NRM’s Station Hall restoration
THE NATIONAL Railway Museum’s Station Hall, a former goods depot and now home to the national collection of original royal carriages, is set to receive a £500,000 refurbishment thanks to the Friends of the National Railway Museum. The charitable organisation has raised £300,000 from members to develop and refresh Station Hall’s permanent exhibition. This is housed inside the historic Grade II-listed structure that is home to six royal carriages, including one of the museum’s most popular attractions – Queen Victoria’s 1869 saloon carriage.
Work is due to start in the spring and once complete will see an estimated 200 new collection items and 25 rail vehicles go on display. Work is scheduled to be finished by 2022, subject to Vision 2025 work to reduce the museum’s environmental impact and the York Central Plan for the city centre’s renovation. Alongside the new display, the Science Museum Group will also provide £200,000 to complete physical improvements to Station Hall’s roof and walls.
The restoration project will change the display and place the carriages into complete royal trains matched with period locos. This means that Class 47 47798 Prince William, which hauled the royal train until 2004, will be added. The project will also provide a greater focus on the roles of railway workers and passengers and underrepresented stories from railway history. These will include women’s experiences of working for the railways and the first black workers from the Windrush generation who helped shape Britain’s post-war railway.
A significant new object to go on display in the Hall will be an original wooden WH Smith kiosk, which used to stand on the platform of Waterloo Station. The kiosk is currently in the conservation workshop with extensive refurbishment needed before it can go on public display. There will be a greater use of film and sound with new installations drawing on the museum’s rich archive, such as the pioneering sound recordings of Peter Handford. Another project funded by the Friends, the museum’s National Archive of Railway Oral History (NAROH), will also be added.
The Station Hall project will take place alongside the museum’s £55.3m, Vision 2025 masterplan, which will see the comprehensive regeneration of the National Railway Museum and its surrounding area. For more information please visit: www.nrmfriends.org.uk