Day 3 : Yorkshire Museum and National Railway Museum
Another great breakfast this morning and no rush to head out this time. There was time for coffee, cereals and toast, as well as the full Yorkshire breakfast (veggie for Di).
Once breakfast was over it was time to checkout. We were offered free parking until noon so we left the car in their car park and set off into town.
We'd remembered we didn't collect the York's Chocolate Story guidebook during our visit the day before, so we walked through town to collect it, then we set off for the Yorkshire Museum on our discounted entry ticket (just £1.50 on top of the £8.50 for yesterday's trip to the York Castle Museum).
It's not a huge place. There was an introductory video so we headed into the theatre to watch - I think there was one other family in there, so it was a little quiet. There are a variety of old artefacts - below left some cart hardware and jewellery found in cemeteries across East Yorkshire. Below centre and right are stone works from the area.
They have a collection of dinosaur skeletons with exhibits about their extinction.
Below left are a collection of bronze axes, used for farming and tools but also for weapons such as swords and daggers. The helmet below centre is probably the best example of it's type, the name "Oshere" inscribed above the nose guard. They also have the only surviving stirrup from a Viking saddle, below right.
There was also a suit of armour on display. Outside, we took in the ruins of St Mary's Abbey, which was first built in 1088. The abbot there was one of the most powerful clergymen of his day, with monks working the Abbey's large estate. Monasteries were banned by King Henry VIII in 1530s so the monks were pensioned off in 1540 and the Abbey buildings became a palace for the King when visiting York. They fell into ruins until they were excavated in the 1820s by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.
Before the Abbey, this was the site of a Roman Fortress (below right) which was built in 70 AD, then rebuilt in the Third or Fourth centuries.
We walked back to the B&B to collect the car and drove over to the National Railway Museum. There are a few car parks around there but they are all pretty pricey, but that's York for you. Better to go on the train if you can - especially as the museum is close to the station. There was quite a line to get into the Museum itself, but it was half term, and though entry is free, they like to get details and hopefully a donation on entry, so it took awhile to get in. There was another entrance but could have been as bad and we were too idle.
As we entered they gave us a list of activities, including steam train rides and miniature railway rides outside so we thought we'd head their first - we had about a half an hour before their lunch break. We'd planned to head out around 2pm, but didn't arrive till just before 1pm, so we'd probably stick around a little longer. It was cold and grey and threatening to rain, but had so far held off. Outside we spotted The Rocket replica so bought a ticket and climbed on board into the trucks behind the engine.
It's just a short little ride, though there is apparently talk of expansion in the future, which would be cool, but it's still nice to recreate that original ride on Stephenson's Rocket. We loved it, and at only £2 per human (bears go free!) it wasn't bad value. The driver's were nice too and let me have a sit on the locomotive, although I didn't get to drive.
It's such a pretty engine, we had to get a few more shots before it set off on the next ride. They seemed to be doing a roaring trade!
Off the platform I found a good vantage point for the assistant to take a movie and some more photographs.
It is totally cool!
We went over to take a look at the Miniature Railway and were going to take a ride but didn't have any more change (turns out we didn't need any, we found out later as the machine gave change! D'oh!) That said, I was able to get some shots of the engine while the riders were changing over. I want one of these in my garden - it's TGT-size!
We headed inside to get coffee (and change) but also to warm up a bit. We wandered along the platforms, checking out the trains and carriages on display. Queen Adelaide (Queen Victoria's aunt) was one of the first royals to travel by train, and Queen Adelaide's Saloon (below left) was used by her in the 1840s. This carriage was hooked up to a regular train, when required. Below centre and right is Gladstone, used on London to Brighton routes between 1880s and 1920s. It was very powerful so a popular choice for pulling heavy express passenger trains.
Steam Locomotive Crab (below) was made in 1926 and in service until withdrawn in 1966. It was used on the London Midland & Scottish Railway.
Below left is Steam Locomotive No. 245 which was built in 1897 and withdrawn in 1962.
We headed back outside and bought our tickets for the Miniature Railway (when we found the change machine-y thing!) D'oh! Well, there was quite the queue so we had to wait about three train rides for our turn and the weather was getting a bit rainy. We didn't want them to call off the rides before our turn but we were okay. We got on the back in a little private section! I'd brought my Flat pals Redddy and Wills and Danny and Martha with me (below right), so they got to ride the train along with me and the boys (Theo and Frank) (below centre).
