Giants Gather - Museum brings in new exhibits by rail!

Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon has seen the arrival of a variety of visiting diesel locomotives over the week of 7 April for the Diesel Days held at the museum on the 12 and 13 April.  As a rare experience for the museum, some of the diesel vehicles will be arriving by the traditional route of rail! 

Locomotion regularly sees many railway vehicles arrive and depart as part of the special events programme, however, these are most commonly seen travelling on the back of a low-loader lorry. 

For the Diesel Days event, both the Class 52, D1023 “Western Fusilier” (part of the National Collection, on loan from the National Railway Museum at York) and the Class 60 “Teenage Spirit” locomotives have arrived under their own power, by rail. 

Locomotion is linked to the main rail network, and vehicles can be transported directly onto the site via the track approach.  Locomotion is the only attraction in the region with its own rail link to the mainline.  Vehicles arriving onto the site via the rail link are an exciting and unique sight to be seen.  The majority of exhibits arrive at the museum by road because there are often reliability issues with many of the older railway vehicles that form part of the museum’s displays and collections. After many years of service, and a great deal of wear and tear, many exhibits are simply not reliable enough to operate on the main rail network. The Class 52, D1023 “Western Fusilier” and the Class 60 “Teenage Spirit” are exceptions to this rule!

Class 52 D1023 “Western Fusilier”, and the Class 60 “Teenage Spirit” will be displayed alongside the Class 20 D8000 (also part of the National Collection), and Class 37 37 003, which are also visiting the site for the Diesel Days event.  Locomotion’s own shunter 03 090, and the Dutch State Railways 663 will feature during the weekend as well.

The Class 20 D8000 and the Class 37 37 003 arrived at Locomotion several days ago, and can be currently viewed in the area around the Collections building.

Diesel Days will take place on 12 and 13 April 2008 between 10.00am and 5.00pm.  The event is free admission with free parking.

A special evening photography session will take place between 7.30pm and 9.30pm on Saturday 12 April 2008. Spot-lighting of exhibit Locomotives will be made available (subject to weather). Attendees must book in advance, £15 per person.  Bookings can be made by email info@locomotion.uk.com or by calling 01388 777999.

For further information contact Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon on 01388 777999, email info@locomotion.uk.com or visit www.locomotion.uk.com.

11/04/2008

“Platform 7” Café Launched

“Platform 7” café at Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon reopened under new management at 10.00am Monday 17 March, to coincide with the summer operating hours for the museum.
 
The new enterprise is managed by two local business partners who’ve managed the “The Square Café” in Church Street, Shildon for almost three years, during which time the business has thrived. The new menu includes a range of hot and cold dishes, drinks, plus a selection of homemade cakes, scones and pastries. Healthy and vegetarian options will also feature on the menu.

Dr George Muirhead, General Manager of Locomotion said:

“The new “Platform 7” café offers a unique opportunity to enjoy simple, honest food and refreshments, whilst viewing examples of our industrial heritage held within the museum collection. It is the perfect place to relax and get away from the stresses and strains of everyday life, but within a convenient location. We believe our customers will be delighted with the new café, and look forward to extending a warm welcome to all who visit to sample the new menu”.

19/03/2008

Completion of First Railway Vehicle at Shildon's New Conservation Workshop

This weekend (17 and 18 November) will see the debut appearance of the very first restored vehicle to come out of the conservation workshops at Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon as part of the “Cab It” event at the museum.

The “Woolmer” locomotive was originally built in 1910 by Avonside of Bristol.  It worked on the Longmoor Military Railway in Hampshire until 1954, when it went on display.  It then came to Locomotion in 2005 prior to restoration which began early 2007 as part of the Learning in Motion project.

The Learning in Motion project has seen the recruitment of a workshop coordinator and three trainees who are developing traditional engineering skills.

Last week was very special for the restoration team at Locomotion seeing completion of the first overhaul at Shildon since the closure of Shildon Wagon Works. In this case it is conserved for static display and attention has been paid to allowing permanent cab access to the vehicle for visitors to the museum.

Bill Brown, Workshop Coordinator said: “We picked Woolmer up as a rusting, dismantled and sad locomotive. We had a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle to finish as the previous owner had stripped her down ready for restoration and this had occurred before we set eyes on her. I am delighted to be here for this landmark event. We set a completion target as the “Cab It” event that takes place this weekend and we are right on time. We can then look forward to the next project, a Great Eastern Railway saloon coach. This is just the start of the rolling project to restore collection vehicles”.

Craig Alderson, trainee at the Conservation Workshop said: “My father was one of the last apprentices at Shildon Works and it is great to be one of the first in the recently opened Conservation Workshop. The variety of skills I have learnt since March is amazing. We just about cover every trade in this line of work and at a highly skilled level.”

