A collaborative project between National Railway Museum and Google Arts & Culture called ‘Beyond the Tracks’ has been launched with the aim of bringing the transformative story of the railways to a global digital audience.
To celebrate the 200-year anniversary of the modern railway, this work which has taken one year to create, embraces the digital revolution the railways helped inspire, ensuring this powerful history belongs to and is accessible to everyone, everywhere.
As part of the collaboration, the National Railway Museum is one of the first partners to use the new AI-powered Metadata Enhancement Service from Google Arts & Culture. The service’s Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities helped transcribe text from handwritten documents and historic artifacts, making the collection more searchable.
This tool is part of a broader effort to help cultural institutions thrive in the digital age, supporting researchers and curators in providing rich information for their collections online. The National Railway Museum joins just three other York attractions with a presence on the Google Arts & Culture platform.
The bespoke content developed for the project includes an overview of the history of the railways and sharing untold stories that go far beyond the iconic engines on display at the National Railway Museum in York to reveal the human and societal revolution the railway ignited.
Amongst the 1,000 artifacts meticulously digitised are highlight objects like the Rastrick Notebook, which offers a firsthand account of the world-changing 1829 Rainhill Trials as well as images of Puffing Billy, the world’s oldest preserved locomotive, and a model carriage crafted from the wood of the sunken paddle steamer PS Princess Alice, revealing a fascinating, morbid Victorian secret.
For the first time, virtual 360-degree tours inside the National Railway Museum’s sister site Locomotion in Shildon have been created, showcasing some of the highlights of Europe’s largest undercover collection of historic railway vehicles.
The two new virtual tours take you through the immense Main Hall, appreciating heritage rail vehicles at their true, colossal scale, and New Hall, designed as a traditional engine shed and housing more of the collection’s significant passenger and freight rail vehicles. You can even trace history itself by walking the historic Brusselton Incline, part of the world’s first public railway from 1825.
Another unique element of the Beyond the tracks content are the two immersive Pocket Gallery 3D exhibitions, featuring some of the National Railway Museum’s extensive art and poster collection not currently on display at the museum. Complete with immersive audio, an online audience can delve into the archives to view how art was inspired by and reflected the railways and a glimpse into early rail travel advertising.
Craig Bentley, director, National Railway Museum said “Through this digital project, the National Railway Museum, is making its unparalleled national collection accessible to all. Beyond the Tracks is an expansion of the museum experience, bringing to life the transformative story of the railway in this special bicentenary year.”
This project is the latest step in the Science Museum Group’s long-standing partnership with Google Arts & Culture.
Sir Ian Blatchford, chief executive of the Science Museum Group, said: “We have been delighted to work with Google Arts & Culture over many years to bring our collection to life in surprising and innovative ways. Beyond the Tracks will ignite curiosity in fundamental scientific concepts among learners around the world, unlocking the full potential of railway history.”
Amit Sood, director, Google Arts & Culture added: “The story of the railway is one of world-changing innovation. As the National Railway Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary, we are proud to deepen our long-standing partnership with the Science Museum Group. ‘Beyond the Tracks’ brings this pivotal chapter of history to a global audience, making it possible for everyone, everywhere to experience these incredible machines and their powerful stories.”
Beyond the Tracks is now available for your exploration on Google Arts & Culture at National Railway Museum – Google Arts & Culture.
Image credit: National Railway Museum
