National Railway Museum

The difference is that the printed word can be challenged - and changed if necessary BUT the computer word is not only more acceptable but difficult to change if wrong.

Again a tale from my work days. Every Monday morning the Home Office received a list from prisons of their current occupancy and the sheets were duly passed to a clerk who checked them for errors before passing them on the Data Control section who transcribed the data into computer language which was then processed overnight on Tuesday. On Wednesday mornings a successful run generated a message which indicated that I could run a suite of 3 programs that produced a printed Occupancy Report within 3 minutes. The report was produced by 12:00 mid-day and taken by the Senior Officer to the clerk who checked the printed report against the figures she had assembled from the forms by end of day on Monday; if any fault was found it was ALWAYS in the computer-generated figures not in hers. When this was pointed out with the consequent question of what value was the report she replied that the computer printout looked more presentable to management therefor more acceptable - irrespective of the accuracy of the printed figures !!

Sadly that dependency on the "computer being right" still permeates thinking today and I'm sure that this dependency has caused much of the recent problems that face modern society !

 

Forgive me but you could not be more wrong IMHO. Put something in writing or typescript and then ^it is written" as the Bible puts it ie not to be questioned.

Let me cite the works of a railway historian we shall call "Buggins". His work seemed meticulously researched, quoted sources etc. However it was seriously incorrect in places and Buggins knew it. Much guesswork dressed up as hard fact. However. any attempt, regardless of how gently it was expressed, to get these inaccuracies corrected were either argued with or ignored.

Two people I knew were fed up with this and prepared a book of their own. Original sources were investigated and former employees consulted. The book was duly written and reviewed in a specialised publication. The review can be summarised as "Messrs A and "B" have prepared an interesting work on their subject. How strange that it does not refer to the admirable work of Mr. Buggins".

The printed word is every bit as difficult to amend as the electronic one, perhaps in some ways more so.

PH

 

To be fair, I think Fred confuses data - where I see that phenomenon daily - and interpretation, where the authority of published authors is hard to shake, especially in a field like ours without significant academic interest.

 

Would that be the same Mr Buggins who lives in a town in the south west that had its railway line washed away a couple of years ago?

 

(My emphasis)
There is one of the questions at the root of this debate and many others.

 

No this Buggins has died and did not, as far as I know, live in the south west. There are any number of Bugginses around, writing books which quote "sources" which others can never find. The one I referred to was chosen because I knew the people who tried to correct things, only to be rewarded by a silly review (by an academic)

Paul H

 

Because public funding requires them to appeal to the public, not a specialist group.
I think you will always struggle to provide anything which appeals to everyone in the specialist group either, as this thread highlights very well.

 

Sounds quite modest to me. Equates to about 5 consultants. They should be set an objective of spending ten times as much without achieving anything.

 

Mission

Our mission is to seamlessly and proactively energise our products in order to enthuse and stimulate our customer base, whilst empowering our stakeholders to exploit emerging scenarios and leverage their potential.

Objectives

• To attract as many people as possible to our museum and its events by offering a great day out to people of all ages, gender, ethnic background and sexual orientation.
• To reduce our collection to a sustainable level by eliminating boring exhibits.
• To promote the museum using Flying Scotsman as a living ambassador for the steam age.

(Just jesting, obviously, but I might have a think about your challenge and suggest a serious mission statement).

 

Of course when it comes to crunch. No matter which way an organisation like the NRM jumps, they'll be dammed, as there'll always being someone pointing the finger......

 

Now open again with a good response from visitors.
https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/18628056.nrm-boost-citys-tourism/

 

I visited last week "on spec" not realising that I needed to pre book. However, the helpful staff outside gave me the Science museum booking phone number and I was able to get in 5 mins later, with computerised confirmation and tracking information. There was plenty of space for people to keep apart and it meant that it was easy to get photographs without people in front. Some parts are still closed, but the two main halls were open together with the cafe. There was, needless to say, plenty to see. As they have an unrestored L&B coach on display, I did wonder if they should also have a Barry "Wreck" to show what preservationists have achieved or perhaps a "Preservation Scene" themed display area?

 

That topic comes up every now and again with various unrestored Barry wrecks being proposed, I don’t think it’s a bad idea, I think the Isle of Wight do something similar in ‘Train Story’ with their vintage coaches.
There’s a 42xx at ‘Steam’ in Swindon which is used in a similar way.

 

Given the advent of new builds surely some thin air is sufficient to show what we sometimes have to start with?

 

Could just use a Hornby or Bachmann catalogue and draw a big circle round something that’s not with us... I’m sure that’s how some new builds get selected

 

I'm hoping that someone with better notes and/or memory than me can confirm a recollection of Prototype HST running from Kings Cross to York for the opening of the new NRM? I saw the HST run in both directions but I don't recall the date and can't find any photographic evidence of the run? I had long thought that the train carried Royalty for the opening? I believe the event to have been in the autumn of 1975?
Anyone able to confirm please?

 

Didn't the NRM in it's currently location officially open on 27/9/1975, 150 years after the opening of the Stockton and Darlington railway?
The prototype HST set was also at the Shildon celebrations from at least 29-31/8/1975

 

Thanks for the reply Jon. There is every chance that I could have seen the working north and return south on different days in August for the 150 celebrations of S&D and there are a couple of images online showing the return working from Shildon to Old Oak Common on 31st August following the cavalcade at Shildon. More likely is that the HST could have also been used for the official opening of the NRM the following month?

This prompts the question as to whether my memory has served me with the view that the outward journey of the HST was on 27th September and carried members of the Royal Family for the official opening of the new NRM? I find it strange that I can find no online images of this potential working, nor of the prototype HST working at the southern end of the ECML!

EDIT : The museum was opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1975. The opening coincided with the 150th anniversary celebrations of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway

 

The one thing I can say is that when the HST brought the cavalcade to a close behind Evening Star the front of the HST was covered in flies and the windscreen was smeared all over from the wipers.
It was quite a comparison seeing the new British Railways present itself in this way with all of the other historic exhibits shone to perfection.

 

Yes indeed - another subject close to my heart is the loss of insects over the past 40 or so years! I used to have to wash my van windscreen every few days in the summer months during the 70's No longer necessary.