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Saturday 10 March 2012

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On Saturday I had a day of transport geekery at London Transport Museum Depot, Acton open weekend. I went along with fellow transport geek / nerd @Jemimah_Knight. The Depot is also open today Sunday 11 March 2012. It was packed with people looking at model train sets including this lovely one Tube set built from Lego. However the miniature model trains also include displays all modes of London travel from London Underground trains to trams.

Model Tube Trains in Lego - Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

Photographing Arnos Grove - Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

I really liked the paper kits of London Underground stations too (starter kits of bus shelters & bus stops start at £5 - most of the stations were £14 each).

Edgware Road Paperkit Station - Musueum Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

Model Trains - Museum Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

As well as being a giant amongst all of the model trains there is a fantastic collection of  over 370,000 objects at the Museum Depot, which includes road and rail vehicles, posters and artworks, engineering drawings, signs and ephemera.

storage at the london transport museum depot by jemimahknight
storage at the london transport museum depot by jemimahknight


Non Conforming Scaffold - Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

hell grease by jemimahknight
hell grease by jemimahknight

You can also go on a curator led tours of the small object store which is full of fascinating bits and pieces to keep young and old amused for hours.  Despite the number of anoraks and older men, there were lots of families and less sterotypical looking  fans of transport at the Depot too.


Busy Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

London Transport Canteen Signs - Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012 Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

Add to that rides on the Depot’s miniature railway, which features steam and electric trains, trips on full size heritage vehicles and old routemasters and it really is a brilliant day out.

Double Decker Bus Returning to  Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

If you're looking for transport related Mother's Day ideas the following might be worth a punt!

Spice Girls Bus - Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012


Mother Day Gifts - Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012 Health & Safety Posters - Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

Plus there's a series of talks over the weekend. We got to hear the puntastic Robert Hulse, Director of the Brunel Museum, giving a talk entitled "Victorian Engineering at its best" He discussed the famous Victorian Father and son engineers Marc and Isambard Brunel whose best known achievement was the Thames Tunnel, the world’s first under water tunnel.

On Sunday 11 March 2012 it's the turn of buses.  At 12.30pm and 3.00pm, Roger Torode, author of the newly published book Midland Red Style (written in partnership with Malcolm Keeley), will be talking about the Midland Red bus’ style, engineering and design along with the bus’ surprising life with London Transport. Roger will also be signing copies of his book and answering bus related questions.

As predicted the queue to get in was very long, but if you had booked tickets in advance you could have sped to the front.  However, it did seem to move reasonably quicly so  still worth going if you've just heard about this today. 

Shoreditch Roundel - Acton Depot - London Transport Museum Open Weekend March 2012

Tickets cost £10.00 for adults, £8.00 for senior citizens, £6.50 concessions and £5.00 London Transport Museum Friends. Accompanied children under 16 get in free.

My full set of photos from the Museum Depot are here and Jemimah Knight my fellow transport geek in crime has a great set of photos from the day too.

You might also like
Miniature Tube Trains, Wapping Shafts & Red Buses - Open Weekend at London Transport Museum Depot - 10th - 11th March 2012
Model Tube System
London's Transport in Miniature 
Eighth wonder of the world - Brunel Thames Tunnel talk 
Brunel Thames Tunnel Tour in Words & Pictures 
New London Bus Pictures - Interior sneak peek
Guided Tours of Tube Poster Artists at Museum Depot Acton
Steam Train on the London Underground - Video - Test Run for 150th Birthday Celebrations

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