The Client.
The National Tramway Museum, housed in the Crich Tramway Village, is home to a varied and unique collection of memorabilia covering the history of the British, North American, European and other foreign tramways and light railways from the late 19th Century up to the present day. The collection comprises books, pamphlets, reports, journals, maps and drawings, Acts of Parliament and even small artefacts including signs, uniforms and ticket machinery.
The Challenge.
In 2008, Winstan Bond, a tram enthusiast and leading figure in the development of the museum for over 36 years, bequeathed to the NTM a world class library and archive collection totalling over 9,000 books and journals. It is, without doubt, the largest private collection in the world of its type, rivaling the acknowledged ‘Designated’ national collection. Glynn Wilton, museum curator commented, “The problem we had was that our collection literally doubled in size overnight”, he continued, “The existing shelving was full to capacity so there was no room to house the additional collection”. Due to budgetary restrictions an extension to the library building was not an option so Wilton decided that high-density mobile shelving would be the best way to increase storage capacity. An acquired collection would normally be merged into the core museum collection but due to its size and importance the ‘Winstan Bond Collection’ will remain intact and serve as a tremendous memorial to his work and contribution.
The Solution.
Metalrax Storage was selected as the preferred supplier based on a combination of factors. These included the storage solution proposed and the functionality of the system. The appointment was finally agreed after successful site visits to similar installations.
The National Tramway Museum had six separate storage rooms, already containing static shelving, that had to be emptied so that the new mobile shelving could be installed. The challenge now was to work out the installation programme! This involved emptying one room at a time, building and installing the new shelving, moving the collections into the now completed room leaving the next room empty ready for the installation to continue. Working closely with the members of the National Tramway team it was possible for metalraxstorage to install all the shelving into each separate room on time and on budget.
Glynn Wilton added “The project has gone very well and to time. Now that the new shelving is finished, the work of decanting the collection can begin” Wilton went on to say, “although the new system will accommodate a steady growth in accruals, the National Tramway Museum are not expecting another acquisition like the ‘Winstan Bond Collection’.”
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