Museum of the Great Western Railway Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
STEAM
Museum of the Great Western Railway
Brunel and North Star
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Established	2000 (2000)
Type	Industrial museum
Key holdings	Locomotives of the GWR
Public transit access	Swindon railway station

The STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway is a fantastic place to learn about trains! It's also known as the Swindon Steam Railway Museum. You can find it in Swindon, England, which is famous as a 'railway town'. The museum opened in 2000 and is about 6,500 square meters big.

Discovering the Museum Site
What You'll See at the Museum
Amazing Train Collection
Images for kids
See also

Discovering the Museum Site

King George V with Bristolian headboard

Ballast wagon

Platform scene

The museum building itself is super old! It used to be a workshop where engineers built train parts. It was built around 1842 using stones from the Box Tunnel. This workshop was part of the huge Swindon Works, which was one of the biggest train factories in the world!

The Swindon Works operated from 1843 to 1986. In its busiest times, it covered more than 300 acres. That's like 225 football fields! They could even build three brand new locomotives every single week.

Today, most of the old factory buildings are part of the Swindon Designer Outlet, a big shopping center. The headquarters of the National Trust and offices for English Heritage are also on the site.

What You'll See at the Museum

The museum has lots of cool exhibits about railway engines and train cars. But it also tells the amazing story of the people who worked on the railway in Swindon. You can hear their personal stories and watch old films.

You'll see lifelike displays showing people at work and how they interacted. There are exhibits that explain how locomotives, railway equipment, and the railways themselves were built. The museum also shares the history of the Great Western Railway and the life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was a famous Victorian engineer who designed the original Great Western Railway.

There are many hands-on exhibits and interactive displays to try out. You might even meet friendly ex-railway workers who can share their own experiences and insights about the exhibits.

The museum has recreated different work areas, like an office, stores, a workshop, a signal box, and a foundry. It also keeps a huge collection of books, magazines, photos, and plans about the Great Western Railway.

Amazing Train Collection

North Star

The museum is home to several famous GWR locomotives built before the railway became nationalized. Two of these trains were the very first of their kind! Most of these trains are part of the UK National Collection, which means they are very important historical items.

Here are some of the cool trains you might see:

GWR Star Class North Star – This is a copy of an early broad gauge locomotive. It's part of the National Collection.
GWR 2301 Class 2516 – Built in 1897. This train is also part of the National Collection.
GWR 2800 Class 2818 – Built in 1905. In 2017, this locomotive became owned by the STEAM Museum.
GWR 3700 Class 3717 City of Truro – Built in 1903. This train is famous for supposedly reaching a speed of 102.4 mph in 1904! It's on loan from the National Railway Museum.
GWR 4073 Class 4073 Caerphilly Castle – Built in 1923. Part of the National Collection.
GWR 4200 Class 4248 – Built in 1916. This one is displayed to look like a locomotive being worked on in the factory.
GWR 6000 Class 6000 King George V – Built in 1927. This train is also on loan from the National Railway Museum.
GWR 7800 Class 7821 Ditcheat Manor – Built in 1950. You can see this one displayed nearby at the Swindon Designer Outlet.
GWR 9400 Class 9400 – Built in 1947. This train is part of the National Collection.