Discover working at the railway in new STEAM exhibition

The exhibition, Doing Time – The Railway Apprentice, opens on Thursday (6 Feb) and tells the fascinating story of the young men and women who entered the world of the railways as trainee apprentices at Swindon Works to learn the skills of the trade on the job.

Doing Time has been produced as part of STEAM Museum’s celebration of Railway 200, a year-long nationwide campaign that marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway on September 27 1825 when the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened.

Railway 200 celebrates the past, present and future of rail and recognises Swindon’s pivotal role in the growth of the nation’s railway that helped change the world forever.

For the past 200 years, the railway apprentice has played a vital role in ensuring that the knowledge and trade of experienced staff is passed on to the next generation. Doing Time begins by looking at the experiences of the first railway apprentices, and follows the story through to the final apprenticeships offered at Swindon’s Pre-Apprentice Training School, up until the closure of Swindon Works in 1986.

The exhibition features a wealth of objects from the Swindon Museums collections including a rare apprentice register dating from 1908 which documents the names of the Great Western Railway’s newest recruits.

A charcoal drawing by local artist Hubert Cook, loaned from the Museum & Art Swindon collection, depicts an apprentice within the Swindon Works.

There’s also an array of archives and apprentice-made objects from Swindon’s Pre-Apprentice Training School that depicts an era in the history of apprenticeships that those that worked in the Railway Works may recognise.

Felicity Jones, Collections and Exhibitions Officer at STEAM, said: “Doing Time features a range of fascinating images and objects from the Swindon Museums collections.

“My particular highlights include some exquisite brass and metalwork objects made by the highly skilful apprentices with many items going on display at STEAM for the very first time.

“The exhibition highlights the huge contribution Swindon Works apprentices played in the development of the nation’s railway network and the pride they took in their work.”

Councillor Marina Strinkovsky, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Placemaking and Planning, said: “For well over a hundred years, thousands of apprentices passed through the doors of the Swindon Works to learn the trades of the railways. Some of them still live in Swindon and I was privileged to meet and speak with them. Their stories are fascinating and this exhibition is a rare chance to enter into the world of the Works and learn about the lives of people who are not all that far in the past.

“This new exhibition will be a trip down memory lane for many former Swindon railway workers and their families, but I would urge everyone to visit the fabulous STEAM Museum to learn more about our town’s rich railway heritage and its world-beating apprenticeship and training programme.”