NRM in York to record history of LGBTQ+ railway workers

The project has been launched with the support of the rail industry including Network Rail's LGBT+ organisation Archway

The National Railway Museum in York has received almost £100,000 to record the voices of LGBTQ+ railway workers as part of an oral history project.

Up to 70 interviews are to be collected to "fill a gap in railway knowledge before it is lost".

The museum said People, Pride and Progress would increase understanding of the community's contribution to the railways.

The interviews are to be added to the museum's permanent collection.

Alison Kay, archives manager at the National Railway Museum, said: "The huge shift in attitudes in society and the rail industry over the last 50 years is significant.

"These changes have not been recorded and risk being lost unless these voices and stories are recorded now."

Ms Kay said the work would be guided by the LGBTQ+ community and the rail industry and would "enhance the national collection".

A spokesperson for the museum said volunteers would be given professional training to enable them to conduct interviews with LGBTQ+ rail employees about their experiences in the past.

The lottery funding would also enable the museum to appoint a dedicated oral history archivist to manage the project, they said.

In a statement the museum said the rail industry had changed from "an often-hostile environment for LGBTQ+ employees in the 19th and 20th Centuries" to a much more diverse, accepting, industry, "but as a result of historic prejudice, information is not readily available, and few personal records exist".

The project is expected to run until November 2025.