Museum Viewing (BST)
Weekends and Wednesdays throughout the year.
10.00 to 17.00 (April - October)
10.00 to 16.00 (November to March)
We are next open for Museum Viewing:
We hold regular event days throughout the year, see What’s On for details.
We are open throughout the year* on Weekends and Wednesdays, and when we aren’t operating during an event day the Museum site is open for you to look around at your leisure.
Our entire site makes up the Railway Museum – and tells the story of 175 years of railways in the East of England and beyond. It’s not just about trains, find out how the railway changed lives, assisted in the war effort and was modernised into the railway network we know now in the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
*Please note there are a few days which we are closed – Christmas and Boxing Day, plus some days immediately before and after the Beer Festivals in September. See our What’s On page for details of our events.
What to see on your visit.
Station Buildings – See our preserved station building, ticket office and waiting room and WH Smiths Stand, the place where many would have started their journey.
Chappel Main Signal Box – The original signal box at Chappel. This is currently closed whilst we undertake repair work on the building structure.
Curio Coach and Bookends Compartment, Platform 2 – A grounded coach – many of these would have been used as Waiting Rooms at rural stations, or even as homes. Look inside to learn about how coaches like these from the 1800s have survived, plus have a look through the stock in our self-service second hand book compartment.
Goods Shed – the centre piece of our Museum site, have a look around this building and imagine how busy it must have been with the transfer of freight to and from trains.
Exhibition Hall – opened at our Rail 200 event in the summer of 2025, the hall has many wagons and carriages for you to look around, from our 1870s coaches up to the 1980s built class 317 EMU. There is even an area where the Children can use the soft bricks to build a Viaduct !
Restoration Shed – Have a look at the various engines, carriages, wagons under restoration by our volunteers and learn about the work that goes into Heritage Rail preservation.
Thompson Building – 2 automated Model Railway displays, also home of the Braintree and Halstead Model Railway Club (The club volunteers open additional display rooms and layouts on Wednesdays throughout the year, please press Bell on the Clubs door and they will give you a warm welcome and show you around).
Outdoor Train-themed playground for children under 12.
Picnic area, and Picnic Bus.
Museum Display Room (Thompson Centre) holding a variety of smaller exhibits telling the story of jobs and life supported by railways in the East. Have a look at our memory wall and add your own about how rail transformed life in Britain.
On Site Catering
Feeling Hungry?
You can visit Platform Two Cafe, which is run by our external suppliers, Stour Valley Catering – they’re open from 10am – 4pm (please note that food is not served by Platform Two Cafe after 2pm during the winter months) and serve tasty breakfast, lunch & snack options, as well as coffee, tea & a range of cold beverages.
Ticketing
The Museum is a registered Charity run by Volunteers, Gift Aid is a simple way for UK Tax Payers to allow the Museum to claim an additional 25% of the ticket price from HMRC.
We are next open for Standard Museum Viewing:
We hold regular event days throughout the year, see What’s On for details.
