As I have already blogged I am undertaking some post
graduate studies, this has already led to some comments from my family along
the lines of “Nerd” and “Obsessed”. To confirm all of this I have spent the day
in York, studying and playing trains.
Firstly I was at the National Railway Museum; it
really is a spectacular national treasure. Although it has many full size
exhibits I rather like the ephemera associated with railways. There are
fantastic models that have been made of engines and boats, and the silver ware
and crockery used by the railways. They exude a confidence that these were the
great industrial combines of their age.
The museum also has a good library of railway books;
particularly some obscure journals that I use on my course. As it is free to
use and has good Wi-Fi it is a natural place to go and study. I have an
advantage over all of my fellow students in living within easy reach of this
facility. It must be a lot harder living abroad to undertake this very British
study, even in this era of e-books.
The other big bonus of today was hidden away in the
corner of the museum. There they have a large model railway dating from 1905
that was used to train the signalmen of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
and it’s successors right down to Rail Track in 1995. It is a fantastic working
period piece. Everything works, and even at model pace you really experience
the pressure of working in a signal box, particularly for me because it is
double track, and I am only used to single track with passing places. My thanks
to the volunteers who guided us through using it.
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