Rail passengers are set to enjoy faster and more frequent services when a new fleet of battery-electric trains begin operating on TransPennine Express* routes. Great British Railways (GBR), the UK Government’s new body that runs most of Britain’s rail network, has signed a £1 billion contract with...
The Royal Observatory at Greenwich is undergoing a major transformation, which they have named ‘The First Light’ project. First Light will see the Observatory’s interior and external spaces transformed through displays and interactives, alongside architecture, conservation and landscaping. The new galleries will showcase observatory’s impact on our...
Moto Guzzi, the famous Italian motorcycle manufacturer, has just opened its new production facility at its historic home on Lake Como and with it, a new brand museum and visitor experience. Moto Guzzi’s parent, the Piaggio Group, has invested over 50 million Euros and spent five years...
The Musée des Arts et Métiers (MuAM) in Paris is opening an 11-month exhibition on the Design and Creation of the Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberté: Sweat, Boldness, Genius traces the technical odyssey behind the universal monument. Marking the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of...
Royal Navy Museums has announced a date for the new £15m Royal Marines Experience at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The former Royal Marines Museum closed in 2017 with plans to move to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and create a new centre for Royal Marines heritage. Over the last 9...
It’s hard to imagine the U-boat war being conducted from a group of bunkers in the wooded grounds of a château just outside Angers, miles from the coast and the U-boat bases. But that’s exactly the point. The British raid on Saint-Nazaire in March 1942 (Operation Chariot)...
That’s a bit of a shock! It’s a bit like hearing the ravens are quitting the Tower of London. Yesterday, the National Motor Museum Trust issued a statement announcing that it has begun the process of identifying a new home for the National Motor Museum as its...
(And the rescue of a wounded American soldier) This roadside monument on a long straight stretch of the D31 road between the villages of Larchamp and Ernée in the Mayenne department of France, marks the point of first contact on 4th August 1944 between US troops advancing...
The Silver Raven, which started operating the official 40-minute ‘Tower of London River Tours’ on the Thames in March this year, is the UK’s first electric tour boat. She is one of the new generation of river craft on an increasingly greener artery through London’s heartland. “It’s...
The government says that work to remove the three masts from the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames estuary will begin in early September. SS Richard Montgomery was a WW2 American Liberty ship that dragged her anchor while waiting to unload her cargo of...
The Imperial War Museum (IWM) in Lambeth, South London is one of the world’s best known military museums, and the parent to four branches of Imperial War Museums: IWM North in Manchester, IWM Duxford near Cambridge, The Churchill War Rooms in Westminster, and HMS Belfast on the...
National Motor Museum engineers have successfully restored the World Land Speed Record breaker Sunbeam 1000hp car, in time for its planned 100th anniversary run at Daytona Beach in the USA next year. The restoration project has taken over three years, with many additional years of preparatory work....
Electric vehicle manufacturer BYD have just demonstrated their FLASH charging system for the first time in the UK. This could be something of a game-changer. As we all know, one of the main disadvantages of electric vehicles is the time it takes to re-charge. Despite improved charging...
The Great Central Railway and 5305 Locomotive Trust are celebrating the completion of a major restoration project on the National Railway Museum’s National Collection Class 33 locomotive D6535 – one of Britain’s most significant early diesel locomotives. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the restored locomotive...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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