Review of 'Railway 200 (Crewe)'
In 2025 “Railway 200” celebrated 200 years of the modern railway with a free exhibit “Inspiration” hosted on a train that travelled around the country having started it's journey in London. The exhibit continues until summer 2026 at various stops across the country. The main train consists of three re-purposed train carriages “Railway Firsts” telling the story of how the modern railway began, “Wonderlab on Wheels” talking about technical principles used on the railway and “Your Railway Future” which is a recruitment call for young people to join the railways. All of the carriages have a number of hands-on exhibits for children to play with and are quite well done. The exhibition is largely intended for children but there is enough to be seen that will be of interest to adults as well.
In Crewe the exhibition was set up on the western-most platforms which were accessed via the station or the side access door normally used for rail replacement bus services. In addition to the three cars of the exhibition there was a forth carriage “Together” which had a VR experience where you could use it to walk around a train including the driver's cabin. Additionally, there were two rooms in a building on the platform that featured exhibits drawn from the nearby “Crewe Heritage Centre” (see my Crewe page for details) including exhibits about woman in the railway, early safety issues and other general history of the railway in the area.
In Crewe you could easily visit the experience within a few hours but this can vary based on how busy it is. Timed tickets are free but must be obtained in advance as the exhibition can get quite busy.
Is it worth seeing? Yeah, it is not that bad and railway buffs will find it moderately entertaining though lacking in a huge amount of substance. It is fun to play with the exhibits…
Rating: “It is OK but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2026-01-18
Crewe Station
Location: Cheshire (England)
Address: Crewe Station, Nantwich Road, Crewe, Cheshire, CW2 6HR ENGLAND
Public Transport: 
Crewe
URL: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/crewe/
A busy west coast mainline train station that trains travelling to/from Birmingham, London, and South Wales to/from North Wales, Scotland, Manchester and Liverpool. There are limited station facilities including toilets, heated waiting rooms (limited hours), WH Smith, a small pub, coffee shops, and Upper Crust (sandwiches). Technically there are no drop off facilities at the main entrance which is on the top of a bridge but here you can catch taxis and buses. There are several nearby car parks as well as easy access outside the station to local fast food outlets.