Monthly Archives: November 2009

A little personal indulgence and side-track… I have been a member of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society since 1985 and a Loco Department volunteer since 1990. I was made up to Passed Cleaner in 1992 and have made regular visits … Continue reading →

Well, more report writing this week, meetings and visits to and from folk. Discussions of new loans, new books, sharing colleagues in other museums joys and frustrations and assisting with advice on loco restoration projects. All part of another busy … Continue reading →

Working for the NRM isn’t all playing with trains and looking at other people’s toys. Some of it is good old collections management, report writing, condition checks and answering queries or basic research. This week has basically consisted of such … Continue reading →

Yesterday morning we took the apprentices and one of our volunteers over to Hopetown at Darlington to see the boiler refitted to the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group’s J72 loco, marking a milestone in that loco’s return to steam. Once … Continue reading →

Today is the 11th November, the anniversary of the Armistice of 11th November 1918, the end of the Great War. Many railwaymen went off to the conflict, and many lost their lives in a foreign field. The North Eastern Railway … Continue reading →

At the risk of starting a series of “Shildon Sunrise” pictures, here’s another bit of our local railway heritage as I walked to the station this morning. This is the Surtees Railway – now a path through Hackworth Park. My … Continue reading →

A popular event in both the York and Shildon calendars is Cab It – a chance for visitors to access the cabs of some of the locos from the National Collection and imagine the life of a driver or fireman … Continue reading →

A day of meetings at York meant an early start from Shildon station; I was rather taken by the sun rise over the line as I crossed the footbridge to Platform 1. The rest of the day’s weather wasn’t as … Continue reading →