a red and black steam train called Jack outside the locomotive shed at Leeds Industrial Museum

Reimaging Railways at Leeds Industrial Museum

Reimagining Railways is a National Lottery Heritage Fund project supporting the creation of a new Railway Gallery at Leeds Industrial Museum. Closed for more than a decade, this space will reopen as an accessible, co-curated gallery that connects Leeds’ industrial innovation to global stories of people, place and the environment.

We’ll be sharing our progress, outputs and collections through this page.
You can already see:

More information about the project
Background to our journey, starting at the 2014 boxing day floods
Photographs of some of our locomotive collection on Google Arts and Culture

You can expect to see:

Information about volunteering opportunities
Blogs about collections, its stories and the project
Behind the scenes photographs
Even more collection photographs
Information about freelance opportunities

What we’re doing

Between now and summer 2027 Leeds Industrial Museum will reinterpret its nationally significant Locomotive and Railway Collection through the creation of a new Railway Gallery.

Large objects will be conserved and displayed, access and environmental sustainability improved and new approaches to inclusive storytelling will be embedded across the gallery.

Working with community partners, academics and volunteers, we will create displays that reflect the diverse experiences of industry labour and empire, while inspiring pride and curiosity in local heritage.

Background to the project

Reimagining Railways is the final part of the multi-stage project to re-open Leeds Industrial Museum’s Railway Gallery after it was badly damaged in the 2014 boxing day floods.

On December 26 2014 Leeds Industrial Museum felt the full force of the floods, with areas submerged under up to 8 feet of water. Staff and volunteers ran an incredible clean-up operation, re-opening the site in just three months. The Railway Gallery, though, was badly damaged and has been unable to open since.

Since then, Extensive flood-protection works have been completed to safeguard the site from future flooding. These include the construction of flood walls, drainage improvements and ecological enhancements such as fish passes and other habitats. Arts Council also funded structural work from 2023 - 2025 through their Museum Estate and Development Fund. These works stabilised the Locomotive Shed and improved environmental control.

Now, Reimagining Railways will make the space ready to welcome visitors once again.