London Transport Museum

Same here.... not as good as I'd hoped (apologies for being critical).... its trying to be all things to all people... it has a modern London taxi, bicycles, a scooter etc..... its very bitty too in that it seems to be a little unco-ordinated in places and totally ignores some included exhibits that could easily be missed (e.g. wooden lift doors by the section on the ground floors that concentrated on the building of the underground).

Okay there are almost 2 weeks prior to the opening, however I'm a little disappointed on the whole.... it seemed confused in places...

The photos that I took today, not only of the museum but also getting there, can be found here...
cjw.fpic.co.uk/c1357558.html

Although where does one procure a DLR car from ? The Volvo B9TL was a cab front mockup, the 96ts cab is again a mockup (but quite a decent one actually).

Oooh, I like the 96ts Simulator...

Not possible I know (re the heavy steam loco, John Harpendon No.5 electric Met loco, Q & old Met car), but it would have been good to have the ground floor in a turntable style with buses and underground stock (a bit like York) and then tell the story of the tube on the top two floors...

I'd also have liked to have read about the lives of LU staff throughout its history as opposed to having quotations placed around the museum... particularly about wartime London !

Sections like the futuristic ticket office just behind/around the corner from the DMS & Routemaster was a complete waste of time... and there's no RT there any more

The entrance that looks at metro systems around the world is also a missed opportunity.... lets have some models or something visual we can see rather than a large map & fancy lights...

Okay its not yet finished and please don't get me wrong, its still a good place to visit, but I was disappointed with what I found...

Having said that I have now joined the LU Museum Friends.... so that's one good thing to come out of yesterday (£20 per annum or £300 life membership)

Depends on how old you are (and whether you are a 'native' or a tourist).
Personally things like even Fleetlines, which folks of my age rode on even in our 20s, let alone DLR/Croydon trams are NOT history: the latter are current events, the others recent items remembered (usually) with a deal of distaste since they were frequently worse than their predecessors (such as DMS versus RM).

It comes down to what a museum is meant to be. I had always thought it was a collection of no-longer remembered artifacts (like RTs!!).
What you seem to want is a 'visitor centre' as every place seems to have to have these days. Fine if that's what you want, but then please don't call it a museum because it ain't. ChrisW's point is very valid.......only I'd go even further.

I find myself agreeing with TC (for once ).

To appeal to enthusiasts you'd probably need a very technical offering, one which would go over the heads of many tourists.

Question about the museum - can you board the exhibits? I'd guess having a photo sitting in the cab of a London Bus would be a greater draw than the technical differences between the RT & RM say.

BTW are there ANY Fleetlines still in operation in the UK?

True we have Acton, but people like visual cues.... even when I was not as interested in LU as I am now, back in the 1980's, through the window of the LU Museum I could see the 38DM... once inside I was surrounded by old buses, trams etc. etc. Its the physical presence that makes the impact... now the Museum is IMO too varied, scattered and in places empty... or even surreal - the futuristic Max Headroom style future ticket machine

I look upon it as that the present will become history all too quickly.... in 10 years the A, C, D, 67 & 72 stocks will be on their way out, if not already having disappeared from the Underground.... so take those photos now so we can look back....

IMO everything from 1862 onwards (the year before the Underground opened) should be part of the museum, with new exhibits added every year

In my opinion a proper LT Museum would be living like Beamish or Ironbridge, both places I have yet to visit. There is certainly nothing like enough room at covent Garden and Acton Depot combined to properly exhibit Underground history let alone trams and buses too.
As an engineering type I would like to see working exhibits of an Interlocking complete with Interlocking Machine Room, Relay Room, Control Room etc much as existed and indeed exists in the signal schools over the years. It would also be great to see the model railway from the old Wood Lane Railway Training Centre displayed too. Acton depot has the old Lever Frame from Elephant & Castle Bakerloo line, Lift and Escalator machinery etc but a proper display needs space and working displays command interest. My belief is that museums are not the places for current and recent history.

Yes, the New York Transit Museum is located in the closed Court Street station and is an excellent setting for Subway exhibits.

Both IRT and BMT division rolling stock can be housed in this former BMT station.

On the large intermediate mezzanine level several models, posters, diagrams and smaller items are on display.

As the Museum cars are ALL in running condition and the station is still connected to the 'main-line' it is possible to vary the collection from time to time. Indeed a mimic display is shown in the former signal tower room of the train movements in the local area.

I like the picture showing the new trains display with the line "£4bn investment by Metronet Rail". Oops.