Helen Rose

My husband and I plan to be in Europe next month for a few days, based
out of Paris. We love train museums (and transport museums in
general). Our all-time favourite is Verkehrshaus (Swiss Museum of
Transport & Communication) in Lucern.

Other hits have been the London Transport Museum, the Imperial War air
collection at Duxford, the tram museum in Brussels, and the transport
collection at the Deutches Museum in Munich.

We've already seen the Air & Space museum in Paris. Neither of us mind
going further afield for a really good museum (the best option would be
a TGV trip somewhere, an awesome museum, and a TGV trip back).

Does anybody have suggestions for train/transport museums? Is the Airbus
factory tour at Toulouse a reasonable option?

Thanks,

--Helen

Adrian Rothery

"Helen Rose" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My husband and I plan to be in Europe next month for a few days, based
    > out of Paris. We love train museums (and transport museums in
    > general). Our all-time favourite is Verkehrshaus (Swiss Museum of
    > Transport & Communication) in Lucern.
    > Other hits have been the London Transport Museum, the Imperial War air
    > collection at Duxford, the tram museum in Brussels, and the transport
    > collection at the Deutches Museum in Munich.
    > We've already seen the Air & Space museum in Paris. Neither of us mind
    > going further afield for a really good museum (the best option would be
    > a TGV trip somewhere, an awesome museum, and a TGV trip back).
    > Does anybody have suggestions for train/transport museums? Is the Airbus
    > factory tour at Toulouse a reasonable option?
    > Thanks,
    > --Helen

The National Railway Museum in York, England is well worth a visit.
http://www.nrm.org.uk

Adrian

David Horne

Helen Rose wrote:

    > Does anybody have suggestions for train/transport museums?

Probably a bit out of your way, but as you mention London, I'd also
sugggest the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester,

http://www.msim.org.uk/

which has a good selection of trains and aircraft. A two and a half hour
train trip from London. It's a very large museum, and well worth a
visit. It's also free. You could easily spend several days there, and
not fully cover everything that interests you. In addition, there are
many other venues of interest to rail enthusiasts in the area- steam
trains, the viaducts etc. Not surprising perhaps, given that the first
purpose built railway line for passenger traffic was from Manchester to
Liverpool.

There is a Museum of Transport in Manchester which I haven't visited yet
(there's an admission fee), but I think it houses buses and coaches
mostly.

David

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.co.uk
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

David Horne

Adrian Rothery wrote:

    > The National Railway Museum in York, England is well worth a visit.
    > http://www.nrm.org.uk

That's another great suggestion. I was at the website recently where I
read that:

"Mallard holds the world speed record for steam traction on rail. The
record was set on the 3rd July 1938 when the locomotive was recorded
travelling at 126 mph."

That's quite amazing- maybe even a little depressing when you think that
no passenger trains in the UK currently run regularly at that speed, and
most of the tracks currently can't handle that kind of speed.

David

--
David Horne- www.davidhorne.co.uk
davidhorne (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

Adrian Rothery

"David Horne" wrote in message
news:1ft949v.1ybhxnu1qtyjgwN%[email protected]...
    > Adrian Rothery wrote:
    > > The National Railway Museum in York, England is well worth a visit.
    > > http://www.nrm.org.uk
    > That's another great suggestion. I was at the website recently where I
    > read that:
    > "Mallard holds the world speed record for steam traction on rail. The
    > record was set on the 3rd July 1938 when the locomotive was recorded
    > travelling at 126 mph."
    > That's quite amazing- maybe even a little depressing when you think that
    > no passenger trains in the UK currently run regularly at that speed, and
    > most of the tracks currently can't handle that kind of speed.
    > David
I'm no expert on real size railway operation but I read somewhere that the
reason UK trains are limited to 125mph is the stop light spacing trackside.
Not the track or train.
If the spacing was increased or if there were more stop lights over a
greater distance then speed could be increased.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge could expand on this.