15/11/2007

Santa out in the sun at Locomotion

Children were in awe at a most unusual sight at Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon this week when Santa popped in for a very early visit to see if everyone was being good over the summer holidays.

Santa who will be visiting the museum in December for the museum’s annual Santa Specials, walked jovially around the site greeting families as he passed them.  Many children visiting the museum were delighted to see him and assured Santa that they had been good.  He happily assured them that he and his reindeer would be visiting everyone in December.

On the bright sunny day Santa went for a walk around the museum to make arrangements for the four busy days he will spend at Locomotion in December. 

The Santa Specials at Locomotion will be held over two weekends on 8 and 9 December and 15 and 16 December.  The event includes the chance to meet Santa and receive a present and there will also be magic shows, a miniature railway ride for children and performances of brass or jazz bands.

Booking forms for the Santa Specials event at Locomotion are now available.  To request a booking form or for further information please call 01388 777999 or email events@locomotion.uk.com. 

02/08/2007

Museum visitor makes exhibits available to Braille readers

On 31 July museum visitor, Pele West, met with museum staff at Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon to hand over a piece of work that will help visually impaired visitors gain detailed knowledge about the museum and its collections.

Pele who visited the museum for the first time in May made an enquiry about information available to visitors in who read Braille and found that while standard information about the museum site was available in Braille, there was no way for Braille readers to find out further information about the collections from the museum’s literature. 

Locomotion’s Explainers have compiled an Information Pack for use by visitors and museum staff which is held at reception in the museum’s Collection building.  The pack can be used by anyone seeking more technical, historical and intriguing information about the museum’s collections. 

Pele who is herself a visually impaired Braille reader came up with the idea of a personal project to transcribe the Information Pack for use by other Braille readers at Locomotion.

Pele said:

“While there was some information available for Braille readers at the Locomotion it didn’t really go into any depth, I thought I could change that and help other people find out more about the museum!”

Through careful and dedicated work Pele has produced a new Braille Information Pack that not only covers the history of the historic buildings within the museum site but also background information to some of the museum’s star exhibits including the original Sans Pareil which competed against Stephenson’s Rocket in the Rainhill trials in 1829; and the big and bright Deltic Prototype, one of the pioneering diesel locos dating from 1955; or the controversial Advanced Passenger Train – Experimental, designed in the 1970s with technology that was so advanced for its time that it was dropped! 

George Muirhead, Museum Manager said:

“Pele’s project and hard work will help bring this history to life for a number of visitors who couldn’t previously access this information.  It will allow them to learn about the collections and the museum at their own pace.  It is a great achievement and a great asset to the museum.”

The Braille Information Pack is held at reception in Locomotion’s Collection building and may be used by visitors on request.

For further information about Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon contact 01388 777999 or email info@locomotion.uk.com. 

www.locomotion.uk.com

02/08/2007

Wagon Working Returns to Shildon - 2 August 2006

Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon has received the backing of over £36,000.00 of European funding through the Government Office North East for the ^ Learning in Motion project to develop the museum’s conservation workshop. 

Locomotion is working in partnership with South West Durham Training, the National Railway Museum, York and Sedgefield Borough Council to facilitate the workshop development.  The total costs of the project will be over £90,000.00 with support of other partners.

Support from the European Social Fund aims to improve education, training and work experience of local residents.  The Learning in Motion project demonstrates Locomotion’s commitment to deliver an apprenticeship scheme at the museum that will provide employment, skills, development and training opportunities for members of the local community.

Andrew Scott, Head of the National Railway Museum, said:

"Locomotion already provides an excellent visitor experience, but an equally important part of its role is in developing local skills and training in the Shildon area. The conservation workshop is a fantastic opportunity for the museum, local residents, and of course our nation's heritage, and backing from the European Social Fund will make a significant contribution to this valuable project."

Bob Waller, Chief Executive of South West Durham Training Ltd said:

“It is very good and exciting news.  We have been working with Locomotion, the National Railway Museum and Sedgefield Borough Council for several years looking at ways we can work together to provide training for engineering conservation.  The Learning in Motion project can only be good news for the people of Shildon and conservationists”

The conservation workshop will allow the museum to carry out important collections work on the vehicles at the museum and help preserve them for future generations. 

Anthony Coulls, Collections Care Manager at Locomotion, said:

“Conservation is at the heart of our activities at Locomotion and being able to kick start the conservation process here will enable us to put the future of the collection on a sound footing.”

The workshop will not only bring the conservation and restoration of vehicles from the National Collection to Shildon, it will also bring wagon working back to Shildon for the first time in over 22 years.

24/04/2007