Author Archives: Sally Sculthorpe

About Sally Sculthorpe

I'm Sally, an Assistant Interpretation Developer at the National Railway Museum.

100 years of station master memories

Posted on January 16, 2013

From the 19th century right up until recently, the station master was the key authority figure in the railway station, with responsibility for all station staff. Large terminus stations and small country branch line stations were both managed by station … Continue reading →

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Like father, like daughter: a railway family remembers

Posted on December 31, 2012

Throughout the Station Stories project, a recurring theme has been people telling me that they worked on the railways because their parents, grandparents, and sometimes even great grandparents did before them. Here’s one such story about a father and daughter … Continue reading →

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The dog who was a signalman, and other canine Station Stories

Posted on December 10, 2012

It’s not just humans who’ve got stories to tell. I’ve also gathered lots of station stories about man’s best friend. I’ve heard about lovable pups who were good travelling companions, and naughty scamps who’ve terrorised train drivers. Here’s a few … Continue reading →

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How British Rail limited the butter on its sandwiches, and other Station Stories

Posted on November 23, 2012

Love it or loathe it, the provision of food by railway companies has always been an important part of the rail passenger experience. The fare on offer has varied from the luxurious hampers available to first class passengers in the … Continue reading →

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Young and old connect at Sowerby Bridge for our Station Stories project

Posted on October 11, 2012

Last Monday we held a Station Stories story-gathering event at the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms in Sowerby Bridge. The refreshment rooms are housed in the north wing of the original 1876-built station building. Former station workers dropped into the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms to … Continue reading →

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Station Stories: Gateshead Railway Club

Posted on September 25, 2012

As part of our ongoing Station Stories project we visited Gateshead Railway Club in pursuit of stories. We met a group of former railway workers who’d started work as young lads in the 1940s and worked together through to their … Continue reading →

Posted in Research, Station Hall redevelopment | 6 Comments

Station stories: bringing the goods depot back to life

Posted on July 25, 2012

This post was written by Alice Coltman, a volunteer working on our Station Hall redevelopment project. In its working life, Station Hall was the Sundries Goods Depot for York. To reflect that history, we’ve created a goods depot area in … Continue reading →

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Station Stories so far: help us collect the nation’s railway tales

Posted on June 15, 2012

This post is the first in a series about our Station Stories project. As part of redevelopments to Station Hall, we’re gathering peoples’ stories of working in railway stations and travelling by train. I’ll be blogging about the story-gathering activities … Continue reading →

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Celebrating the Jubilee: royal photos from our archives

Posted on May 29, 2012

This blog post has been written by Alice Coltman, a volunteer researcher assisting the Exhibition and Design team with the re-development of Station Hall. Hi everyone. I’m Alice. I’ve recently been researching the royal trains that are on display in … Continue reading →

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The human story behind a cabin trunk

Posted on February 17, 2012

In a previous blog I shared the story of Herman Booth and his cabin trunk. Earlier this week, I received a letter from Mr Booth’s relatives containing two wonderful photographs of the man himself. These snapshots offer a fascinating glimpse … Continue reading →

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