The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI or formerly known as MOSI) in Manchester, England, is a large museum devoted to the development of science, technology and industry with emphasis on the city's achievements in these fields. The museum is part of the Science Museum Group, a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, having merged with the National Science Museum in 2012.
There are extensive displays on the theme of transport (cars, aircraft, railway locomotives and rolling stock), power (water, electricity, steam and gas engines), Manchester's sewerage and sanitation, textiles, communications and computing.
The museum is an Anchor Point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage; and is situated on the site of the world's first railway station - Manchester Liverpool Road - which opened as part of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in September 1830. The railway station frontage and 1830 warehouse are both Grade I listed. The museum also offers steam train rides at weekends and on bank holidays.
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History
The museum was originally 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 UMIST, having mostly grown out of the Department of History of Science & Technology.
In 1978, the 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, it was announced Sally MacDonald would become director of MOSI. MacDonald left her role as head of collections at University College London and succeeded Jean Franczyk as director.
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Exhibitions
Exhibits at the Museum of Science and Industry include:
Aircraft:
- A complete RAF Avro Shackleton and other Avro machines, built locally at Chadderton and Woodford
- A Supermarine Spitfire
- A Hawker Hunter
- An intact Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka
Computing:
- A replica of the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine
Locomotives:
- Ericsson's Novelty - A replica incorporating parts from the original locomotive of 1829.
- British Rail Class 77 No. 27001 '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 and 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).
Themed Galleries:
- A Connected Earth gallery that tells the history of communications in Manchester and the North West of England opened in October 2007.
Currently open, but not actively maintained and due for decommissioning are:
- The Electricity Gallery and the Gas Gallery, which focus on the development, production and use of these utilities
- Underground Manchester, which looks at sanitation and water supply
Past exhibits include:
- Body Worlds 4 between 22 February and 29 June 2008
- LMR 57 Lion Britain's oldest steamable locomotive (now in Liverpool)
The Railway
On selected dates, visitors may ride on demonstration passenger trains within the museum grounds. Trains are hauled by the museum's two operational steam locomotives:
- 'Planet' - A replica of Robert Stephenson and 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 and Hawthorns in 1948 for use at Agecroft Power Station. Restored to working order in 2011.
The museum's railway line was formerly connected to the national rail network near Ordsall Lane Junction. However, construction of Network Rail's Ordsall Chord railway link, which began in January 2016, has since severed this connection and shortened the museum's running line despite a legal battle to save it.
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 newly build to power a mill.
There is also the exhibit of spinning and weaving machines that cover all steps from wool to textile. These machines are also functional and 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. Work on the area, which will be known as St John's Quarter, is expected to be completed by 2022. The Manchester International Festival's new Factory venue is set to open alongside the MSI at the end of 2019 as part of the redevelopment.
The MSI intend to build a new £6 million Special Exhibition Gallery underneath the arches of the 1830 viaduct and in the 1830 Warehouse. Architectural firm Carmody Groarke won a competition to design the new gallery which is set to be complete by 2018.
In July 2016 the council 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."
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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