Electric Railway Museum
by Ben Goodwin
Added to website 11 December 2011
ELECTRIC RAILWAY MUSEUM
WINS MAJOR NATIONAL AWARD
One of the highest accolades given to recognise railway preservation in the UK and Ireland has been awarded to Electric Railway Museum. The
Coventry-based attraction has received the prestigious Small Groups Award from the Heritage Railway Association (HRA).
The award identifies the
work done by Electric Railway Museum since its creation in 2008 as ‘an outstanding contribution to railway preservation’,
specifically ‘in
recognition of its excellence in the preservation of less fashionable stock outside the scope of most heritage railways’.
As an umbrella
organisation, the Heritage Railway Association represents the interests of the majority of heritage and tourist railways, tramways and
railway preservation groups within the UK and Ireland – with over 250 members. Their Small Groups Award is judged annually by a committee
comprising representatives of the HRA Board and Committees and editors from the national railway press. The award itself is a carved panel
from a Royal carriage provided for Queen Victoria by the Great Western Railway and will be presented to Electric Railway Museum at a
ceremony in the New Year.
Heritage Railway Magazine Editor, Robin Jones, said: ‘What the museum volunteers at Electric Railway Museum are
doing is preservation in its purest form. Steam engines will always woo the crowds, but very few groups are involved in saving items of
electric rolling stock because they cannot be run under their own power on preserved railways. Electric traction, which has too often
come a poor third behind steam locomotives and heritage diesels in the preservation stakes, makes up a huge proportion of our modern
railways network. Essential items must be saved for future generations if we are to have a complete view of railway history and heritage.
‘Given
the right degree of support and backing from the powers that be, this splendid museum should take off as a major and unique visitor attraction
for Coventry, Warwickshire and the West Midlands, while providing a fantastic and unrivalled education resource.’
Electric Railway Museum aims
to promote the heritage of all electric trains in the UK through traction and rolling stock restoration, display and operation, along with work
in gathering historically relevant technical and photographic archives. Electric railways have a long history that is rich in both technical
innovation and socio-economic impact. Many aspects of our everyday life would not have been possible without the creation of the electric
railway, from high-speed rail travel (such as the Channel Tunnel) to underground railways and commuter travel.
The work of Electric Railway
Museum at is entirely run by volunteers and funded by donations from the public. The site is home to a sizeable collection of preserved electric
locomotives and multiple units, containing unique items that are the last survivors of once typical and numerous classes.
Chairman of Electric
Railway Museum, Graeme Gleaves said: ‘This is the highest level of recognition we could achieve in the UK railway heritage sector. The award is
testament to everything that we have worked so hard to achieve over the last few years and proof that what we are doing is not only the right
thing, but that the results are being noticed far beyond our own perimeter fence.
‘I cannot thank all the volunteers who have worked
effortlessly to make this happen enough. I am so proud of each and every one of them; we have built an outstanding team that have turned
the site from a storage depot to a viable museum and this award is something for us all to share and celebrate.’
Electric Railway Museum is
available for visits throughout the year, subject to prior notice. However, keep checking the museum’s website for details of their ever-popular
Open Weekends, when the site is fully open with events and activities on offer for all ages.
Website
www.electricrailwaymuseum.co.uk
More about Electric Railway Museum on this website
HERE
Electric Railway Museum
Hastings Coach
FORMER BUFFET CAR TO HIGHLIGHT
HIGH-SPEED RAIL STORY AT
ELECTRIC RAILWAY MUSEUM
After a year packed full of successful public engagement events and high-profile acquisitions, Electric Railway Museum closes 2011 with the
announcement of a new arrival to its Coventry site. Laboratory 4, affectionately known as ‘Hastings Coach’, was the first vehicle to run with the
Advanced Passenger Train Prototype’s suspension and tilt systems. A former buffet car on the Hastings line, it also had a specially built tilt
system hydraulic pack that could be used to test alternative components.
The Advanced Passenger Train Prototype (APT-P) was the first train to successfully implement an active tilt mechanism in passenger service in
the UK, increasing speeds significantly on tight rail curves. The most powerful domestic train to have operated in Britain, it set the UK rail
speed record of 162.2 mph in December 1979 – a record that stood for 23 years. Electric Railway Museum already houses one of the APT-P’s non-driving
power car, number 49006, on loan from the National Railway Museum, as well as HSFV 1 (High Speed Freight Vehicle), which was fundamental in the
development of the Advanced Passenger Train project. With Laboratory 4 arriving in Coventry, the trio of historic objects can enable Electric
Railway Museum to fully tell the story of the development of high-speed electric rail travel within the UK, as well as the influence the APT
project had internationally.
Laboratory 4, (Departmental running number: RDB975386), is a bogie coach built by British Rail in 1958 and withdrawn from service as a buffet
car in 1963-4. For 10 years it was used as a paint store before seeing a new life as a suspension test vehicle for the APT-P project, when it was
transferred to British Rail’s R&D Division in 1974. After its work on the APT project was complete, Laboratory 4 was converted during 1988-89 to a
test vehicle for an active air vertical suspension, and further developed into an air tilt system, but these projects did not continue further.
Laboratory 4 was sold to the Advanced Passenger Train Experimental (APT-E) Conservation & Support Group on 22nd April 2011 and has now moved
to Electric Railway Museum. Current plans will see repairs made to a corroded side of the vehicle and for it to be repainted with the original
livery given by the Railway Technical Centre (RTC) in Derby.
Kit Spackman, from the APT-E Conservation & Support Group said: 'Having been involved with Laboratory 4's work at the RTC in the 1970s, I've
been saddened by its slow deterioration during the following years. This changed when I was able to secure ownership of the vehicle on behalf of
the APT-E Conservation & Support Group. It took a long time to organise but we’ve finally managed to move the Hastings Coach to Electric Railway
Museum, and that gives me great pleasure, as we now have a better chance of restoring it to a more meaningful state.'
Electric Railway Museum aims to promote the heritage of all electric trains in the UK through traction and rolling stock restoration, display
and operation along with work in gathering historically relevant technical and photographic archives. Electric railways have a long history that
is rich in both technical innovation and socio-economic impact. Many aspects of our everyday life would not have been possible without the
creation of the electric railway, from high-speed rail travel (such as the Channel Tunnel) to underground railways and commuter travel. The work
of Electric Railway Museum is entirely run by volunteers and funded by donations from the public.
Chairman of Electric Railway Museum, Graeme Gleaves said: ‘2011 has been a fantastic year for us. We have run two successful Open Weekends
for the first time in one year and welcomed visitors to the site over the spring, summer and autumn, with the total numbers entering into four
figures.
‘We have also taken delivery of additional items in to our collection, including Laboratory 4, and this has further cemented our position as a
credible museum, both amongst the local community and within the railway heritage movement nationally.’
Electric Railway Museum is available for visits throughout the year, subject to prior notice. However, keep checking our website for details
of our ever-popular Open Weekends, when the site is fully open with events and activities on offer for all ages.
Website
www.electricrailwaymuseum.co.uk
More about Electric Railway Museum on this website
HERE