There is Queen Victoria\u2019s funeral wreath, a station ticket kiosk allegedly used by Rod Stewart and then an object so important it comes on its own plinth: the last ever microwave-burger box before the introduction of \u201cdeli-style\u201d meals on GNER trains.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can remember having a cheeseburger on the train coming down from Aberdeen to London in the 1990s,\u201d said Andrew McLean with fondness.<\/p>\n
McLean is the head curator at the National Railway Museum<\/a> in York, and someone who believes British railway catering more generally has an unfair reputation.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have this idea that it was a terrible thing, but actually it was some of the best catering you could get in this country,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the 1970s the dining car breakfast was one of the best you could get anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The microwave-burger box was donated to the museum by Great North Eastern Railway to the museum in 1999. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n McLean is speaking as he shows the Guardian around the museum\u2019s newly refurbished Station Hall space, a former goods station that since 1990 has been home to the museum\u2019s collection of six royal carriages.<\/p>\n The Station Hall has been closed for more than two years for an \u00a311m refurbishment, including an essential new roof.<\/p>\n \u201cIt had been leaking since the 1870s,\u201d said McLean. \u201cSometimes if it had been raining we would have buckets catching water. Making this building wind and watertight for the first time is transformational for us.\u201d<\/p>\n The public reopening on Friday coincides with the museum\u2019s 50th anniversary celebrations this weekend, a \u201cmonumental milestone\u201d for what was the first national museum to open outside London, said its director, Craig Bentley.<\/p>\n The idea in the Station Hall is to celebrate the station and the universal stories it can shine light on.<\/p>\n One of the many displays in the newly refurbished Station Hall. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to appreciate and celebrate the station,\u201d said curator Karen Baker. \u201cWe\u2019ve all got experiences of the station, the excitement when you go on holiday, the boredom of having to wait after your train has been cancelled.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we hope for is for people to appreciate the station in all its guises \u2013 the good, the bad \u2026 whatever. It is a real hub of humanity and as a consequence there are so many great stories.\u201d<\/p>\n The microwave-burger box was formally donated to the museum, tongue in cheek, by Great North Eastern Railway in 1999.<\/p>\n Next to it in the display case are the then-revolutionary Maxpax coffee and teacups introduced by British Rail in 1979, designed to prevent burned fingers. Below is a fabulous silver coffee pot in the shape of an early locomotive<\/a>, which in the 19th century had pride of place in Swindon station\u2019s refreshment rooms.<\/p>\n Isambard Kingdom Brunel, however, described the coffee it served as tasting like \u201cbad roasted corn\u201d.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the hall is an enormous wreath that was on the front of the locomotive that hauled Victoria\u2019s funeral train in 1901. It has been in storage for more than 30 years and the challenging restoration involved opening a case that had been sealed for more than 100 years, curators said.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Queen Victoria\u2019s funeral wreath. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n There is also a newly restored WH Smith bookstall first installed at Waterloo station in London in 1921, and a passimeter \u2013 a ticket kiosk \u2013 from Winchmore Hill station.<\/p>\n \u201cI was lucky enough to meet a chap who worked in this box,\u201d said McLean. \u201cOne regular passenger back then was Rod Stewart. He used to buy his tickets from this very ticket office.\u201d<\/p>\n The WH Smith bookstall from Waterloo station. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Photographic displays include prints from a collection of pictures by Howard Grey showing tired, pensive Windrush migrants arriving at Waterloo in 1962<\/a>.<\/p>\n