Rolling Stock

The Railway Challenge is an annual competition organised by the Railway Division of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which brings together teams of university students, apprentices and graduates from across the world to test their business knowledge, design ability and technical skills in a live railway environment. Participants are required to design and manufacture a miniature (10¼” gauge) railway locomotive in accordance with a set of strict rules and a detailed technical specification; this is a test of electrical and control system design as well mechanical design.

London Transport Museum is restoring a 1930s District line train into operational condition. The work is done by volunteers at the Museum Depot.

Restoring into operational condition is a fine balancing act between authenticity, originality and modern safety requirements. The challenges are varied, and include for example different operating current, unavailable materials, questions of which paint to use, which moquette pattern is correct, and variations over the train cars’ long service life.