The National Railway Museum in York has reopened its restored Station Hall building in time for its 50th anniversary weekend.
Built in the 1870s to house York’s main goods station, the Grade II-listed structure became part of the museum in 1975. It closed to visitors in January 2023 for the £10.5 million restoration project.
Works have included replacing the roof, as well as structural and decorative repairs to the glazing, brickwork and walls.
Craig Bentley, director of the National Railway Museum, told the BBC: “The whole roof has been replaced, we’ve got new photovoltaic panels up there generating electricity, we’ve done work to the listed elevations, the externals.
“We’ve really sort of safeguarded and protected the building for future generations.”
Additionally, the National Railway Museum has reimagined and redisplayed its permanent exhibition. This celebrates the building’s heritage, and shares the stories of the people working on, using and passing through railway stations.
Andrew McLean, assistant director and head curator at the National Railway Museum, said: “Everybody loves the Flying Scotsman and Thomas the Tank Engine, but [the railways] were dangerous places to work.”
He added, “We have here on display for the first time a prosthetic leg from a chap called Howard Jarvis, who lost his leg in 1940 while working on the Great Western Railway.”
The museum’s collection of six royal carriages remain on view in the Station Hall, and are joined by other popular items and new acquisitions.
To deliver the UK museum‘s biggest structural project since its opening in 1975, John Graham Construction Ltd worked with conservation architects Buttress.
Images courtesy of the National Railway Museum
