Kidderminster Railway Museum

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The Railway Museum building can be seen behind visiting loco ‘The Coffee Pot’

Although it works closely with the SVRSevern Valley Railway, Kidderminster Railway Museum is run by an independent organisation formed by a group of SVRSevern Valley Railway members in 1989. The Museum, which opened the following year, is housed in the 1878 constructed two-storey former GWRGreat Western Railway grain and wool warehouse adjoining Kidderminster station.

Organisation

The museum is operated by The Kidderminster Railway Museum Trust Limited, a private company limited by guarantee, Company number 02033064.[1]

The Trust is a registered charity, No 518479. The Charity Commission records the Trust’s objectives as being “An independent museum established for the collection and conservation of relics and documents depicting the railways of the British Isles, and subsequently making them available to all those who wish to access them”.[2]

Grants

On 23 May 2001 The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded the Trust £177,500 for roof and canopy restoration, to provide additional storage space for the museum's collections and release further floorspace for new displays.[3]

Collection

The museum has on display an extensive collection of smaller historical railway items such as totem boards, signalling equipment and locomotive name and number plates. The museum also houses the former Midland Railway booking office from Alvechurch. Working 'hands on' exhibits include a telephone exchange formerly used on the SVRSevern Valley Railway in preservation, and a lever frame from the north Signal Box at Rogart, Scotland.

The upper floor of the building houses an extensive collection of books and railway photographs. The photograph archive includes more than 150,000 prints and negatives and around 25,000 colour slides. This research facility is available to review on request; for details see the KRM Web site.

The Museum is also host to a small collection of rolling stock outside in the vicinity of the relocated Wrangaton Signal Box.

This border marker was formerly located on the Tweeedmough to Kelso line.[4] It was erected on the Museum site in 2016.

Events

The museum arranges a regular programme of films, with guest presenters showing historic railway transport films. It operates signalling weekends using its large collection of signalling equipment for basic tuition before participants go on to work in one of the SVRSevern Valley Railway's signal boxes when steam trains are running. Other events include railway photograph fairs and "Photographs on the road". The museum also hosts meetings of groups associated with the SVRSevern Valley Railway. Exhibitions are also held and include the following held or planned:

  • 6-15 June 2015 - exhibition of signalling
  • 9 to 24 June 2018 - Gerald Broom GRA exhibition of paintings.
  • 4 to 19 August 2018 - an exhibition of photographs to commemorate 50 years since the end of scheduled steam services on British Railways.

Railart

The Guild of Railway Artists stages its annual (previously biennial) art exhibition at Kidderminster Railway Museum. Frank Hodges, chief executive officer of the Guild was reported by the Kidderminster Shuttle in 2014: "The Guild looks upon the museum as its home venue having exhibited some ten times since its first event there in 1994.”[5] Further exhibitions were held or planned as follows:

  • 27 August to 2 October 2016
  • 26 August to 1 October 2017.[6][7]
  • 25 August to 30 September 2018[8]

Kidderminster Railway Museum has a small buffet, and also sells new and second-hand books.

As an unconnected enterprise, The Engine House at Highley displays a collection of larger items such as locomotives and rolling stock.

See also

The Engine House Visitor Centre at Highley
Rolling stock at Kidderminster Railway Museum
List of Charities associated with the SVR

References

  1. Companies House
  2. Charity Commission
  3. HLF (retrieved 27 December 2016)
  4. Information from David Postle
  5. Kidderminster Shuttle 27 August 2014 (retrieved 27 December 2016)
  6. Unofficial SVR Forum (retrieved 27 December 2016)
  7. SVRLive (retrieved 26 August 017)
  8. KRM website (retrived 6 January 2018]

Links

Kidderminster Railway Museum website
The Guild of Railway Artists' website