please empty your brain below
And you went on the red train, not the green one to the disappointment of my family. The best bit was when we passed above the graveyard of abandoned trains.

Any news there on when the extension will be opened?

Ken | 29.01.20 - 7:10 a.m. | #

One question: how did you know it is free for Art Pass holders? I can’t find anything on the Postal Museum website, while the Art Pass website says 50% off, which doesn’t seem to be what you found on the ground.

Thomas | 29.01.20 - 7:17 a.m. | #

Free entry for Art Pass holders is confirmed in the FAQ on the tickets webpage (under 'Can I visit with a National Art Pass?').

But the 2020 Art Pass handbook suggests it's now only 50% off, compared to free entry in 2019.

I confess I wasn't 100% certain how much I'd be charged until I reached the ticket desk.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 29.01.20 - 7:49 a.m. | #

Being well over 6ft tall, I can confirm that the train is an uncomfortable ride once the canopy is lowered, but remains an entertaining experience despite this.

Frank F | 29.01.20 - 7:51 a.m. | #

That looks like great fun.

Kevin | 29.01.20 - 7:56 a.m. | #

My daughter and I went using our Art Passes just before Christmas. At that time one of the videos in the tunnel had been altered so that it showed post getting to Father Christmas which was a nice touch. I would have liked some more stamp design (the small display on David Gentleman was not enough) but I think the museum's general audience was well served by what was there. I also thought that the shop was terrific.

Joan | 29.01.20 - 9:09 a.m. | #

If my memory serves me well, the actual sorting coach from the great train robbery is on display in the Severn Valley Railway museum shed.
You can walk through it.

Joho | Homepage | 29.01.20 - 9:55 a.m. | #

I loved it when I went, but then I was one of those who volunteered for Christmas sorting while at Uni and then actually became a postie for a short while.
In fact the bonus gallery kept me entertained longer than the ride!

Cornish Cockney | 29.01.20 - 10:16 a.m. | #

I do wish people didn't regard the "Great" train robbers of 1963 as some kind of Robin Hood heroes. They were a bunch of hoodlums whose actions included career-ending (and probably life-shortening) head injuries to Jack Mills, the driver of the train.

dg writes: This point is made in the exhibition.

The Post office museum is indeed fascinating. I went there a year or so ago, as the guest of a work colleague who has a pass as a City Tour Guide (and former GPO employee)

timbo | 29.01.20 - 10:27 a.m. | #

I too worked on the Christmas post as a teenager, but I certainly didn't think of it as volunteering. I was paid. But while my contemporaries were out pushing cards through letterboxes, I got to ride in the cab of a hired truck (I'm coming to the point shortly) taking sacks of parcels from local subpostoffices to ... Mount Pleasant. Definitely a fairly cushy number.

Malcolm | 29.01.20 - 1:16 p.m. | #

I’ve no idea why this particular piece of trivia has stuck in my brain but the name of the postal reformer is ‘Rowland’ with a ‘w’. I could tell you nothing else about him apart from how to spell his name.

Cjw714 | 29.01.20 - 3:26 p.m. | #

I visited pre-2003, whilst the whole place was still working. Railway was fascinating seeing the carriages bump and shuffle along.
We watched the sorting process, some fully automated, but were clustered around another machine where a stream of envelopes passed an operator who read and typed in the postcode. Then the whole lot ground to a halt... Who had leant on the emergency stop button (oops, myself red-faced!).

NickK | 29.01.20 - 6:07 p.m. | #

Thanks for the reply. And, indeed, thanks for the recommendation. I had never heard of the art pass before, and we are loving having the family version

Thomas | 29.01.20 - 6:58 p.m. | #

>> But 1963's most notorious crime takes centre stage

Perhaps they could be right up to date with an ehibition on the the currently ongoing scandal of the post office employees who were accused of fraud when all along the Royal Mail knew that their software was to blame.

Agent X | 29.01.20 - 9:28 p.m. | #

Was there last week - well worth the visit and time spent.

I still have questions about the Train Robbery logistics - 120 sacks in that open dropside lorry? The image of a man beside those 600+ 'High Value Packages' representing the stolen loot doesn't appear to fit into the lorry / mailsacks either. Could the 'establishment' have deliberately exaggerated the amount stolen (would explain why most of it has never been traced), to be allowed to make an example of them, especially when they couldn't pin anyone for the attack on Jack Mills? That's the nearest I've been to a conspiracy theory!

Also, the Museum doesn't give concessions to seniors. Big mistake.

Joel | 29.01.20 - 11:58 p.m. | #

Way back in 1971 I had a ride on this railway. At the time I was tutor to a WEA group in Walthamstow looking at 'The History of London's Railways'. A couple of group members worked for the Post Office and arranged the visit for us. I recall we got on at Rathbone Place and trundled eastwards.

GB

GB | Homepage | 30.01.20 - 5:26 p.m. | #











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