ryan125hst
Established Member
A reasonably early 7am start gave me time to have breakfast and get ready for the day. I had originally planned to visit the museum with a mate, but as he was unable to go, I went with my Mum and Sister instead. We went to Retford station on the previous day to buy a Family and Friends Railcard in preparation for a holiday to London later in the month, and to buy the tickets for the day. It’s a good job we did as my Mum didn’t realise that she had a form to fill in (although we have had railcards before!)
We arrived at the station around 15 minutes before our train, 1S06 08:54 to Edinburgh was due. I didn’t take any photographs of the station and the 225 that took us to York as my camera is over five years old now and the battery is on its last legs! Anyway, the train arrived and departed two minutes early and we eventually found a few seats towards the centre of coach C. Two of them were reserved between Peterborough and Edinburgh, but no-one was in them and we were happy to move if anyone showed up (more on that later). The train seemed to be going slower than usual, but despite this and a short wait outside Doncaster station to allow a Pacer to leave heading towards Lincoln and another to arrive heading to Scunthorpe, we arrived into Doncaster.
As we arrived into Platform 8, I saw an ex Virgin trains Mark 3 with much of its paint stripped, and a GNER Mark 3! I was very surprised by this. The fact that it is still in GNER livery shows that it hasn’t been in service a while! (I think some of the body shell was missing as well. Can anyone confirm why this coach is here?) I also saw what looked like the shell of a Class 150 in an old FGW livery (not 100% sure) behind the GNER Mark 3. Finally, a Class 322, two Class 67’s and the Wabtec Class 08 was seen. I’ve never collected numbers though, so I can’t answer any questions about that, sorry.
The train began to get even busier now and the noise level inside the coach increased as a result, so much so in fact that the announcements made by the Train Manager were inaudible. We set off on time and, after what seemed to be a slow departure, started to accelerate to 125mph. My sister and I were suddenly disturbed by a woman who was suggesting that we were in her seat. I’m not sure what nationality she was, but she wasn’t English. After working out through the slightly broken English that my sister was in her seat, I stood up allowing my sister to sit in my unreserved seat so the woman could sit in her seat. A minute later, after I had explained that the seat my Mum was in was also reserved between Peterborough and Edinburgh, they realised that they had also reserved that seat. We moved out of the seats and it later transpired that her friend made my sister move again even though she was now sat in an unreserved seat. If my sister had told me this at the time, I would have asked to see the woman's ticket so I could help her locate her reserved seat.
Anyway, it wasn’t a problem as we found space to stand in the toilet end vestibule of coach B. I decided to walk to the other end of the coach to have a look at the loco. Big mistake! I got there to find that I couldn’t see out of the window and two guys were stood in the vestibule, making me look a bit of an idiot. To make myself look a bit better, I explained to one of them that I was a rail enthusiast and I had come to see the loco. His reply was “Bad luck mate, you’ll have to get off at York to see it”. Well, I’ve see Class 91 hundreds of times before, but never from the TSOE (Tourist Standard Open End) coach, so that defeated the object! I’m sure I’ve seen a photo or video online where you can see through the window? Maybe it was just too dirty to see through. We arrived into Platform 9 at York a minute late at 09:33 and headed to the NRM to join the queue to get in.
The gates opened on time at 10am, and it wasn’t long before we were in the museum and heading to the A4’s! I am very impressed with the condition of all six of the A4’s. In particular, Dominion of Canada wasn’t in the best condition when it arrived in the UK, but they have done a fantastic job in Shildon. It was also impressive that even the working engines look fairly shiny, particularly when I have seen them with soot and oil splatted down them when working on the mainline in the past! We had arrived from the Station Hall and the subway and walked towards the turntable between Mallard and Dominion of Canada.
After taking a few photos from the ground, it was decided that I would get a better view from the turntable, a rare chance to go on it given that a steam locomotive is normally sat on it! Sadly, my camera hasn’t got a wide enough angle lens to get all six locos in at once, but I managed to get three on at a time as well as get a few closer shots.
I then wanted photographs of myself with all of the locomotives, quite a challenge considering the number of people, but I did it! It was funny at one point as I was going round because the father (I’m guessing) of a fairly young child (probably no more than a year old) was placing their child on the edge of each locomotive and getting a photograph. The child will have no idea how significant it all is now: Just wait until they are older! I managed to get a photograph of myself by each of the locomotive's nameplates and also got a few additional photographs of the numbers of each of them and the speed record plates of Mallard and Sir Nigel Gresley. Given that there was a large number of people around making getting any more photos very difficult, and I had now got the most important photos, we decided to move on and visit the works.
