NRM - Your Thoughts

dropgrate at the NRM

The first thing, for my money, would be to begin to interpret and explain the lives of railway workers. At their height the railway employed more people than all of the armed forces put together - 700,000+. Explanations on their own are not enough, there should be displays of their Trade Union Banners, their leaders should be named, noted and, if possible, their portraits put on display - the struggles they waged, for working weeks of less than 100 hours, for sick pay, for paid holidays, and a whole host of other issues, from un-fair dismissal to weather protection put into a proper context. There should be some mention of the numbers of lives lost, 500+ per year with more than 60,00 seriously injured, even into the 20th century. The lack of any form of training, the railway company's attitudes towards passenger safety - which was equally poor.

The sectioned locomotive which, incidently I fired on for thousands of miles, should properly explain how it was kept in motion. The work of the crew, fitters, and ancilliary shed staff's role in keeping those wheels turning all need to be explained and contextualised.

I'm sure I could go on - but if you only covered what I've suggested it would be no small improvement.

 

Still doesn't make now the time to sell the land.

 

I must go to a different railway museum from some of the posters on here. Everything they have asked for is AFAIR covered already. OK you may have to read the boards and view more than just the loco hall but it is all there.

 

I think, one of the problems is that the railways began prior to the general availability of the camera.
The railways got going in earnest in the 1830's, but the first photograph was only 1814. Not until 1855 did photography become "reasonable", and later still, properly widespread.

I said earlier that I don't know the NRM, but I wonder if artists could be used to turn the written word, research and imagination, into something visual, and tangible?

 

There's some good stuff coming, thank you - and I'm pleased to say that several topics are ones we hope to cover in the redisplay, but please keep the thoughts rolling in.

 

I wonder whether it would be possible to construct a display showing the evolution of the railways and the people that used and worked on it? Base it around a selection of rolling stock from the period and highlight major events at the same time i.e. put the railway in context and show how they shaped Britain and the world.

Regards,

Dan

 

I would like to see more integration of artifacts with locos/rolling stock to produce 'living' scenes - the Station Hall is already set out like this in parts but I would like to see more of it, especially in the Great Hall. It helps put all the exhibits, large and small, in context. For example, a scene of a yard crane being used to transfer a crate onto a wagon from a railway lorry, and a box van being loaded by hand. It would enable staff uniforms, paperwork, tools, infrastructure, vehicles, working methods etc etc to be displayed in a working context - these objects are all fairly meaningless to most people if they are displayed in a glass case or described by text. The combination of these components tells the visitor far more than each item in isolation.

Biggest gaps I can think of in terms of displays are:

wartime/military (V2, Q1, loaded MOD wagon??)
preservation/railways for fun (Gladstone, Barry wreck 35029 style, miniature/models, and one of the Snowdon locos?)
possibly narrow gauge, and industrial?

Maybe also the exhibits should be presented to the visitor as a transitional timeline, so the early locos/track/navvies etc are at the entrance, BR steam and diesel transition/Eurostar etc towards the end of the visitor path, with everything else in between?

 

How about a gate guardian in Leeman road, the Terrier, lost in the childrens interactive area would be an ideal candidate. Sad that it sits in an interactive area and yet no one's allowed to even cab it!

When I take wheelchairs around the museum, a couple of things bug us, the subway under Leeman Road with its two slow small lifts and the walkway under 6000 which is out of bounds to wheelchairs. A loco up in the air or just raised at one end would not only look stunning and impressive but would enable more poeple to look underneath at the 'works'.

The diagonal lift from the Main Hall seems to be more trouble than it's worth and is often broken and the only other lift for my wheel chair friends is so small that it's one at a time when you've managed to find it. One toilet on that level for both sexes and disabled is far too few. In fact the toilet facilities in general are dated and need of updating.

The Station Hall site always smells of the restaurant and is generally dark and uninviting but I understand that the Royal Saloons have to be protected from strong sunlight, difficult problem.

