George Cross awarded to train driver goes on show
THE NATIONAL Railway Museum is starting 2018 with a new exhibition of train memorabilia shown together for the first time.
Called Highlights, the exhibition is situated on a balcony overlooking the museum’s Great Hall and includes paintings, medals, handcrafted models and other significant artefacts.
The new exhibition will showcase parts of the collection, of more than one million items, which are seldom seen by visitors.
A recent acquisition for the York museum, going on display for the first time, is train driver Wallace Oakes’s George Cross medal.
It was awarded posthumously after Wallace stayed aboard a burning locomotive to prevent a serious accident in 1965, and is one of only a handful received by railway workers.
Assistant director and head curator Andrew McLean said: “Although the 260 locomotives and vehicles are the most wellknown part of our collection, they make up less than 0.5 per cent of the total, which includes everything from paintings, ceramics, signage and signal boxes to coins, furniture, photographs and rare books.”