Chief reporter Mike Laycock charts the history of the National Railway Museum.

LONG before the National Railway Museum was created, the Science Museum in London – then known as the Patent Office Museum – started a collection of railway artefacts by acquiring Rocket in 1862.

From the late 19th century, railway companies preserved their past; the most prolific being the London and North Eastern Railway, which opened a public museum in York in 1927.

In 1948, when the railways were nationalised, various collections were brought together and in 1951, a “curator of historical relics” of the nationalised transport industries was appointed.

As well as the existing York Railway Museum in Queen Street, British Railways opened the Museum of British Transport in Clapham, South London and worked with Swindon Council to open a museum.

The 1968 Transport Act encouraged British Rail to work with the Science Museum to develop a National Railway Museum and in 1975, the Duke of Edinburgh opened the NRM in Leeman, a huge former steam locomotive depot in Leeman Road.

It became the first national museum outside London and was an immediate success with the public.

The museum has expanded several times since and won several awards.

It won the Museum of the Year Award in 1990 and the European Museum of the Year award in 2001, after adding The Works, which provides public access to the collection stores and workshops and a viewing gallery overlooking York Station.

The NRM has also developed its academic credentials and learning facilities, with the launch in 1994 of the Institute of Railway Studies as a joint venture between the museum and the University of York.

In 2004, the Yorkshire Rail Academy opened, a joint development between York College and the National Railway Museum. It is a purpose-built rail training centre and the base for the museum’s education team.