Description
Welcome to The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust, Based at WEST SHED Museum and Workshop. Founded in 1993 by a group of passionate railway enthusiasts, The Trust has a proud history of developing its collection of historic railway artefacts as well as restoring and returning to working order historic steam locomotives and coaches in the collection.
Our collection at WEST SHED goes far beyond the locomotives and carriages. We hold a significant archive of photographs, engineering drawings, magazines, books, and railwayana that help tell the full story of Britain’s steam era and the machines we preserve. Whether you’re a researcher, modeller or enthusiast, there’s a wealth of material to explore.
If you are looking for Best place for day out with kids and families then this is the perfect destination offering fun, adventure, and unforgettable memories for everyone.
Features
- Free
- Host birthday parties: No
Features
- West Shed Museum: WEST SHED Museum is the operational base and public home of The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust (PRCLT), located at the west end of Swanwick Junction on the Midland Railway – Butterley. More than just a museum, WEST SHED is a place where heritage engineering continues every day. Here, historic locomotives are not only displayed — they are carefully maintained, restored, and prepared for operation on both preserved and main line railways across the UK.
- Workshop: Alongside the public museum space lies WEST SHED Workshop — the beating heart of The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust’s preservation work. This is where skilled engineers, apprentices, and dedicated volunteers carry out the meticulous restoration, overhaul, and maintenance of the Trust’s historic steam locomotives and carriages. Rather than being a static archive, WEST SHED is an active engineering centre committed to keeping heritage steam locomotives operational, enabling them to haul trains on heritage lines and, in some cases, on the national main line network.
Collection: Our collection at WEST SHED goes far beyond the locomotives and carriages. We hold a significant archive of photographs, engineering drawings, magazines, books, and railwayana that help tell the full story of Britain’s steam era and the machines we preserve. Whether you’re a researcher, modeller or enthusiast, there’s a wealth of material to explore.
What's in the Collection?
- Historic Photographs: Images of our locomotives and coaches in service and in preservation, providing context, detail and a visual record of change over time.
- Archival Material: Official instructions, rule books, worker’s notes and correspondence from those who built and ran the railways.
- Magazines & Publications: Including issues of the 1930s ‘LMS Magazine’ (the staff publication of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway), plus modern heritage railway titles.
- Railwayana: Builder’s plates, number plates, lamps, wage tokens and other objects once in everyday use on the railways.
- Paintings & Prints: Original artwork and reproduced prints depicting the locomotives, carriages and scenes in the collection.
- Books & Reference Works: Volumes on LMS history, Stanier locomotives, engineering and railway heritage; available for in-house research in our library.
- Engineering Drawings: A small working set of drawings used by our engineers; while access is limited, the collection highlights the technical development behind our locomotives.
7.44 miles
