The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust
The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust's West Shed Museum,
Midland Railway - Swanwick Junction site
Ripley
Derbyshire
DE5 3QZ
England
Website
Website of The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust and West Shed Museum
Website of the Midland Railway-Butterley whose site the West Shed is located on (we are independent of them)
http://www.midlandrailway-butterley.co.uk
All enquiries
Telephone
All enquiries for the museum, group visits and PMR Tours bookings
01773 743986
The WEST SHED is home to The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust - a voluntary organisation formed in 1993 to look after and promote the historic locomotives in its care. The West Shed houses a collection of historic steam locomotives and railway coaches, whose history is told through display boards, audio commentary domes, animatronic figures and a mini-cinema with short films. Visitors can also use the viewing gallery to see the workshop where our locomotives are maintained.
We also operate mainline steam charter trains with the locomotive 'Duchess of Sutherland', aided by a dedicated force of volunteers.
Venue Type:
Museum, Transport heritage site
Additional info
DISABLED ACCESS
Full disabled access to upper floors by lift - disabled parking is available right outside the West Shed - please contact us before-hand for directions.
Access to the Swanwick museum site for general visitors is via heritage train from the Midland Railway's Butterley Station, alighting at Swanwick to walk up to the West Shed. When trains are not running, please go to the Midland Railway's Butterley Station for directions to the site by road.
GROUP VISITS
All types of group visit are welcomed and guided tours are available by prior arrangement for a donation.
SCHOOL GROUPS:
We offer museum-led activities to support National Curriculum Key Stage 2 Science. Please contact us for further details or download a Teacher's Information Pack from our website.
MEETING ROOM:
We have a comfortable meeting room available for hire for meetings, functions, etc.
LIBRARY
The library houses a small reference collection of books relating to our collection and is available for use by prior appointment. Researchers may also request to consult items in the archive and photographic collection. There is a brief description of the collections on our website but specific enquiries are welcomed.
The West Shed Museum is the only place where you can see one of each type of Sir William Stanier’s Pacific steam locomotives – 6233 'Duchess of Sutherland’ (the Royal Train steam locomotive) and 46203 ‘Princess Margaret Rose’.
We also have two British Railways standard tanks 80080 and 80098, two ex-Butlins holiday camp miniature locomotives and historic railway coaches including a 1920's Royal Saloon and Dynamometer Car no.1 (45050), used to carry out performance tests on locomotives from 1913.
The Stanier museum gallery displays part of our collection of locomotive headboards, number plates, models and paintings. The library is available by prior appointment for consultation of books, photographs, engineering diagrams and objects from our stored museum collection.
Collection details
Archives, Land Transport, Science and Technology
Key artists and exhibits
- William Stanier
- Princess Coronation Class
- 6233 Duchess of Sutherland
- Princess Royal Class
- 46203 Princess Margaret Rose
- London Midland & Scottish Railway
- Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
- Royal Train
- Steam locomotive
- Dynamometer Car
- Railway memorabilia
The Great Railway Treasure Hunt 2013 at the West Shed Museum.
The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust is participating in ‘The Great Railway Treasure Hunt 2013’, organised by ‘Peter’s Railway’ - the series of illustrated children’s books.
The competition is free to enter and open to children up to the age of 14 years. The closing date for entries is 30th September 2013.
1st prize = £500
2nd prize = £250
Additional prize of £250 for the entrant who has visited the most railway museums in The Treasure Hunt.
Complete the quiz at the West Shed Museum and enter the competition, then visit lots more railway museums to collect more points!
Suitable for
- 11-13
- 7-10
Website
Getting there
The West Shed museum is located on the Swanwick Junction museum site of the Midland Railway Centre. Access to the Swanwick site is via heritage train from Butterley Station, which is operated by the Midland Railway (a separate organisation from The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust).
Directions to the Midland Railway-Butterley:
By car:
Leave the M1 at Junction 28 and take the A38 South (signed towards Derby).
Exit the A38 onto the B6179 towards Swanwick.
Continue on the B6179 to the Midland Railway-Butterley, which is located adjacent to Butterley reservoir.
By public transport:
The nearest railway station is Alfreton (4 miles - on the Nottingham/Chesterfield route). Bus services 91, 92 and 93 link Alfreton Station to Midland Railway - Butterley every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sundays.
From Derby rail station (on the Birmingham/Sheffield route) - bus services 91 and 92 link Derby bus station to Midland Railway - Butterley every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sundays. Services 40, 41, 44 and 45 link the Derby rail and bus stations.
Call 0870 608 2608 or go to www.derbysbus.info for details.
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