The Yorkshire Air Museum, situated on a former WWII bomber base at Elvington, lays claim to be the largest independent air museum in Britain. It features 15 exhibitions, 50 aircraft, many of them in working order, and a large range of military vehicles. Also commemorated is the wartime presence of two French heavy bomber squadrons – the only two to operate from Britain. Aircraft in the collection range from WWI replicas to a Nimrod. Airplane buffs should allow at least half a day for a visit.
York Railway Museum
Also known as the National Railway Museum, York.
For a train buff, heaven would probably consist of a day here, plus a ride on a steam-hauled mainline excursion train. There are about 100 locos, 200 other items of rolling stock, and hundreds of thousands of other objects, everything from rubber handstamps to turbine powered railcars.
The museum has free admission, and is a couple of minutes’ walk from the York mainline rail station. It’s possible to walk to the museum from anywhere in York town centre in about 10 mins. There is a car park in Leeman Road adjacent to the Museum. If you think the daily parking charges are a bit much, you could take a bus from your accomodation to the centre of York, or use the ring-road park and ride from Rawcliffe Bar or Askham Bar, from where services 2 and 3 should drop you outside the museum. Central York during the day is not a place you want to be if you are a car driver. (I was staying in the suburbs of York and came in by bus).
BTW, there is another branch of the NRM at Shildon, Co. Durham. The collection there includes the Advanced Passenger Train.
Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
This is a narrow-gauge railway, re-created over part of an old route near Exmoor. The route is quite short, and once you’ve ridden the train and had tea there probably isn’t a lot else to do. The rolling stock includes two small steam locos and one diesel. Worth a visit when combined with other attractions in the same area.
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway
This is one of the more minor preserved railways. Three and a half miles of track runs from Chinnor (the only station) to Thame Junction, in the direction of Princes Risborough. Sunday is the principal operating day, and some trains are steam hauled. Curiously there are no steam locos on the stock list, but they have a 0-6-2 tank on loan (Sept 2011).
Worth a visit if you are nearby visiting other attractions in the area. Once you have ridden on the train there isn’t much to do except ride on it again.
Severn Valley Railway
This preserved steam railway runs from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster. There are 6 stations and about 16 miles of track. It recreates the feel of railway travel of a past era quite well. The line has been prone to landslips, and if I remember correctly, there were places where the train trundled slowly past the greenery and one could see trackside fittings that had obviouly moved several feet laterally. Near the tracks there are various things to look at, including The Engine House, a new museum and visitor centre, and touristy stuff in the towns along the line. The line now carries around 250,000 passengers annually. At one time there was an annual folk festival at Bridnorth, and they had a Folk Train excursion to pubs with folk music sessions in a couple of picturesque towns down the line. We got to play music on the train too. You could have a similar inebriated outing – just leave out the folk music.
Nene Valley Railway, near Peterborough
The Nene Valley preserved railway has seven and a half miles of track running between Peterborough and Yarwell. There are five stations and a 617 yard tunnel. I don’t remember the tunnel, but I do remember the Polish tank engine and the unusually bumpy ride. Unusually, the railway was re-constructed at the time of re-opening to the Berne continental loading gauge, so that it could use the available European engines and rolling stock. The list of locos and rolling stock is quite long, and includes both Continental and British examples. The principal station and NVR HQ is at Wansford, a popular starting point. All Day rover tickets are available.
Attractions near the line include the Nene Valley Park, Peterborough Cathedral, and “Railworld”, an independent rail museum.
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
The Centre is a railway museum situated at Quainton station, near Aylesbury. This is primarily a static museum site, though there are short train rides on steaming days. There is quite a lot to look at in various parts of the triangular site, some of it under cover. There are displays in the reception hall, and in the museum across the tracks, and you can also look into the repair shed at the further end of the site. Then there is rolling stock in various states of disrepair, parked in the sidings, with labels. The loco and rolling stock collection is quite large. Look out for the enormous narrow-gauge engine from South Africa.
The admission charge covers everything, including rides on steaming days. The centre also hosts events for vintage road vehicles. Since railway preservation societies have to attract families, they also host “Thomas the Tank Engine” days.
Didcot Railway Centre, Oxfordshire.
This is more of a static museum site, and there is a lot to look at. On the long, roughly triangular site are an engine shed and various displays, and three short train ride tracks, one of them being 7ft broad gauge. There are also stalls and a refreshment room. I recall that on my last visit after two or three hours I’d had enough of being on my feet and went to refuel in the café, while my train fanatic friend continued poking around the engine shed for another half hour. The admission charge includes everything, including train rides on steaming days. A modern railway runs alongside the site, so one can from time to time see a 21st century train swish past an early 20th century train pushed by a tank engine.
The site adjoins Didcot Station, so if you feel that arriving by car to look at old trains is a bit silly, you can arrive by train from the north, east, or west.
Great Central Railway
An eight-mile preserved railway, running from Leicester northwards to Loughborough, and the only double-track preserved railway in the UK. There are four stations. The GCR preserves the atmosphere of steam era travel as well or better than any other society in the UK, and to stand by the double track and see one of their large steam locos hauling a train at speed is quite nostalgic. All Line Runabout tickets are available. There is some car parking at each of the stations.
Immediately to the north is another ten miles of track, the connecting bridge having been scrapped in the Beeching era. This is operated by another society: the “GC Railway, Nottingham”. Operational locos (Sept 2011) include one steam and about a dozen diesels.
West Somerset Railway
There is a car park adjacent to Minehead station. On the one occasion I travelled on the railway, I allowed two hours to travel from another part of Devon, and ended up driving at rally speeds for the last hour to catch my train, and caught it with 3 mins to spare. Devon roads are slow. You have been warned.
Minehead is a tourist resort, and there are a few other items of interest near the railway, e.g. Dunster Castle.