The works had three locomotives in it: A shunter (I would say Class 08, but I don’t think it was; Class 47 Prince William, a locomotive that used to haul the Royal Train; and, hiding at the back, Flying Scotsman. How sad that she is still undergoing restoration. I went to Railfest last year and she was almost complete, and it was expected that she would be on the mainline by September. After all the problems, I’m not even getting my hopes up that I will ever see her in steam again. I’ve got vague memories of seeing her in steam when I was younger, but if my calculations and knowledge is correct, she hasn’t steamed since I was about ten. It is getting to the stage where I am beginning to think that it would have been better to simply cosmetically restore her and put her on display next to Mallard. Then, if enough money was raised, build a replica to run on the mainline. Don’t forget, the real Rocket is in the Science Museum, and the replica that steams was at the NRM today. It cost £3 million to build Tornado. I’m sure I have read that Flying Scotsman has already cost more than this.
We then headed to the balcony to see a few trains in action. I have always loved the balcony and am particularly pleased that they replaced the signalling screens a few years ago as the old system always seemed to be broken- I hope they are still able to get a signalling feed when the new signalling control centre opens. Outside, things seemed fairly quiet for a mainline. There were plenty of trains on the board, but there seemed to be fairly long gaps between trains at times. I saw three things of note: The New Measurement Train heading north at just after 11am, a double Pacer for Harrogate, and a Class 185 First Transpennine Express going into platform 2. If anyone knows why this train didn’t continue to Manchester, I would be interested in finding out. Is this a regular occurrence on a Saturday?
After getting a few photos of the trains, and following a First Transpennine Express into platform 3 on the signalling screens, we moved on to the Station Hall. As we were walking to it, we were drawn to the containers acting as a catering area (outside the Great Hall). I’ve never seen anything like that before, but it certainly does the job!
The Station Hall has undergone many changes since I last visited the museum proper two years ago (I walked through it to get to Railfest, but that was as far as it went last year). For a start, the area near the toilets (beyond the shop) is now a gallery and is currently displaying “It’s quicker by rail” with adverts of rail travel from pre nationalisation, through to British Rail and even present day. It also has a real HST cab inside, and a model of the proposed Intercity 250. It is also air conditioned, making it very pleasant on a hot day like today! (for those who are reading this months afterwards, it was around 28 degrees Celsius at least, and I think it hit 30 in the afternoon!) It was a massive change from what it was like for many years, but while I was a little bit sad about it given the memories I have of it before, it looks a lot more modern and all of the trains that used to be in the area are still at the museum, so it is an improvement.
The Station Hall itself has also had many changes, with the whole place swapped around. The royal train carriages are now at entrance side of the building. The regular passenger carriages (such as the restaurant carriage) are located towards the centre of the building, more or less where they used to be from what I can gather. The freight vehicles are now located at the far end. One thing I loved was the Mark 2 carriage and the Class 87. I’ve seen people complaining that the NRM isn’t interested in the modern railway. I noticed a lot of modern posters at the exhibitions, and the Mark 2 is certainly a fairly modern coach (compared to everything else in the room). The fact that you could sit inside was also great. I think it is the fact that they were such a popular coach and are still in (limited) service today is why I was so pleased to see it in there. Looking on Abrail, it looks like the NRM now own the coach, so hopefully it is here to stay! I wonder if they will be able to get a Mark 3 in a few years time (and add a Mark 1 to make things a bit more complete)?
By now, we were getting hungry and headed to the café (is it still called Brief Encounter?). I was disappointed that jacket potatoes weren’t on offer as they have been in the past, so we decided to try the café in the Great Hall. Sadly, they weren’t being sold there either, so we settled for a very tasty ham salad sandwich and a chocolate cookie. One thing I noticed while eating my lunch is that the former funicular railway has now been removed. I have read on Wikipedia that they were no longer maintaining it due to a lack of spare parts, but I don’t recall it being missing last time I went. I suppose it was pointless keeping it there if it wasn’t possible to operate it again, and the space is now used as part of the café area. Also of note is the Mallard Experience simulator. We didn’t go on it, but we did notice a young boy of about five or six years old get on and then decide that he didn’t like it and wanted to get off! Also, I noticed that the old post carriage is now located by the Mark 2 carriage in the Station Hall, but what happened to the cab of the Class 325? The Mallard simulator is now in its place and I didn’t see it anywhere else in the museum.
I hope you are enjoying this so far. I have got one more part to post.
Ryan
We arrived at the station around 15 minutes before our train, 1S06 08:54 to Edinburgh was due. I didn’t take any photographs of the station and the 225 that took us to York as my camera is over five years old now and the battery is on its last legs! Anyway, the train arrived and departed two minutes early and we eventually found a few seats towards the centre of coach C. Two of them were reserved between Peterborough and Edinburgh, but no-one was in them and we were happy to move if anyone showed up (more on that later). The train seemed to be going slower than usual, but despite this and a short wait outside Doncaster station to allow a Pacer to leave heading towards Lincoln and another to arrive heading to Scunthorpe, we arrived into Doncaster.
As we arrived into Platform 8, I saw an ex Virgin trains Mark 3 with much of its paint stripped, and a GNER Mark 3! I was very surprised by this. The fact that it is still in GNER livery shows that it hasn’t been in service a while! (I think some of the body shell was missing as well. Can anyone confirm why this coach is here?) I also saw what looked like the shell of a Class 150 in an old FGW livery (not 100% sure) behind the GNER Mark 3. Finally, a Class 322, two Class 67’s and the Wabtec Class 08 was seen. I’ve never collected numbers though, so I can’t answer any questions about that, sorry.
The train began to get even busier now and the noise level inside the coach increased as a result, so much so in fact that the announcements made by the Train Manager were inaudible. We set off on time and, after what seemed to be a slow departure, started to accelerate to 125mph. My sister and I were suddenly disturbed by a woman who was suggesting that we were in her seat. I’m not sure what nationality she was, but she wasn’t English. After working out through the slightly broken English that my sister was in her seat, I stood up allowing my sister to sit in my unreserved seat so the woman could sit in her seat. A minute later, after I had explained that the seat my Mum was in was also reserved between Peterborough and Edinburgh, they realised that they had also reserved that seat. We moved out of the seats and it later transpired that her friend made my sister move again even though she was now sat in an unreserved seat. If my sister had told me this at the time, I would have asked to see the woman's ticket so I could help her locate her reserved seat.
Anyway, it wasn’t a problem as we found space to stand in the toilet end vestibule of coach B. I decided to walk to the other end of the coach to have a look at the loco. Big mistake! I got there to find that I couldn’t see out of the window and two guys were stood in the vestibule, making me look a bit of an idiot. To make myself look a bit better, I explained to one of them that I was a rail enthusiast and I had come to see the loco. His reply was “Bad luck mate, you’ll have to get off at York to see it”. Well, I’ve see Class 91 hundreds of times before, but never from the TSOE (Tourist Standard Open End) coach, so that defeated the object! I’m sure I’ve seen a photo or video online where you can see through the window? Maybe it was just too dirty to see through. We arrived into Platform 9 at York a minute late at 09:33 and headed to the NRM to join the queue to get in.
The gates opened on time at 10am, and it wasn’t long before we were in the museum and heading to the A4’s! I am very impressed with the condition of all six of the A4’s. In particular, Dominion of Canada wasn’t in the best condition when it arrived in the UK, but they have done a fantastic job in Shildon. It was also impressive that even the working engines look fairly shiny, particularly when I have seen them with soot and oil splatted down them when working on the mainline in the past! We had arrived from the Station Hall and the subway and walked towards the turntable between Mallard and Dominion of Canada.
After taking a few photos from the ground, it was decided that I would get a better view from the turntable, a rare chance to go on it given that a steam locomotive is normally sat on it! Sadly, my camera hasn’t got a wide enough angle lens to get all six locos in at once, but I managed to get three on at a time as well as get a few closer shots.
I then wanted photographs of myself with all of the locomotives, quite a challenge considering the number of people, but I did it! It was funny at one point as I was going round because the father (I’m guessing) of a fairly young child (probably no more than a year old) was placing their child on the edge of each locomotive and getting a photograph. The child will have no idea how significant it all is now: Just wait until they are older! I managed to get a photograph of myself by each of the locomotive's nameplates and also got a few additional photographs of the numbers of each of them and the speed record plates of Mallard and Sir Nigel Gresley. Given that there was a large number of people around making getting any more photos very difficult, and I had now got the most important photos, we decided to move on and visit the works.
