On Thursday 14 May Community Rail Officer Emily Oldfield travelled to Blackpool North to shadow Dave Savage (Community Rail Officer at Community Rail Lancashire) showing school groups around the Railway 200 Inspiration train.
Inspiration is in-effect a ‘museum on wheels’, curated with the National Railway Museum to celebrate Railway 200 – 200 years of passenger rail which was marked in 2025. Inspiration visited a range of stations across the country last year and is now touring Britain until Summer 2026.
Emily assisted Dave in guiding visiting primary school groups around the train, before it was later due to open to the public. The groups had travelled to Blackpool North by train, with it being a first ever train journey for some of the pupils involved – a special day to be part of!
Inspiration features a range of exhibition carriages, with ‘Railway Firsts’ telling the story of railway innovations over time. ‘Wonderlab on Wheels’ provided a great opportunity for hands-on-activities exploring the science and engineering involved in the railways. ‘Your Railway Future’ considered the variety of careers in the rail industry and how young people could get involved to shape the next 200 years. There was even an opportunity to dress-up, with resources provided by TrainEd.
Emily found it a highly informative day, and fantastic to see young people so engaged with rail history. She is hoping to continue training in order to work with schools in the CRP area in the future.
