Saturday 21 August 2010

The National Railway Museum York and all Harry Potter fans


Yesterday I took my family to see the National Railway Museum in York. It was mainly for my grandson who at 2 yrs and 9 months is a train nut. The Museum is a fantastic place and free to visit. It covers the complete history of trains from the basic beginnings, through the age of steam into the present day. NOT TO MENTION THE STEAM TRAIN FROM THE HARRY POTTER FILM! see if you can spot it..... before you get to the bottom of this post.




















       
Taking photographs is quite a challenge as it is quite dark and there is a multitude of reflections and light sources. Flash is a must in some areas as is a relatively high ISO so as to get a half decent shutter speed. I would love to be able to photograph the exhibits when the place was empty and have my tripod at my disposal. 


I am not really into trains myself, however I must admit I fell in love with the Steam Engines. They have such character and are a feat of engineering. They must have been a marvellous site rumbling through the countryside. We did have a short ride on one of the steam engines which was great fun and my Grandson loved it, although his mum was more excited than he was.


This was the train we went on and this was the view as we travelled:


 I hope you have enjoyed this little blast from the past and present and I will leave you all now to reflect on what we have now and what has gone before. Is it better now? 
You know I'm not sure it is!






























Oh and one more thing!!!!! For all Harry Potter fans the steam train that was used in the film is the red one with 5972 on the front. If you missed it here it is again.


8 comments:

George said...

These are wonderful pictures from the railway museum. I was just reading the other day about the steam engine stamps that Royal Mail is issuing (or may have already). The stamps look beautiful, but nothing like your photos.
Thanks for visiting my site.

Valerie said...

My train buff hubby cum Harry Potter fan loves to visit the railway museum in York, always travelling up by train ... naturally, since the museum is in such close proximity to the railway station. I must try and remember to repost the Australian Puffing Billy pictures

MadSnapper said...

these are great, i am so glad you shared all the engines with us. some of them i have never seen anything like them before. my favorite is the car and the bus photo, but i love riding on trains and have all my life. to bad we don't have very many left here in the US. i also am very fond of any blast from the past. some of these i remember them running when I was a child. we traveled a lot by train when I was growing up. thanks for a visit to a museum I will never see in real time

DawnTreader said...

My father was a railway and steam engine enthusiast all his life. Back in my teens in the early 70s we travelled in Britain by car and visited lots of museum railways with steam engines still running. I escaped the railway museum in York by spending a day with a penfriend I think (1971). I visited in York the following year but not at that museum.
Being a Harry Potter fan of course I recognized that engine... knowing it to be a red one! ;)

Montanagirl said...

This was a wonderful "look back" into yester-year. My husband says we'd all be better off if we had never progressed beyond the Model A. I'm inclined to agree. The "Daylight" Steam Locomotive rumbled through our town last October on an exhibition run. It was "eerie" and wonderful to hear that lonesome whistle blow. I might have to post a few photos of it again - maybe today!

Unknown said...

What a wonderful place. My Grandson is 2 years and 11 months and is crazy about trains too! Mind you, I am too, so he comes by it honestly!
Great shots!

Carole Poirot said...

Even though I'm "not into trains" at all, I can still appreciate that these pictures are lovely. I went to the V&A yesterday and it was a huge challenge to take some pictures without a tripod due to the light - in fact so much of a challenge that I binned most pics and will go back another day ;-) Love from London x

Elaine said...

That is a beautiful museum and I enjoyed touring it with you. I'm sure the most fun for you was watching your grandson's enjoyment. Seeing things through a young one's eyes makes everything more exciting.