The National Railway Museum

An immersive exhibition with a murder-mystery theme will open at the National Railway Museum in York this March.

The exhibition, titled The Missing Passenger and created by artist Geraldine Pilgrim, has been commissioned by the National Railway Museum as part of its Mystery on the Rails season.

This season looks at how railways have featured in mystery and detective fiction, and will include activities and exhibition spaces.

The Missing Passenger

Running from 23rd March to 3rd September, The Missing Passenger will be set in the Station Hall at the National Railway Museum.

Visitors will follow a trail through the exhibition to ‘help’ solve a murder. The trail will feature the museum’s vintage railway carriages and original station platforms to set the scene for this ‘whodunit’ experience.

During the experience, groups will be taken back to October 1937 to play the role of a detective who has to find a murderer. Visitors will follow a trail around the scene of a crime, search for clues, and end up in a recreation of a 1930s train station waiting room to assemble their evidence and find out who was the murderer.

In the tradition of books like Murder on the Orient Express, The Lady Vanishes and The Girl on the Train, The Missing Passenger combines crime and trains to create a puzzle for participants to work out. 

Geraldine Pilgrim’s previous work has seen her transform notable buildings and landscapes into exhibition spaces, including the derelict Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station, Marshall Street Baths in Soho, and Brockhole on Windermere.

About the National Railway Museum

The National Railway Museum boasts a collection of iconic trains and rolling stock such as the art deco Duchess of Hamilton, a replica of Stephenson’s Rocket, the world speed-breaking Mallard, and Queen Victoria’s personal carriage.

Group booking is available for parties of ten or more people.

For further information visit www.nrm.org.uk.