Perhaps a small loco on display in the station concourse could be a fine advertisement...Aereolite would seem appropriate with it's local associations I believe.

 

It's a little odd that the UK's National Railway Museum seems to focus almost exclusively on English and Welsh Railways. There is, barring the Duke of Sutherland's saloon, hardly anything of Scottish extraction on display and as far as I know absolutely nothing from Northern Ireland. Perhaps this could be addressed in some way? Also, sectioned diesel and electric locos (or split the difference and section a 73) would complement 'Ellerman Lines' nicely.

Also, how about part of using the 'fan' area of the Great Hall where the other turntable used to be as a mocked up goods yard featuring the NRM's wagon collection together with some of the set pieces suggested above? The wagons in the Peter Allen building could then be moved, freeing up platform space for a relocated TPO exhibition and possibly a comparatively modern passenger train exhibit using, say, the EMU or the 87 plus a Mk.1.

 

Would be nice if the various signs/nameplates etc were displayed a little better,they seem very random at the moment and are often tucked away behind a loco so you cant appreciate them fully, how about captions and photos to explain them, for instance how many visitors know what or where Stainmore summit is? Also why not display the other semi namplates near Hamilton and likewise the A4's with Mallard. As I think has already been mentioned some steamy sounds wouldnt go a miss, maybe as a backdrop to the main hall and also the station hall and what about a button by some of the locos where you can hear what they sounded like, even if it is only the whistle, imagine hearing the Stanier Hooter,Gresley Chime and Bullied Hooter? Obviously I am very sound biased so if you need any recordings please ask.

 

Hi,

I agree with a lot of peoples comments on here. I appologise now if these have already been done-its been some years since I visited.

Getting across the people who built the lines, designed the routes and worked for the railways would certainly be a good idea particually given how many people used to be involved and the various railway towns.

Another issue raised in another thread was having a suitable barry loco that hasn't been restored next to Ellerman Lines to show the story of the preservation movement. With a few big anniversaries this year and some operating near or above the length BR existed having an area to display the history of the preservation movement could be worthwhile and also help explain how it all started.

Regards

Duncan

 

At one time we used to hire the lecture theatre at the NRM for preservation society meetings, but once the "in"hospitality industry got going the price went out of the roof, we went out of the door, and the theatre remained cold and dark.

Could this aspect be looked at again, as society meetings are not closed shop, complement the activitities of the museum and provide something extra for the public if they wish to attend - and as all that is needed is to turn the lights on, and collect a sensible hire fee, there really is no reason for charges in the multiples of hundreds of pounds range, except that someone wants to charge at that level for every calibre of user.

We have never moved away from York - so premises are available for meetings at a sensible cost - if you know where to look!

 

I like the idea of the set pieces although it would take up quite a bit of space. But it's better than walls and walls of inanimate objects nobody cares about.

One thing i think the NRM doesn't tell us about is the actual railways themselves. Perhaps there could be an exhibition detailing some of the more historically important (Liverpool and Manchester), spectacular (Settle and Carlisle) and technologically impressive (Channel tunnel) routes in Britain and encourage people to see them for themselves. Maybe you could get a few celebrities such as Michael Palin to introduce their favourite railway journeys (a bit ripped of the BBC but who cares).

I'm not sure about the barry wreck I think a section on preserved railways would need to cover more than just loco restoration. Restoration of Barry wrecks came along a bit later in the preservation movement after the pioneering work of the Tallylyn, Ffestiniog, KWVR, Middleton etc

Tim

 

Given the recent positive comment on the Michael Portillo programmes and his concentration on how railways contributed to the Industrial Revolution could the exhibits move away from showing the railways and coal and create displays relating to the developments of industries ( e.g. fishing ) and tourist areas ( e.g. Cornwall / Scotland ) and show the changes that railways wrought in their wake; rather than show the railways as an end in themselves show the end for which the railways were the means.

