D05 - Early or Unusual

Did You Know?

Personal recollections of railways

Sep 22, 20224 min read

On Their Way to Wembley

The 1924/1925 Empire Exhibition. . . . . . On 23rd April 1924 (Saint George’s Day) King George V opened the British Empire Exhibition at...

Oct 12, 20213 min read

A short -lived hurricane

183 years ago this month in 1838, the Great Western Railway (GWR) received one of its first broad gauge locomotives named “Hurricane”....

Oct 5, 20213 min read

Those magnificent men!

In August 1883, the Great Western Railway (GWR) was party to a flying experiment on the Staines West branch from West Drayton, 13 miles...

Jul 23, 20213 min read

Big Wheels!

Wellington’s statue mounted on its railway-wheeled wagon. Photo taken from an “Illustrated London News” report. Locomotive driving wheels...

Aug 18, 20201 min read

A quiet afternoon in the cloud cuckoo valley

In September of 2019, the Friends generously supported the acquisition of a large kinetic sculpture by engineer and cartoonist Rowland...

Jul 8, 20204 min read

How the North East Branch of the Friends of the National Railway Museum acquired a Merry Go Round

The North East Branch meets every Tuesday at ‘Locomotion’ the National Railway Museum which opened at Shildon, County Durham in 2004....

Apr 23, 20201 min read

He Painted Letchworth Station in 1912

On canvas of course! Spencer Frederick Gore, born in 1878, became a significant British painter heavily influenced by the post...

Feb 27, 20201 min read

A new book available

A new book on the Rocket is now available through our shop This book describes the development of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway...