No new NRM loans for the next two years

THE SCIENCE MUSEUM Group (SMG) has announced that there will be no new loan agreements on objects and vehicles from both the National Railway Museum (NRM) and Locomotion as it works to deliver its Vision 2025 masterplan. Existing loan agreements are unaffected by the move, as are any requests for loans that were submitted to the organisation prior to January 31, 2022. After that date, there will be no further agreements until after December 2023.

The tour diary for the NRM’S flagship locomotive, EX-LNER A3 Pacific 4-6-2 steam locomotive 60103 Flying Scotsman – which is managed by Heywood-based Riley & Son (E) Ltd – is unaffected by the move and a series of celebrations are planned for the centenary of the legendary A3 next year. From January 2024, the SMG states that it will expect to start receiving new requests for loans in line with its standard notice periods of six months ahead of the start of UK loans and nine months for international loans. The NRM’S lead curator, Ed Bartholomew, said: “Vision 2025 is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to connect the past with the present, to inspire the innovators, the engineers, and the problem-solvers of the future and to become the World’s Railway Museum.

“We will continue to make the collection as accessible as possible, which includes lending items from the collection both nationally and internationally, but while major redevelopments are underway, our capacity to administer new loan requests will be reduced. “Introducing the temporary pause on new loans is a sensible step to ensure the team can fully deliver our ambitious plans.”

The Search Engine facility at the NRM will be unaffected and will remain open for researchers.