into. Actually, you are not even supposed to touch them, just watch. This is not a problem for train buffs but people not interested in trains can get bored quickly. So if you are a train enthusiast, it may be best to visit the museum alone or together with like-minded people.  

 

You can visit the National Railway Museum’s website here