Adrian
www.waldovia.co.uk

Arwel Parry

In message , David Horne
writes
    >Helen Rose wrote:
    >> Does anybody have suggestions for train/transport museums?
    >Probably a bit out of your way, but as you mention London, I'd also
    >sugggest the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester,
    >http://www.msim.org.uk/
    >which has a good selection of trains and aircraft. A two and a half hour
    >train trip from London. It's a very large museum, and well worth a
    >visit. It's also free. You could easily spend several days there, and
    >not fully cover everything that interests you. In addition, there are
    >many other venues of interest to rail enthusiasts in the area- steam
    >trains, the viaducts etc. Not surprising perhaps, given that the first
    >purpose built railway line for passenger traffic was from Manchester to
    >Liverpool.

And that the Manchester terminus of the route is now part of the museum!

--
Arwel Parry
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/

The Reid

Following up to David Horne

    >"Mallard holds the world speed record for steam traction on rail. The
    >record was set on the 3rd July 1938 when the locomotive was recorded
    >travelling at 126 mph."

this was set pulling a dynometer car during a test, not during a
public service. IIRC it was actually even faster 126.4 mph :-)
Steam locomotives didnt have speedometers, (I think I remember) so
other than when under test, speed would have to have been recorded by
a stopwatch.
York Museum is well worth going to, as has been said.
Hendon RAF museum (N.London) has an excellent collection of aircraft
in hangers, including a Lancaster, Sunderland flying Boat, Flying
fortress, Vulcan? (V bomber anyway) Spitfire and many WW1 craft. Also
a walk through recreation of the London blitz.
--
Mike Reid
London walks "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk/london.htm"
(see website for email address)

Forrest

"Helen Rose" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My husband and I plan to be in Europe next month for a few days, based
    > out of Paris. We love train museums (and transport museums in
    > general).

There is an automobile museum at Mulhouse in France.

"The collection at Mulhouse's Automobile Museum features approximately 500
vehicles dating back as far as 1878. The collection includes Mercedes,
Porsche, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and other brands."

(Put "museum mulhouse" into Google's advanced search)

Not a day trip really - 4hrs 44 minutes each way. Some journeys use a TGV to
Besancon from Paris Gare de Lyon, others are through from Paris
Gare-de-l'Est but not TGVs.

Michael Forrest

Forrest

"Helen Rose" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My husband and I plan to be in Europe next month for a few days, based
    > out of Paris. We love train museums (and transport museums in
    > general).

There is an automobile and railway museum at Mulhouse in France.

"The collection at Mulhouse's Automobile Museum features approximately 500
vehicles dating back as far as 1878. The collection includes Mercedes,
Porsche, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and other brands."

"About a hundred vehicles, including locomotives, railway coaches, luxury
carriages and antique rail cars, are exhibited in a covered area of 15,000
square meters. The heavy equipment involved in the functioning of the
railway system and an interpretive center are also featured.
2, rue Alfred de Glehn 68200 Mulhouse Phone: 33 3 89 42 25 67 Fax: 33 3 89
42 41 82"

(Put "museum mulhouse" into Google's advanced search)

Not a day trip really - 4hrs 44 minutes each way. Some journeys use a TGV to
Besancon from Paris Gare de Lyon and then change to an ordinary train,
others are through trains from Paris
Gare-de-l'Est but not TGVs.

(Just noticed that my spellchecker does not like "Mulhouse" and offers
"Madhouse" as an alternative.

Michael Forrest

Roderick Smith

I enjoyed the Netherlands railway museum, based in a disused station at
Utrecht (Thalys from Paris may meet your specification). I went by bus
from Utrecht station to within a couple of blocks of the museum.

Too far for your holiday, the Danish railway museum (Odense?).

--
Regards
Roderick Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

Helen Rose wrote in article
...
...Does anybody have suggestions for train/transport museums?...

