Doncaster’s rail museum finally opens

DELAYED BY a year due to coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions, a new Rail Heritage Centre in Danum Gallery, Library and Museum has been opened in Doncaster.

The centre showcases the importance of the rail industry and the pivotal role Doncaster and its world-famous Plant Works have played in rail history.

It includes displays of Doncaster-built 2-6-2 4771 Green Arrow and Great Northern Railway ‘Atlantic’ 251, loaned from the National Railway Museum, alongside rail-related exhibits and memorabilia from the extensive Doncaster Grammar School Railway Collection.

The school set up a railway society in the 1930s and has been collecting items ever since. Public access to the collection of around 10,000 artefacts was previously very limited.

Many of these items are on display for the first time and will be refreshed with additional exhibits at regular intervals.

Situated around a 10 minute walk from Doncaster railway station, the Rail Heritage Centre is open all day Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and half-day afternoons on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is open until 19.00 on Thursdays, but closed on Sundays. More information can be found at www.dglam.org.uk.