It is huge… there are two major halls filled with British railroad history. In the Great Hall (try to be there for the turntable demonstration at 11:30am or 3:30pm) you will see a great variety of locomotives. There is a replica of the famous Iron Duke, a 1914 Star class 4-6-0, a 1942 Southern Railway Q1 0-6-0, the 1882 Gladstone (decorated as a royal train) 0-4-2 and a 1941 Ellerman lines 4-6-2. You will see a replica of Stephenson’s Rocket (1829), the lead car of a Japanese bullet train and of course, the pride of the place, the Mallard, the world’s fastest locomotive. And there’s more… much more. To tell you the truth, my wife found this all as interesting as watching paint dry and even I found it a bit much. As an added attraction, there is an O gauge model railway which may be, for many, more interesting than some of the static displays.

I knew however, that I could be redeemed in the Station Hall because it has a collection of Royal trains, and who can resist seeing how royalty lives? There have been 28 royal trains (70 pieces of rolling stock). You’ll see Edwardian royal saloon cars (1902) with clerestory ceilings, a fine war-time car last used in 1977, Queen Mary’s delightfully paneled and decorated saloon car (1905) and Queen Victoria’s very posh saloon car which was last used in 1900.

There is more in the Station Hall than just royal trains. There is the Duke of Sutherland’s saloon car (1899), a 1904 4-4-0 pulling an exquisite 1913 Pullman car, the Topaz, and a Great Western 4-8-0. Add to that the more mundane rolling stock and station cars and paraphernalia, and you have probably more to see than you’ll be able to absorb.

But there is even more (and by this time, I was on severe overload) in the South Yard where there is more rolling stock and a miniature railway and in theWorks where you can appreciate that this is a working museum occupied with restoration. If it has anything to do with railways--the extensive signals system on the Work’s catwalk, for instance--it is here, and it’s all been well done.

There are actually two large indoor exhibit buildings. Don’t spend all of your time in the first one that you will likely enter…the collection of Royal "saloons" (private passenger coach cars for the Royal Family) are in the adjacent Edwardian exhibit hall. These cars are the highlight of the visit. You can walk along a platform and look into Queen Victoria’s private train with its full suite of accommodations for her and her staff. It is interesting to read about her travel quirks as she was a somewhat tentative pioneer for Royal rail travel. Other Royals are also represented.

This is an excellent facility. It is well organized, documented and deserves a visit for the railroad buff as well as the Royal-curious. There is a dining facility in the museum. We elected to give it a miss.