Michael Leahy

Here's a full day for you: catch a morning TGV (Thalys) to Brussels, then
visit Autoworld at the Cinquantenaire park (metro Merode or Schumann).
Across the square from it, enjoy the Air Museum (also has tanks and other
forms of transport).

On weekends, you can then catch an old vintage tram to the Tram museum on
the Avenue de Tervuren. Otherwise, catch the 81/82 tram to Montgomery and
then the 39 or 44 tram to the museum (about 20 pleasant minutes).
http://www.mtub.be/


In the afternoon, catch a train (http://www.b-rail.be/E/index.html) to
Treignes or Mariemebourg for the wonderful museum and vintage train
(http://www.b-rail.be/rnvn/F/excursio...ps/bex215.html)

Otherwise, check http://users.skynet.be/cfv3v/

Michael
http://www.hotels-in-brussels.com


Helen Rose wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My husband and I plan to be in Europe next month for a few days, based
    > out of Paris. We love train museums (and transport museums in
    > general). Our all-time favourite is Verkehrshaus (Swiss Museum of
    > Transport & Communication) in Lucern.
    > Other hits have been the London Transport Museum, the Imperial War air
    > collection at Duxford, the tram museum in Brussels, and the transport
    > collection at the Deutches Museum in Munich.
    > We've already seen the Air & Space museum in Paris. Neither of us mind
    > going further afield for a really good museum (the best option would be
    > a TGV trip somewhere, an awesome museum, and a TGV trip back).
    > Does anybody have suggestions for train/transport museums? Is the Airbus
    > factory tour at Toulouse a reasonable option?
    > Thanks,
    > --Helen

Jon Bell

In article ,
Helen Rose wrote:
    >My husband and I plan to be in Europe next month for a few days, based
    >out of Paris. We love train museums (and transport museums in
    >general).

There's the German railway museum in Nuremberg. If you can read German,
check out . Might be too long a trip from Paris
for you, though. I mention it because I'll probably visit it myself this
summer if our trip to Germany goes off as (so far not really) planned;
we'll probably spend a good chunk of the trip in the Nuremberg area.

--
Jon Bell Presbyterian College
Dept. of Physics and Computer Science Clinton, South Carolina USA

James Robinson

Helen Rose wrote:
    >
    > Does anybody have suggestions for train/transport museums?

The obvious railway museum is the French National Railway museum in
Mulhouse. The area has a number of technical museums, including the
national auto museum, and and electrical museum, plus you can visit the
Peugeot/Citroen car plant. It's about a 4 hour 30 minute trip from
Paris Est.

The railway museum is one of the largest in Europe, and is well worth a
visit. It is supposed to be closed next year for a major renovation.
The museum doesn't have a web site, but here is some information on the
area and the museums:

http://www.ot.ville-mulhouse.fr/fer_e.htm
http://www.ville-mulhouse.fr/en/toda...2&PAGEDYNID=35

There is a city bus between the main railway station and the museum in
Mulhouse. (Route 7?)

The German counterpart is in Nürnberg. It's an 8 to 9 hour train ride
from Paris, but you would be able to ride the Thalys and ICE. The
museum isn't too far from the main railway station, near the Opera UBahn
stop:

http://www.dbmuseum.de/

Helen Rose

Roderick Smith writes:

    > I enjoyed the Netherlands railway museum, based in a disused station at
    > Utrecht (Thalys from Paris may meet your specification). I went by bus
    > from Utrecht station to within a couple of blocks of the museum.

Yeah, we've done that one. It was quite good (although the day we went
it was raining quite heavily, which dampened my mood).

The Reid

Following up to Helen Rose

    >My husband and I plan to be in Europe next month for a few days, based
    >out of Paris. We love train museums (and transport museums in
    >general). Our all-time favourite is Verkehrshaus (Swiss Museum of
    >Transport & Communication) in Lucern.

there are of course a number of working preserved steam lines in UK.
"The Bluebel line" is a well known one in Sussex.
--
Mike Reid
Spanish regional cooking at
"http://www.fell-walker.co.uk/espania.htm"