Thursday 21 February 2013

My Trip to The National Railway Museum

I wanted to get some primary research for my 'Trains and Cranes' Interior collection. I found that there were lots of transport Museums in and around Manchester so I've been to a few of them over the last few days.
The Museums I am interested in are:

The National Railway Museum
Museum of Transport Greater Manchester
Heaton Park Tramway Manchester
The British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland
The Street Life Museum in Hull

I took a trip to the National Railway Museum in York on Tuesday which was a very long drive! But the trains that were there made up for the distance.

I got some great research whilst I was there, venturing into the railway archives, which were huge! And looking at 'The Works', where they were repairing the Flying Scotsman!!

Here are some of my photos:




It was very busy there because it was the school holidays, but I still managed to gain a good amount of research.

The Flying Scotsman with his face open!


The colours of the trains are bold and vibrant, unlike the public trains today. As I'm designing this collection towards a boys bedroom interior I want to use a limited colour pallet of 2 to 3 colours, but keep it light and airy on some, and more industrial and greyscale on others.




I love the trellis effect the train tracks create where the lines join on the rail lines. This has inspired me in my painting, I'll upload a photo of my painting developments soon!



Train Name Plaques


The Mallard







Whilst I was at the museum I purchased 2 really interesting books  published by Shire. They were: 

'Tri-and Toys- The story of Lines Brothers' by Kennesth D Brown

'British Railway Tickets' by Jan Dobrzynski

They had interesting illustrations and old designs for train tickets, which were really inspiring, especially with the typography. 

Anyone who is interested in transport,design, trains, and history must go and visit the National Railway Museum!

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