Talk:List of railway museums in the United Kingdom

Would it make more sense to merge this list with that in List of British heritage and private railways for several reasons: What do other people think? (Our Phellap 21:06, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC))
 * Several of the entries are duplicated (i.e. in both lists).
 * Many of the museums have a short running line (which could be classed as a heritage railway), for example the East Anglia Railway Museum.
 * It would be more convenient to have all preserved railway sites, museums and railways all on one page.
 * That sounds like a good idea to me. Thryduulf 21:45, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

How do we define a Museum
In the UK many organisations claim to run a 'museum'. however there is a nationally recognised standard for any museum run by the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council in the form of 'museum registration', currently gradually being replaced by 'museum accreditation'.

All museums that hold provisional or full registration or accreditation have a number, for instance the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is currently registered museum No.290. In the case of the NYMR the whole, eighteen mile long, railway is the museum, unlike some other heritage railways where only a single building is the registered museum.

Accredited or Registered museums must demonstrate certain standards both relating to the museum itself as well as things like opening hours and visitor facilities.

In listing 'railway museums', we should distinguish those which have gained registration or accreditation, preferably by quoting their number.

Whether we should distinguish museums that are simply a collection of objects from those which have short demonstration lines or whole heritage railways I leave open for debate.

XTOV 14:29, 15 September 2007 (UTC)