York; Tuesday, 23 December, 2003

Thankfully overnight the temperature had risen again and by dawn all the snow was gone. On my way to the station to drop off my luggage I had a further wander round the ruins of the Abbey of St. Mary's.

After leaving my luggage at the left luggage office I wandered round the side of the station to the York Model Railway. Set in a former tea room this massive layout can quite happily while away the time waiting for your train.

After visiting the model railway it was time to visit the real thing at the National Railway Museum. As York was formerly one of the principle towns building trains in the country it was only fitting that the museum to British Rail should open in one of their former workshops (they don't explain how many people were made redundant when the workshop closed!) The museum charts the history of the train in the UK with full size examples of trains and carriages. It also includes a couple of examples of foreign trains such as the Japanese bullet train.

After visiting the Railway Museum it was time to go back to the station and get the train home, thankfully not a museum piece!