According to the programme, there was a chance to pose on the footplate of Teddy, in light steam so we headed there next. It's a pretty little engine. I couldn't wear the engine driver jacket but they did let me try a hat and I got a couple of photos on the footplate which was cool. Then we all got a photo in front of the engine. It seems that, as an industrial locomotive, there was never a 'proper' name for this engine, though it was called Herbert for a while, before being unofficially named Teddy after owner Rev Ted Boston.
She was built in 1941 and is believed to be the smallest working standard gauge steam engine in the UK. She started life in Poole, Dorset and worked throughout the Second World War. There is talk that Rev Audrey took inspiration for Teddy for the character of Percy in the Thomas the Tank Engine series, but while similar apparently it's all just a myth.
Time was marching on so we walked back through Station Hall and into the Great Hall. This is a fabulous huge room packed full of locomotives. As we entered we spotted the Mallard Simulator we'd read about. It claims to recreate Mallard's record breaking run, with sounds, sights and smells of the world's fastest steam locomotive (STILL!)
We paid and took our seats (it seats twelve but we got the back row to ourselves - two humans and three bears). While it was kinda fun, the view was impaired by a very tall person on the front row blocking our view of the video screen (which has the footplate point of view). We got the gist though, and it was a little bumpy as they got up to speed, not to mention only just having room on the track to slow down safely again. Glad we did it, but fairly tame - it does say it's suitable for all the family (over 1.07m anyway!) They had a little kiddie version, too, so we took a seat in that one too, but the humans were too cheap to pay for this as well.
It was Frank's first time at the National Railway Museum and he was overawed by all the trains he could see INSIDE!
There were a lot of locomotives to look at, including the South Eastern and Chatham Railway steam locomotive No 737, built 1901 (below left), the NER '1001' class steam locomotive and tender, No 1275 built in 1874 (below centre) and the Great Western Railway 6000 Class King George V, built in 1927 (below right).
They have a replica of Stephenson's Rocket as it was in 1829. It was a revolutionary locomotive in it's day, combining the connecting rods (from the cylinders to the driving wheels), fire tubes in the boiler (increasing the heating surface to produce steam more quickly) and a blast pipe for exhaust steam (a narrowing tube to create a draft to pull hot gases through the tubes in the boiler, increasing efficiency).
This model was made for the Science Museum in 1934 using methods and materials that would have been used back in 1829. Isn't it lovely!
Below is the Evening Star, which was made in 1960 with a twenty year life span, but it only worked for five years. It was the last mainline steam train built in Britain. Frank thought he'd like to drive this one.
Electric Locomotive 26020 was built in 1951 and withdrawn in 1977. Below centre is a large locomotive, the Chinese Government Railways Steam Locomotive KF Class No. 7, made in 1935. Below right is British Railways diesel electric locomotive No D5500 (31018) built in 1957.
You'll love this next one! It's the Great Western Railway 4900 Class 5972, the Olton Hall. Isn't it lovely? Of course, these days it has a totally different claim to fame as this was the engine used in the Harry Potter movies as the Hogwart's Express! It was built in Swindon in 1937 but in 1964 it was sold for scrap! Fortunately 213 of 300 scrap engines were bought by railway enthusiasts for preservation. Phew!
The train is used in the movies, with a Hogwarts Express headboard on the smokebox, which features the Hogwarts School crest. Despite there being a Castle type of locomotive, this is actually a Hall, however, that doesn't stop it wearing the Hogwarts Castle nameplates. It was great to be able to clamber up onto it and have our pictures taken. There's currently a full-size replica in Universal's Islands of Adventures park, Orlando where you'll find the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with it's Hogsmeade village. Later this year (2014) there will be a "proper" Hogwarts Express train running between Hogsmeade and the new attraction of Diagon Alley, in Universal Studios, Orlando, the sister park.
And finally...we ended our day on the West Japan Railways Shinkansen 'Bullet Train', built in 1976. There was room so we tried a seat each - wish our trains were this comfy!
It was quite busy on this train, even though it wasn't going anywhere - I suppose it's because it was a nice comfy place to sit down? They had a video about the Bullet Train too, but we didn't watch - it was time to go home!
We had a quick dash around the gift shop - it's pretty large with a whole load of stuff - some good value, some pretty expensive, but enough of a variety of the usual named stuff, models, all kinds of trains and pictures, models and the like. It's a good shop, but we didn't spend much. Then we went back to the car for the drive home in the rain. Booooo.
