Science and Industry Museum

The museum was called the North Western Museum of Science and Industry when it opened in 1969 in temporary premises on Grosvenor Street in Chorlton-on-Medlock. It had close ties with the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology, having mostly grown out of the Department of History of Science & Technology, and UMIST's Richard L. Hills was the museum's first lecturer in charge. In 1978, Greater Manchester Council purchased the earliest part of the former Liverpool Road station from British Rail, which had been closed in 1975. The council paid the nominal sum of £1 for the site. The museum opened at this site on 15 September 1983 and later expanded to include the whole of the former station. Since 2007 the museum has organised an annual science festival in Manchester. In 2014, Sally MacDonald became the director. MacDonald left her role as head of collections at University College London and succeeded Jean Franczyk as director. In 2021, the permanent closure of the Air and Space Hall was announced. Objects were returned to their original owners, and those owned by the museum displayed in future exhibits. == Exhibitions ==

Exhibits at the Science and Industry Museum include: Computing and communications • A replica of the Manchester Baby • A Connected Earth gallery that tells the history of communications in Manchester and the North West of England opened in October 2007. Engines Crossley Brothers • Diesel • Oil • Gas Locomotives outside the museum • Ericsson's Novelty – A replica incorporating parts from the original locomotive of 1829 • British Rail Class 77 No. 27001, liveried as Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) No. 1505, Ariadne – A 1.5 kV DC electric locomotive built by Metropolitan-Vickers in 1953 • South African Railways GL class Garratt No. 2352 – Built in 1929 by Beyer, Peacock & Company, Manchester • Pakistan Railways 4–4–0 No. 3157 (broad gauge) Originally built for North Western Railway of India by Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows (around 1911–1914). ==Former galleries==

Previous permanent exhibition galleries which have now been decommissioned include: • Electricity Gallery - generation, distribution and use of electricity • Gas Gallery - past to present look at the gas industry • Underground Manchester - sanitation and water supply • A space-themed gallery, with exhibits encompassing historical space flight, space science and also science-fiction, formerly took up the majority of the upper balcony of the Air and Space hall. This was eventually considered outdated and removed in its entirety. Some past exhibitions • Body Worlds 4 between 22 February and 29 June 2008 • LMR 57 Lion Britain's oldest steamable locomotive (in the Museum of Liverpool since 2007) • Stephenson's Rocket – from 25 September 2018 to 8 September 2019 == Railway ==

Until 2018, demonstration passenger trains ran within the museum grounds on selected dates. Trains were hauled by the museum's two operational steam locomotives: • Planet – A replica of Robert Stephenson & Company's Planet class locomotive, built by the Friends of the Museum of Science and Industry in 1992. The original locomotive was constructed in 1830 and hauled trains on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. • Agecroft No. 1 – An 0–4–0 saddle tank built by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns in 1948 for use at Agecroft Power Station. Restored to working order in 2011. The museum's railway line was connected to the national rail network near Ordsall Lane Junction. However, construction by Network Rail of the Ordsall Chord railway link, which was completed in 2017, severed this connection and significantly shortened the museum's running line despite a legal battle to save it. As of 2019, railway operations at the museum were suspended indefinitely. In June 2024, the museum confirmed that the railway would not resume operations, citing both the shortened line and concerns over loadbearing issues on the historic structures on the site. The tracks will be incorporated into a redevelopment of the site that will improve accessibility to the area. == Industrial machines ==

The museum exhibits the large collection of stationary steam engines, hot air engines, diesel engines, hydraulic pumps, large electric generators and other similar machines. Most of these machines are operational and occasionally can be seen running. This exhibit includes the last stationary steam engine built to power a mill. There is also the exhibit of spinning and weaving machines, covering all the steps from wool to textile. These machines are run for a few minutes at scheduled times. == Adjacent St John's Quarter ==

The museum is adjacent to a £1 billion redevelopment area on the former site of Granada Studios, launched in 2024 as St John's Quarter. The Manchester International Festival's new Factory International venue opened alongside the MSI in 2023 as part of the redevelopment. The MSI have been granted planning permission to build a new Special Exhibition Gallery on the ground floor of the New Warehouse. Architectural firm Carmody Groarke won a competition to design the new gallery which fully reopened in 2025. Back in July 2016 the council had stated that, along with development partner Allied London, they had been in talks with the MSI "exploring how the presence of Factory opens up new possibilities for revitalising the whole area below Deansgate as a creative hub, with a joined up and extensive public realm. MSI's own developments plans are being aligned with this creative vision and the museum itself will become part of the creative public realm, with MSI's creative science offer balancing the creative and cultural production of Factory." == See also ==