The Matthew Kirtley Museum is temporarily closed to the public.
To provide an indication of the objects normally on display in the Matthew Kirtley Building please click here to view a more detailed selection.
The Matthew Kirtley Building is the main exhibition hall for the Midland Railway Trust’s unique museum collection of historic locomotives, carriages and wagons. Here you will find the oldest surviving Midland Railway locomotive, built in Derby in 1866. Other featured exhibits include rare restored vintage carriages dating from 1866 to 1898, two carriages from the Royal Train, one from 1912 and the other from 1956, and restored goods vehicles, but there is much more besides.
Railway signs, station items, including a restored ticket window, platform trolleys and waiting room benches, and railway equipment not normally seen by the travelling public are all waiting to be discovered. Together with photographs from the past there is plenty to explore for both the enthusiast and visitors curious about the past but without a specific interest in railways.
Historical Notes
The Matthew Kirtley Building is named after the Midland Railway’s first Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1844 to 1873.
The framework of the building itself was a former wagon works and was moved from Bulwell, near Nottingham.
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