The works had three locomotives in it: A shunter (I would say Class 08, but I don’t think it was; Class 47 Prince William, a locomotive that used to haul the Royal Train; and, hiding at the back, Flying Scotsman. How sad that she is still undergoing restoration. I went to Railfest last year and she was almost complete, and it was expected that she would be on the mainline by September. After all the problems, I’m not even getting my hopes up that I will ever see her in steam again. I’ve got vague memories of seeing her in steam when I was younger, but if my calculations and knowledge is correct, she hasn’t steamed since I was about ten. It is getting to the stage where I am beginning to think that it would have been better to simply cosmetically restore her and put her on display next to Mallard. Then, if enough money was raised, build a replica to run on the mainline. Don’t forget, the real Rocket is in the Science Museum, and the replica that steams was at the NRM today. It cost £3 million to build Tornado. I’m sure I have read that Flying Scotsman has already cost more than this.
We then headed to the balcony to see a few trains in action. I have always loved the balcony and am particularly pleased that they replaced the signalling screens a few years ago as the old system always seemed to be broken- I hope they are still able to get a signalling feed when the new signalling control centre opens. Outside, things seemed fairly quiet for a mainline. There were plenty of trains on the board, but there seemed to be fairly long gaps between trains at times. I saw three things of note: The New Measurement Train heading north at just after 11am, a double Pacer for Harrogate, and a Class 185 First Transpennine Express going into platform 2. If anyone knows why this train didn’t continue to Manchester, I would be interested in finding out. Is this a regular occurrence on a Saturday?
After getting a few photos of the trains, and following a First Transpennine Express into platform 3 on the signalling screens, we moved on to the Station Hall. As we were walking to it, we were drawn to the containers acting as a catering area (outside the Great Hall). I’ve never seen anything like that before, but it certainly does the job!
The Station Hall has undergone many changes since I last visited the museum proper two years ago (I walked through it to get to Railfest, but that was as far as it went last year). For a start, the area near the toilets (beyond the shop) is now a gallery and is currently displaying “It’s quicker by rail” with adverts of rail travel from pre nationalisation, through to British Rail and even present day. It also has a real HST cab inside, and a model of the proposed Intercity 250. It is also air conditioned, making it very pleasant on a hot day like today! (for those who are reading this months afterwards, it was around 28 degrees Celsius at least, and I think it hit 30 in the afternoon!) It was a massive change from what it was like for many years, but while I was a little bit sad about it given the memories I have of it before, it looks a lot more modern and all of the trains that used to be in the area are still at the museum, so it is an improvement.
The Station Hall itself has also had many changes, with the whole place swapped around. The royal train carriages are now at entrance side of the building. The regular passenger carriages (such as the restaurant carriage) are located towards the centre of the building, more or less where they used to be from what I can gather. The freight vehicles are now located at the far end. One thing I loved was the Mark 2 carriage and the Class 87. I’ve seen people complaining that the NRM isn’t interested in the modern railway. I noticed a lot of modern posters at the exhibitions, and the Mark 2 is certainly a fairly modern coach (compared to everything else in the room). The fact that you could sit inside was also great. I think it is the fact that they were such a popular coach and are still in (limited) service today is why I was so pleased to see it in there. Looking on Abrail, it looks like the NRM now own the coach, so hopefully it is here to stay! I wonder if they will be able to get a Mark 3 in a few years time (and add a Mark 1 to make things a bit more complete)?
By now, we were getting hungry and headed to the café (is it still called Brief Encounter?). I was disappointed that jacket potatoes weren’t on offer as they have been in the past, so we decided to try the café in the Great Hall. Sadly, they weren’t being sold there either, so we settled for a very tasty ham salad sandwich and a chocolate cookie. One thing I noticed while eating my lunch is that the former funicular railway has now been removed. I have read on Wikipedia that they were no longer maintaining it due to a lack of spare parts, but I don’t recall it being missing last time I went. I suppose it was pointless keeping it there if it wasn’t possible to operate it again, and the space is now used as part of the café area. Also of note is the Mallard Experience simulator. We didn’t go on it, but we did notice a young boy of about five or six years old get on and then decide that he didn’t like it and wanted to get off! Also, I noticed that the old post carriage is now located by the Mark 2 carriage in the Station Hall, but what happened to the cab of the Class 325? The Mallard simulator is now in its place and I didn’t see it anywhere else in the museum.
I hope you are enjoying this so far. I have got one more part to post.
Ryan
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Come to think of it, I think this carriage was mentioned in the thread about the Chiltern Mark 3's. I'm guessing that, by a few years, you mean around 2006/7, shortly before GNER's franchise ended. 
)
That makes sense now.
PM me if you don't want this information to be public, but where was the revenue block? It was announced on the train as we arrived into York, but there was no one by the Platform 11 exit.