 

As Fred rightly says - the railways were part of a much, much, bigger picture

Stand on the doorstep of the Santa Fe El Tovar hotel,and look out over the Grand Canyon, or the Northern Pacitic's Old Faithful lodge in Yellowstone which needs no further interpretation. The Canadian Pacific's Empress in Victoria and Chateau Frontenac had a direct connection with the Midland's Adelphi in Liverpool and a direct lineage with the L N W's North Euston in Fleetwood.

Agricultural and forestry products were just as much part of the cargoes carried as steel or iron ore, or cotton or coal.

There was indeed,much more to railways than trains, and a deal more than franchising and rolling stock leases which are now strangling the very life out of a once great industry - thanks to the same calibre of politicians who have likewise kicked the museum world that seeks to reflect this rich history almost into penury, and certainly into the hands of the getrich quick merchants who seek to make returns out of merchandising and other opportunities at the museum .

 

The biggest thing for me has to be the lack of cab access. I understand that you want to preserve the cabs in as best condition as possible so maybe steps up to ALL cabs, not neccisarily going into the cab could be considered for some of the engines where cab access is not possible. Also I agree with the smells and sounds of steam comments above.

 

Maybe you should include some random facts and interesting ones too, whenI'm out and about on the railway people seemed suprised and amazed by how mny people it takes to move a rail, or even how long it takes to fire up a mainline locomotive int he morning or even a smaller engine on one of the preserved lines, as most people seem quite suprised and don't realise what the work is that goes on behind the scenes

 

More sounds and more smells.

Sound is easy and supermarkets manage to have manufactured smells driftig around, so why not in a railway museum? I suspect he smell of hot oil and coal smoke would be rather easier to produce artificially than those of baking bread or strawberry-scented smoke in night clubs...

'Performance' technology is more advanced than it has ever been and could be put to excellent use to enhance the 'realism of the working railway' at the NRM.

 

Umm.......smells, eh? Well, the Jorvik Centre not far from the NRM certainly had appropriate 'whiffs' abounding when it opened. Haven't been back for years though, so don't know if it's still doing it. Interesting idea; certainly the combination of coal smoke. hot steam oil & steam is pretty special

 

Well, I started this thread a couple of weeks ago and it has been interesting to read your thoughts and ideas, many of which were echoed by the small group I was in. FWIW, here are some of the comments we made. Bear in mind that our group was specifically made up of active railway volunteers:
* The Great Hall is too sterile and lacks any atmosphere. The new development should address this. (The Station Hall was felt to have been more sympathetically developed and had retained its atmosphere)
* It was felt that catering was encroaching on some of the displays. Catering could be provided in a more contextual way by use of buffet & restaurant cars and a mock up of a station buffet (Carnforth?!) or kept totally separate from the display area
* There seems to be a drive to make things interesting for children to the extent that it is in danger of becoming a childrens play ground and a theme park. The big wheel and the simulator were cited as examples.
* There is a general 'dumming down' of information and displays (which seems to be a modern trend in museums). There should be more technical information available on the displays and given by the explainers
* There should be more emphasis on the totality of the railways and not mainly the locomotives
* There should be something to show that work on the railways was often hot, dirty and dangerous. It was suggested that there could be displays of shunting - how it was done in the days of goods yards.
* There should be atmosphere through sight sound & smell. A mock up of a loco shed with a couple of rows of locos in dingy surroundings, steam drifting up from under a loco over a pit, the warmth of a cooling boiler and the evocative smell of hot oil and coal smoke could easily be simulated and visitors could walk along between the rows of locos. It needn't be a huge display but would give a real atmosphere to what a loco shed was like in steam days.
* Interactive should not simply be with electronic gizmo's that are frequently out of order but should be more of the real thing, such as operating points and signals. cab access and 'touch and feel'.
There should be occasional evening openings when 'enthusiast's' could have closer access to the things that they are interested in.
* Health & Safety should not be used as an excuse to avoid doing some of the above.
* Admission should remain free of charge