MY HOT DATE WITH A STEAMING ENGINE (Midland Railway Centre)

Member Name: indigojade

Product:	Midland Railway Centre
Date:	18/09/01 (677 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: interesting family day out

Disadvantages: can be tiring, not all aspects are disabled friendly

Midland Railway Station is set on the outskirts of the Derbyshire town of Ripley in a village named Butterley and is host to a wide variety of steam and diesel engines. Butterley Station was actually demolished following the closure of the Railway, and the station house that is now there was moved stone by stone from Whitwell in North Derbyshire. The remainder of the buildings and the tracks have been built since the Midland Railway trust set up in 1973.

The station house not only hosts the original ticket office, but also a gift shop, where a host of items can be bought, they specialize in Thomas the tank engine goods, but a good range of hornby trains/trucks/tracks can be bought here. A shop most definitely to create a crater in your credit card!

There is a fairly good café on the station, which provides hot and cold drinks as well as a pretty reasonable snack type meal, on busy days Sundays and Bank holidays you will have to queue for quite a while as it does get very busy.

There is an excellent model railway set up situated in a porta cabin on the station; this can be seen working on most days – operated by the local enthusiasts club. These helpful guys, who will bore/entrance you about the various trains operating, will readily answer any questions you may have about the trains. Please note do not ask to operate the model trains – they are jealousy guarded!

The trust now renovates all its own operating coaching stock and work can be seen carried out on the trains as you walk around the station.

Every 2/3 months there are ‘A day out with Thomas’ days which feature Thomas the tank engine and his friends. You can buy your tickets from the ticket office at the princely sum of £8.95 per adult (2 children travel free with each adult), although the price seems high, it is for unlimited travel on that day, up and down the line. You can also meet Sir Tophamm Hatt (AKA the fat controller).

On a
rriving at Butterley you will find a large parking area to the left hand side, with disabled parking right outside the station house. Ramps are situated directly into the station house – so access is easy for all at Butterley. There are plenty of staff on hand to assist any wheelchair users onto the trains, so the whole family can enjoy a pleasant day out. Once you have bought your tickets you are free to look around Butterley station until your train arrives.


The train journey itself takes you past Swanwick Junction where you will see the main museum site, where the majority of the restoration work is carried out, passing the former Kettering signalbox, which controls the Swanwick junction area. The train takes you out to Riddings, where the engine leaves the coaches and runs around to the front of the train to take you back to Swanwick junction, where you can get off and view the museum and attractions hosted there. The train ride itself takes about 20 minutes and is a pleasant ride through some lovely countryside.

On arrival at Swanwick Junction you can see a large signal box; this is great fun for kids (young and old ones at that) as you are encouraged to ‘have a go’. You can change the signals and the points by heaving on the huge handles. The signal box was actually rescued from Linby a village in Nottingham and represents a typical Midland railway signal box.

After leaving the platform there is a small children’s play area, where your little ones can burn off some steam of their own. This is very small and hosts a couple of swings, a slide and a roundabout and gets very very busy during the holidays and at weekends. On Thomas days out there is usually a bouncy castle and a bouncy slide set up, so children can have yet more fun. The bouncy castles will cost you around 50p for 10 minutes bouncing time – very good value.

Not only can you ride on a full size steam or diesel engine you can als
o ride on the Golden Valley Light railway. This will cost you an extra £1.50 per adult (children are free). The carriages are very small and cramped and the seats are very hard indeed. The journey takes you through the country park for a few miles and if the seats weren’t quite so hard, would be quite relaxing.

After enjoying your train rides you can visit the Matthew Kirtley Museum. Matthew Kirtley was the Midland Railways first Locomotive and Carriage Superintendent. The museum houses a fantastic display of engines and carriages. There are steam, diesel and electrically powered trains dating back to the 1890’s. There is a fantastically restored ‘mail’ train, which you can go inside and sit on the ‘stool’ that the mail sorters would sit on – not recommended as they are small and very uncomfortable!

If you are tiring of trains by this time, you can visit the Johnson’s Buffet; here you can sample a wide variety of snacks and drinks all at very reasonable prices for a tourist attraction! You can also visit Brittain Pit farm; there is a selection of animals on view from ducks to sheep to pigs and rabbits. The staff are all very friendly and will allow petting and feeding of the animals.

All in all the Midland Railway Centre is a great day out, and it is a day out too. If you happen to visit on one of the Thomas the tank engine days you are guaranteed to have knackered children at the end of the day! There is lots to do and see, with child orientated quizzes and puzzles. You can also get married at Midland Railway Centre by prior arrangement of course and hold children’s birthday parties here. The children are taken on the train, given a meal and a drink and taken around the places of interest there by a guide. Children’s parties are again by prior arrangement. For anyone who has wanted to drive a steam or diesel engine, Midland Railway gives you the opportunity. You can learn how to
drive a full sized steam or diesel engine! You do have to pay for this experience and all money goes back into the railway, if you are sneaky you can get your children into the ‘cab’ of the engine to see what is going on, by getting them to stand there looking wistful!!

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