On Sunday 16 April 2023, we visited York to meet up with some friends of ours – two from New Zealand and one from London. They were visiting the National Railway Museum in York, so we tagged along to spend time with them.
Almost all of the museum is in one very large room, with this turntable in the centre. I had no idea train turntables were a thing, but they were. Unlike today’s electric trains that come to the end of the line in Glossop and go back out the opposite direction without thinking about it, steam train engines were much better at pulling than pushing, so any end-of-the-line locations back then would have some way for the engine to move to get to the other end of the train.
If there was space, they might lay enough track for the engine to turn around and rejoin the carriages from the other end.
If there wasn’t, they could use a turntable. They’d pop just the engine on it, turn it almost 180 degrees, and then there would be another piece of track for it to swoop past the waiting carriages and connect back to the line past them, so it could reconnect at the other end.
These are all handmade!
James Peel Richards held the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of model railway vehicles made by a single person.
These are so finely made, and there are such an incredible number of them. We slowly walked up and down this wall, admiring the craftsmanship.
It is the Flying Scotsman‘s 100th year. (It’s a famous train.) They have it there in the museum in its own wing, along with lots of memorabilia related to it.
There were many pieces of train and railway memorabilia in the museum, which all sadly lacked explanation. These signs were some of them.
After we left the museum, Chris and I wandered in a park nearby along the River Ouse. It was full of weeping willows, quite dramatic.
It was sorely lacking in benches (though we learned later that this part of the river floods regularly, so that explains it). We did spot that bench across the river, but since the nearest bridge was half a mile away, it was quite a hike!
We noticed these strange flowers on our way back to the car. The stalk in the centre is black and thick – it looks like a metal post, but it’s definitely plant material. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any plant (or plant part) so black! The flowers and the green bit at the top all seem upside down, too. A most intriguing plant!
All in all, it was a fab day out, and we had a most excellent visit with our friends.
