Press Office

After more than twenty years, volunteering at the National Railway Museum is being brought bang up-to-date - allowing volunteers to contribute more than ever before to the Museum’s ongoing work

After more than twenty years, volunteering at the National Railway Museum is being brought bang up-to-date - allowing volunteers to contribute more than ever before to the Museum’s ongoing work.

The famous ‘Tuesday Night Team’ has been working on the locomotives and rolling stock of the National Collection for over two decades.

Many of the volunteers are interested in steam locomotives, and have had the opportunity to work on numerous major projects over the years - from restoring Duchess of Hamilton to working on the Museum’s flagship, Flying Scotsman.

Others who are passionate about diesel have been instrumental in maintaining the Museum’s large modern traction fleet, including the Class 52 D1023 Western Fusilier and the Class 40 D200.

Now, a raft of new projects and a more flexible schedule will ensure that volunteering opportunities stay where they belong - at the heart of the Museum’s work.

Volunteering Manager Matt Thompson said:

“We’ve found that restricting volunteers to work on one specific evening a week has begun to limit what they’re capable of achieving. That’s why we want to reorganise the Tuesday Night Team.
“Much of the team’s work, such as that of the Modern Traction Group, will continue as before, but it will now be able to take place at any time throughout the week.”

Matt added:

“We also want to be able to offer our volunteers more focused, project-based work. Specific projects will be identified and we will allocate resources to them in support of the Museum’s key objectives. We’ll put in place a new structure to support the volunteers’ work.
“There may be a little disruption in the coming months, but by the beginning of autumn I hope we’ll be able to offer the first of these exciting new projects to our volunteers.”

Notes for editors

  • The museum sees volunteering a vital way of involving broader audiences with the work of the museum and helping to inspire people to become involved with their heritage.
  • Volunteering at the National Railway Museum plays a vital part in delivering many of the Museum’s objectives. There are currently over 250 volunteers who give up their time, for free, to help out at the Museum.
  • Many of the volunteers are local to the Yorkshire and Humber region, but some come from Scotland, the South Coast and even elsewhere in Europe to get involved with the Museum and its activities.

29 August 2006