STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway Reviews Summary

Exhibition and Displays

Pros:

• "An excellent exhibition of times gone by."
• "Interactive challenges on the way round and many short videos."
• "A small museum with a good range of classic GWR locos and information."
• "Lots of info on local things and people including the man himself Brunel."
• "The interactive parts were a joy for me and my little one."
• "A wonderful experience. If you are into locomotive, mechanical and engineering history, this place is a one-stop shop."
• "Great displays and historical information very informative, lots of room to move around."
• "The exhibits are so varied and are all absolutely fantastic, telling the entire story of the train making history."

Cons:

• "However, the exhibits look rather sad and unloved, the engines slowly deteriorating for the want of some TLC."
• "Entry price is quite high."
• "Could do with aircon, it was incredibly warm inside."
• "Some exhibits a bit tatty/boring."
• "The pasty too was of poor quality."
• "I thought it a little sad that the plaques commemorating those of the various shops who fell in both wars felt relegated to an obscure corner of the museum."
• "Some parts of the convention poorly lit so you weren't sure if you were even supposed to be in there."
• "Difficult to find however - signposting nonexistent."

Accessibility and Facilities

Pros:

• "My wife and I visited here, no queuing to get in."
• "If you have parked in the outlet car park then when you leave go to the reception and enter your vehicle registration and the parking fee is paid for you."
• "Conveniently located near a large shopping centre so food and coffee are not far away."
• "It's only a short walk from the station."
• "Parking costs £2 for up to 5 hours in the designated car parks."
• "The museum is right next to the outlet centre in Swindon."
• "You can park your car at the Designer outlets car park. In order to get free parking, you need to ask the museum receptionist to give you a QR code."
• "There are ramps and railings to assist in walking around the museum for disabled individuals and pushchairs."

Cons:

• "The signing from the carpark is awful and needs to be improved."
• "Entry price is quite high."
• "No mention of parking credit I’m only now seeing in some reviews."
• "The museum is tucked away, and I didn't realise it was about two minutes walk from the Swindon shopping outlet."
• "The museum was larger than expected, a good selection of trains."
• "Their carpark is free and big enough."
• "We parked in the outlet centre carpark and walked across."
• "Parking turned out to be free despite having to go through the barriers into the car park."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Gift shop has a great range of products at reasonable prices, and very helpful, friendly staff."
• "After paying, the person gave us a short talk on the place before entering the museum."
• "A lovely coffee in the cafe."
• "Took my young daughter and we had an excellent day out. The staff were incredibly helpful and super friendly too."
• "Staff were super friendly."
• "There were plenty of benches to take a pause on."
• "What a fantastic day made even better by the wonderful staff."
• "The staff were attentive and extremely knowledgable."

Cons:

• "The cafe staff seemed disinterested and the young lady more engaged with her phone."
• "I was looking for information on the construction of the line between Bristol and Bridgwater 1836-1841 and I told them this when making appointment."
• "I was so nervous but the vaccine team made me feel so much better."
• "On the day I just so happened to visit the GWR STEAM Museum, they were holding some sort of comic con event."
• "Enjoyed our visit today, particularly my husband being able to hire one of their mobility scooters."
• "Visited STEAM with some friends on a day trip from the Poole area."
• "The only downsides for me were not being able to take photos in some areas due to school children being present."
• "Our boosters were held at the Steam Museum, staff and volunteers really friendly and helpful."

Overall Experience

Pros:

• "This is an amazing museum with loads to do. My child loves it here and has done since she was 3 (she is now 8!!)."
• "An absolutely fascinating place to visit and a definite worthwhile visit if you are in the area."
• "This is the place where locomotives history come alive."
• "We really enjoyed our trip to the Steam museum, especially my four year-old who loves trains."
• "One of the best Railway Museums I've been to. What sets it apart is how family-friendly it is."
• "Loved it. It's THE best museum I've been to, not just for railways."
• "This is a very interesting and exciting museum. For rail enthusiasts of all ages, there is so much to see."
• "Fantastic museum, right next to the outlet centre in Swindon. Took a good few hours to look around."

Cons:

• "The museum is tucked away, and I didn't realise it was about two minutes walk from the Swindon shopping outlet."
• "Bought tickets in advance for the comicon, but still had to queue with everybody else who was paying."
• "This museum is tucked away, and I didn't realise it was about two minutes walk from the Swindon shopping outlet."
• "Took the kids over to the alternative market at The Steam Museum. £4 each to get in!!! What a scam."
• "My first time. My sons second time. I work in the rail industry and made some history myself being part of GWML upgrade."
• "Not as big as York railway museum but just as informative and has a really good exhibition where you can walk underneath a train."
• "Great place to visit, the history of a steam engine factory one of the largest in its day a creation of Isambard Kingdom Brunel."
• "Very well organised for COVID, not too busy so we could spend time looking at the exhibits."