Worth A Visit? Inside STEAM: The GWR Swindon Museum!

[@johnkeepin7527]

It is part of Swindon Borough Council. Worth noting that the museum has it’s own website to look at. Also, there is a large ex-workshop at the Southern end of the buildings, which is called an “event hall”. When the STEAM museum was new when the site was being redeveloped, that hall really was a workshop used for locomotive restoration & maintenance for a while, but from 2004 on it became used as a hall rented out to various clients that used it for special events. One of the first that did that was the local branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), with me being one of the organisers for it. Since then it has been modified quite a bit, with different heating and lighting, floor structure etc. When we first used it, it had a preserved diesel loco inside ( 50 033 Glorious ) and other odds & ends. It had (still has underneath new timber work) a sold concrete floor, and plenty of power for various tools, and had gas fired radiant heating, along with daylight white lighting.

[@Spursrail96]

Your back hoary ! As expected brilliant video!

[@traintakes]

Thank you! ♥ Hoping to keep things rocking and rolling again from this point - lots I want to do and to keep improving - but the bug is there, super happy with the new outlook for the channel. Thanks for being such a great support 🤝

[@roblloyd1879]

As a child back in the late 50s/early 60s in the school holidays we would catch a train from Gloucester to Swindon on a Wednesday and spend the morning train spotting on Swindon station (Yes I'm still a nerd). In the afternoon Swindon works was open to visitors and we would join a group and be escorted round the site. If you had a good guide we would be allowed up on the footplate of some of the locomotives. No over zealous health and safety in those days. Happy days.

[@traintakes]

@@roblloyd1879 I hear tales like this and often feel like I should have been born in a different era. Would love to have experienced things like that while steam was still so prominent.

[@michaelorton6947]

Just visited! Well worth a few hours, but probably not a full day. Wheelchair accesibility is sorted. If you have a Blue Badge they do have at least two disabled parking basys, but there is no signage to help you find them. You need to drive down Firefly Avenue and STEAM is tucked in behind the National Trust Headquarters. Phone ahead to let them know you are coming and you will need to buzz them from the barrier. Yes, the diesel hydraulics were very much Swindon, but this is the STEAM museum and they don't have space for a Warship or a Western. Perhaps they need to put up a DIESEL museum next door? Oh and the signal box simulation was a tad basic and I am very unhappy that they have you push a passenger train over a facing point without a facing point lock.

[@gc7820]

I’ve been there a few years ago - ok I’m a dyed in the wool GWR lover - having not been there since the museum was in the old church and I thought it was an excellent museum.

[@traintakes]

@@gc7820 Me too, had a great visit. It was fairly quiet too so lots of space and time to really study the exhibits and get some nice shots.

[@garryferrington811]

It would have been nice if we had something like this for the Baldwin Locomotive Works.

[@traintakes]

That would have been excellent. If someone was planning a trip which museums in the US would you recommend?

[@garthcox4307]

There's a major omission if no diesel hydraulics, they were Swindon through and through. I visited the works in 1983, it was huge. At the time it was mostly ckass 08 overhauls and class 40 scrap lines. There was a 3rd surviving warship at the time, 818 glory, that would have made a great static exhibit.

[@traintakes]

@@garthcox4307 Apart from some nameplates and archive video, no diesel presence. Which is a shame - but I guess it’s down to space and also prioritising GWR-specifically rather than the BR era. Maybe if they get to expand in the future they may be able to include more 👍

[@joshslater2426]

I’d like to visit Swindon at some point, but it’s quite far from where I live. Locos like City of Truro, 2818 and the Dean Goods are on my bucket list, but I don’t know how much else would be of note since I just think all GWR locos look really similar.

[@traintakes]

@@joshslater2426 When my wife and I visited we were actually on our way to Somerset for a weekend (to see more trains!) so my recommendation would be to plan a couple of other spots to visit over a weekend - there’s actually the Swindon and Crickdale railway not too far away and there are other great heritage lines as you head out further west 👍

[@TheHoveHeretic]

Great video. Point Re: parking. This museum is in Swindon, so if you made parking an excellent experience, every man and his dog would head down there to park. The museum could *really* at very least do with a 'Teddy Bear' (That's a Class 14, to you norms!). Max out on the cute.

[@traintakes]

Ha! 😂 The parking did trip me up on the sat nav initially I must admit, nice place though. No diesels though - heartbreaking.

[@lynnmorton7544]

To say that the GWR locomotive was the first to travel at 100 MPH is pure speculation; you have to prove it. Clement Ader, Gustave Whitehead and Samuel Langley all claimed to be the first to fly a heavier than air machine. They didn't prove their claims, either

[@traintakes]

It would be fascinating to be able to go back in time to know for sure!

[@lynnmorton7544]

There were other railway companies out there just as good as the GWR

[@traintakes]

Absolutely... they were still pretty good though 😇

[@Faulty720]

Quite a patronising/OTT tone of voice for the narration. You're narrating to fellow enthusiasts, not families on BBC 2. :)

[@traintakes]

@@Faulty720 I appreciate all feedback 🤝 It is something I’m consistently working on to get better at - the VO used in this final piece was actually my fourth take - the original takes I thought were too OTT like you said. So although it may still comes across like that, I am working on improving delivery and changing up the style 👍 The only point I would (most politely) make is on who the videos are for - to me it’s about striking a balance for both. Members of the public might search about the museum and the content may show up for them, so it’s important to make sure it’s digestible for them - but of course I want fellow enthusiasts to enjoy it too. Thank you sincerely for your feedback, I hope you can see the work isn’t for a lack of trying but I agree it needs work ❤️

[@Faulty720]

@traintakes that's ok, I didn't mean it in a harsh way. The shots and editing were excellent though :) Just a calmer voice over would be worth a try perhaps

[@traintakes]

@ thank you! It’s funny because someone previously told me I sounded too dull - which was also right at the time - so I need to find that middle ground 🤝