Locomotion moving to Shildon

I'm surprised families can afford their prices!
(although it's been a few years since my last visit. It was much cheaper to pop out to buy something in town and then return to continue my visit)

 

That was an excellent lecture and it is a shame that it wasn't available to the wider community. I have often wondered if we need our own version of a TED talk in the heritage railway industry, a central database of lectures that can be given online and then viewed at a later date. But hey ho.

 

A railway-equivalent of TED talks;

'SHED Talks' ?

 

Yes.

 

With small kids in tow, that often isn't a practical option. Though my wife is always keen to make sure I go out with a picnic rather than buying on site...

 

Please can someone tell me what TED is please?

 

An online distributor of free, short lectures by notable speakers on a variety of subjects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)

https://www.ted.com/talks

Tom

 

Having got in for free many visitors like to support the public owned museum by buying from the cafe and shops, same as say National Trust members do, saving a few pence to walk out to a private convenience store doesn't enter the thinking.

 

Ah, Shildon. I went there in August 2014 to see 'star exhibit', newly cosmetically restored USATC 2253.


I went back a month later to see if things were any better.


2016, I popped in again.


I'm rather glad I saw Locomotion while it was in Darlington and not covered in tat.

 

Sales of food and"tat" aid both restoration projects and the continuing existence of these museums and their exhibits. The general public have to be engaged otherwise visitor numbers will not justify future Science Group funding.

 

But if the tat prevents people from getting a decent look at the exhibits the museum is no longer functioning as a museum.

 

I've no issue with food outlets. On each visit, several locomotives had been moved out into the yard and I had no issue with the resulting vacant areas having tables full of, lets be charitable and call it railwayana. I do have an issue when exhibits which the museum is supposed to be conserving are allowed to be used as display stands and to have things like water and coffee cups left on them by exhibitors.

 

We do often support that sort of thing (and happy to do so), but isn't the NRM catering outsourced? How much does the NRM actually get from those outlets. Is it a fixed rent, or a percentage of the profits?
(Sorry we seem to have digressed away from Shildon, although I suppose the same catering arrangements apply there as it does at York).

 

And "Locomotion" would indeed be a very distinctive tea urn if they can't stretch to building a dedicated shop and café.

 

Indeed it would be an unusual destination without a shop and cafe, whether the large planned extension will contain additional catering provision is not clear but it will allow a significant increase in covered stock preservation.

 

Did you attend on "normal" days or was it some sort of toy fair in progress?

 

If I remember right, the first occasion was a 'normal sunday' but advertised as an opportunity to see the USATC, which is why I drove 200 miles up from the Midlands and was disappointed with how it had been obscured. Looking at the few photos I took, pretty much everything else was covered the same way. I was only there for about 40 minutes and then moved on to Bowes Colliery for a while and ended up at the North Tyneside Railway, both well worth a visit so not a wasted day. The other two were September Gala events hence the locos being out in the yard.

 

Thankyou

 

If that was a normal day that it's really bad form to surround an exhibit with tat.