Electric Railway Museum

The Electric Railway Museum (formerly the Coventry Railway Centre) was located in Warwickshire, south-east of Coventry, near the village of Baginton. The heritage railway centre was immediately adjacent to Coventry Airport and so it was also known as "The Airfield Line". The site was managed by the Electric Railway Museum Limited, and was home to a sizeable collection of preserved electric multiple units (EMUs), which was the most diverse and historically significant collection of EMUs in the UK, containing unique items that are the last survivors of once typical and numerous classes. In addition, there were small industrial electric locomotives, two small industrial diesel locomotives, and one small industrial petrol locomotive, along with some other railway vehicles, which are owned by third parties. The land was leased from Coventry City Council, though it is located just outside the city boundary and is in the county of Warwickshire.

The Electric Railway Museum April 2012

On 9 July 2017, it was announced that, owing to the site being sold for development, the museum would close on 8 October 2017 (the last open day of the year). The site was cleared by the end of July 2018 and all railway items and heritage buildings found new homes.

History

Coventry Steam Railway Centre

The site was originally established as the Coventry Steam Railway Centre in 1986 by a group who set out to preserve Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 tank locomotive number 1857. The group established the site and located the locomotive and other collected items of motive power, rolling stock and infrastructure, including Little Bowden Junction Midland Railway Signal Box there. The land was previously used as part of the municipal water treatment works and there had never been any railway infrastructure there until the creation of the Centre.

Suburban Electric Railway Association

With a small membership, progress was slow and by the mid-1990s had slowed nearly to a halt. The late nineties saw one of the original founders retire due to ill health and he sold his interest in the site to a consortium of Suburban Electric Railway Association (SERA) members, except the tank engine which was sold to another railway. By 2004, the other founders had left and SERA took over sole running of the site.

Electric Railway Museum

In 2009, the responsibility of managing the site passed to Electric Railway Museum Limited, a charitable company which had been established in 2007 to create a permanent home for preserving and representing Britain's electric railway heritage.[1] With this development, the original Coventry Railway Centre Limited company was wound up and its assets passed to Electric Railway Museum Limited. The site was open to the public, and group and individual visits could be admitted by prior booking. The first Chairman was Graeme Gleaves and the museum held its first public open day in September 2010. In 2011 the ERM won the Heritage Railway Association Best Small Group award.

Track layout

The track layout comprised two three road fans of sidings. Those at the end of the site adjacent to the Midlands Air Museum were complete with a headshunt that ran through a 40-metre cutting that was excavated by the members of the original steam centre in the early nineties. The sidings nearest Rowley Road were unconnected. The sidings were protected by an inner fence to create a secure compound.

Facilities

Other improvements made to the site by Electric Railway Museum in late 2009 included the provision of mains electricity on site and state-of-the-art CCTV equipment.

Stock

The vast majority of items not being actively restored were sheeted over to protect them from rusting, vandalism, and other damage.

Electric Multiple Units
Overhead EMUs
Third rail Southern Region
Third rail Midland Region.
Others

Locomotives
Diesel Locomotives
Electric Locomotives

Carriages
  • English Electric "Spondon No. 1" E905
    English Electric "Spondon No. 1" E905
  • Ruston 0-4-0DE No. 268881 "Mazda"
    Ruston 0-4-0DE No. 268881 "Mazda"
  • RSH No. 7284 "Doug Tottman"
    RSH No. 7284 "Doug Tottman"
  • Hawthorn Leslie Kearsley Power Station No. 1
    Hawthorn Leslie Kearsley Power Station No. 1
  • Ruston 88DS 4wd No. 338416 "Crabtree"
    Ruston 88DS 4wd No. 338416 "Crabtree"
  • Hibberd 4wd No. 2895
    Hibberd 4wd No. 2895
  • British Rail Class 457, unit 7001, vehicle 67300
    British Rail Class 457, unit 7001, vehicle 67300
  • British Rail Class 503, DTS no. 29289.
    British Rail Class 503, DTS no. 29289.

Closure

On 9 July 2017, it was announced that, owing to the site being sold for development, the museum would close on 8 October 2017 (the last open day of the year).[5] The future of the museum and its collection of unique electric multiple units and other items was uncertain at that time, with efforts to raise £10,000 underway to cover the costs of moving the stock to an as yet unknown location. Ruston & Hornsby 88 diesel shunter, nicknamed "Crabtree", and BR Class 309 unit 960 101 were moved to the Tanat Valley Light Railway in May 2018 with the EMU to serve as a static museum and buffet train at Nantmawr.[6][7]

References
  1. "Coventry's Electric Railway Museum to close". www.whatsonlive.co.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  2. "Electric Railway Museum". Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  3. Hewitt, Sam (31 October 2019). "Electric Railway Museum stock stored at Colne Valley - The Railway Magazine". Archived from the original on 17 October 2020.
  4. "Electric Railway Museum". Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  5. "Coventry rail museum set to close in October". Coventry Telegraph. 11 July 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  6. "untitled". TVLR Facebook group. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  7. "untitled". TVLR Facebook group. Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
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