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Locomotion moving to Shildon

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by paullad1984, Jan 23, 2020.

  1. mdewell

    mdewell Well-Known Member Friend

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    I'm surprised families can afford their prices!
    (although it's been a few years since my last visit. It was much cheaper to pop out to buy something in town and then return to continue my visit)
     
  2. S.A.C. Martin

    S.A.C. Martin Part of the furniture

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    That was an excellent lecture and it is a shame that it wasn't available to the wider community. I have often wondered if we need our own version of a TED talk in the heritage railway industry, a central database of lectures that can be given online and then viewed at a later date. But hey ho.
     
  3. CoalFiredGeek

    CoalFiredGeek New Member

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    A railway-equivalent of TED talks;

    'SHED Talks' ?
     
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  4. S.A.C. Martin

    S.A.C. Martin Part of the furniture

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    Yes. :)
     
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  5. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    With small kids in tow, that often isn't a practical option. Though my wife is always keen to make sure I go out with a picnic rather than buying on site...
     
  6. Rover

    Rover New Member

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    Please can someone tell me what TED is please?
     
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  7. huochemi

    huochemi Part of the furniture

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    download.jpeg.jpg
     
  8. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Last edited: Feb 7, 2020
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  9. garth manor

    garth manor Well-Known Member

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    Having got in for free many visitors like to support the public owned museum by buying from the cafe and shops, same as say National Trust members do, saving a few pence to walk out to a private convenience store doesn't enter the thinking.
     
  10. Robin

    Robin Well-Known Member Friend

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    Ah, Shildon. I went there in August 2014 to see 'star exhibit', newly cosmetically restored USATC 2253.
    Shildon Aug 2014.jpg

    I went back a month later to see if things were any better.
    Shildon Sep 2014.jpg

    2016, I popped in again.
    Shildon Sep 2016.jpg

    I'm rather glad I saw Locomotion while it was in Darlington and not covered in tat.
     
  11. garth manor

    garth manor Well-Known Member

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    Sales of food and"tat" aid both restoration projects and the continuing existence of these museums and their exhibits. The general public have to be engaged otherwise visitor numbers will not justify future Science Group funding.
     
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  12. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    But if the tat prevents people from getting a decent look at the exhibits the museum is no longer functioning as a museum.
     
  13. Robin

    Robin Well-Known Member Friend

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    I've no issue with food outlets. On each visit, several locomotives had been moved out into the yard and I had no issue with the resulting vacant areas having tables full of, lets be charitable and call it railwayana. I do have an issue when exhibits which the museum is supposed to be conserving are allowed to be used as display stands and to have things like water and coffee cups left on them by exhibitors.
     
  14. mdewell

    mdewell Well-Known Member Friend

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    We do often support that sort of thing (and happy to do so), but isn't the NRM catering outsourced? How much does the NRM actually get from those outlets. Is it a fixed rent, or a percentage of the profits?
    (Sorry we seem to have digressed away from Shildon, although I suppose the same catering arrangements apply there as it does at York).
     
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  15. LesterBrown

    LesterBrown Member

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    And "Locomotion" would indeed be a very distinctive tea urn if they can't stretch to building a dedicated shop and café.
     
  16. garth manor

    garth manor Well-Known Member

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    Indeed it would be an unusual destination without a shop and cafe, whether the large planned extension will contain additional catering provision is not clear but it will allow a significant increase in covered stock preservation.
     
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  17. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Did you attend on "normal" days or was it some sort of toy fair in progress?
     
  18. Robin

    Robin Well-Known Member Friend

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    If I remember right, the first occasion was a 'normal sunday' but advertised as an opportunity to see the USATC, which is why I drove 200 miles up from the Midlands and was disappointed with how it had been obscured. Looking at the few photos I took, pretty much everything else was covered the same way. I was only there for about 40 minutes and then moved on to Bowes Colliery for a while and ended up at the North Tyneside Railway, both well worth a visit so not a wasted day. The other two were September Gala events hence the locos being out in the yard.
     
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  19. Rover

    Rover New Member

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  20. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

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    If that was a normal day that it's really bad form to surround an exhibit with tat.
     
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