Missing Mallard, Models and Museums

Day Twenty-nine – York

Today was another anorak day, full of trains of all sizes. We're not sleeping very well at the moment for some reason so we started late(ish) once again. This is becoming something of a habit and may well be soul destroying when its back to early work starts!

Once again the weather was dubious at best. One of my enduring memories of this trip is going to be the poor weather unfotunatley but we're making the best of it and to be fair it has not impacted the sightseeing that much. It has, however, made all of us quite homesick at one point or another. We're driving up over the North Yorkshire Moors tomorrow and for once the weather will be appropriate. Wuthering Heights under a lowering grey sky anyone? What's the betting it will be sunny? ;-)

First up today was the National Rail Museum and a chance for me at least to enjoy some serious anorak time. The muesum is a pretty decent one as they go and certainly they have the largest collection of steam engines I've ever seen in one place.

The one locomotive that they ARE missing at present is one I was desperate to see – Mallard – a streamlined A4 and one of the most iconic steam locomotives ever built. She's ON LOAN! What were the odds? In her stead was the Duchess of Hamilton, another streamlined A4 but I was gutted not to see Mallard. It was like expecting blue ribbon chocolate icecream and getting vanilla. Still blue ribbon, but NOT your chocolate...

We saw plenty of other interesting and very cool stuff, including original Royal Trains (carriages fitted out as saloons, bedrooms, etc), the loco that starred in the Harry Potter movies as the Hogwarts Express and brilliant exhibit involving an Atlantic class locomotive which had been cut open down it's full length to expose all the inner workings. You could also walk underneath and see all the underside, giving you a real sense of the size and weight. Jenni was very impressed by one of the largest steam locomotives ever built, a massive Chinese number with driving wheels over 6 foot high.

Another highlight for me was the workshops where they are actively conducting restoration work. You can walk right round (above) the shop floor on a balcony and see the restoration engineers at work. I would have spent HOURS up there if Jenni had let me. I would have needed ear muffs though as the noise was ferocious at times. There is nothing quite like a bloke flogging a massive piece of cast iron with a metal hammer in a large hall for making your ears ring. Brilliant to see though! Monky (senior and probably junior too), you would have LOVED IT. ;-)

Next up was the York Model Railway exhibition. This was something of a disappointment and not because everything was 100 times smaller. First up, the lady(?) on the desk was a bit creepy and I had a real "Little Britain moment". She was pleasant enough to talk to though. The model itself is a good size but everything is a bit tired and "done before". I've seen better at school fetes back home. It just seemed like it had been there for years and not been looked after much.

From there we walked across York (just saying that sounds cool to me) and visited the York Castle Museum. This is a more "typical" museum i.e. it has a broader set of exhibits covering various periods of history. They have some very tidy collections of antique glassware, furniture and other knick-knacks as well as some fun themed exhibits. The 80's kitchen was entertaining as it was just like looking at my early teens all over again. LOL. Five different shades of brown tiles and an old microwave and suddenly I feel 12 years old again.

The best exhibit is an entire (and really quite BIG) reconstructed Victorian street, complete with people wandering about in costume. The fire station (yeah, I know, I know...) was also pretty cool. Thank God for diesel pumps! Anna really enjoyed the kids activity stuff which was probably one of the best so far by the sound of it.

We finished the day with dinner out as we've cooked for ourselves quite a lot of late. We all ate far too much and felt a tad under the weather walking home. I don't think we learnt anything though. ;-)

Cheers,

Millsy