Open Talks: People, Pride and Progress: The Story of LGBTQ+ Railway Workers @ the Science Museum

This discussion brings together rail historians and railway workers to tell the stories of LGBTQ+ rail workers, marking an exciting new oral history project launched by the National Railway Museum. 

In 2023 the National Railway Museum launched a research project, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, to record the history of LGBTQ+ railway workers. Called People, Pride and Progress, the project will record at least 70 oral history interviews with people from the rail industry to document their experiences and fill a gap in railway knowledge before it is lost.  

The rail industry has changed from an often-hostile environment for LGBTQ+ employees in the 19th and much of the 20th centuries to a much more diverse and accepting industry, but because of historic prejudice, information is not readily available and few personal records exist. 

This panel will discuss some of these stories and experiences, asking the question of how the culture changed or improved for LGBTQ+ rail workers in 2024, what still needs to improve and will explore the community’s contribution to the railways. 

Speakers include: 

• Anthony Dawson—railway historian and author who specialises in early rail history and who has appeared on Channel 4’s Time Team and Channel 5’s Secret History of the Railways. 
• Ashlynn Hudson-Welburn—Archivist, People, Pride and Progress Oral History Project, National Railway Museum. 
• Raye Fullard—Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Rail Delivery Group.
• Ron Whalley—Railway Safety Systems Consultant. 
• Tim Dunn (Chair)—Railway historian, broadcaster and presenter of UKTV’s The Architecture the Railways Built and Secret of the London Underground. 

Our online events are easy to access:

• Once you’ve booked, you will get an email reminder before the talk linking to the website, where you can log into your customer account.
• There, you’ll find a list of any online talks you’ve booked under ‘Virtual Events’.
• Select the ‘Join event’ button and it will take you to a page where you can watch the virtual talk.