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In the yard at Butterley Station in Midland Railway Centre, there’s a maroon coach which stands in the siding by the side of the main running line. This coach was formerly the home of the Star Tugs Exhibition and where you.
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The Exhibition was initially funded by Kickstarter money, raised by fans of the series who wanted to see the models given a suitable home. It was opened on the 22nd of March 2014, following the Star Tugs Launch Event at The Battlefield Line Railway in Leicestershire at Market Bosworth. It was relaunched in 2016 after an extensive overhaul, and was open full time, until it's unfortunate closure in 2020.
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Follow the history of our exhibition through this page, and while the full time exhibition may not be open, we still run events as and when we can. Keep your eyes on our facebook page for the most up to date information.
THE STAR TUGS EXHIBITION
THE EXHIBITION THROUGH THE YEARS
The coach when we first took management of it. Humble beginnings indeed!
Amazing what a lick of paint can do, but more work was going on inside!
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When we first opened, the inside was very basic with only really the tugs themselves on show and could only be open when someone was present to staff it.
latterly, thanks to a valiant effort from a small team over a long period of time, and thanks to a massive investment from the company's directors, it is a real exhibition with all sorts to see!
Originally we had a colouring area set in the rear of the coach, or the "blue" end as it was known. We quickly filled up the walls with the handiwork of our visitors!
This has now had to make way for yet more display cabinets (as well as a repaint) as we continue to reinvest in the collection and the exhibition, we need more room to display it!
The quality of the stands did improve slightly before the overhaul but the boats were still the main attraction, with not alot else that we could display at the time.
Now though, we have a plethora of artefacts from the production and promotion of the show, which gives the exhibition so much more depth. You could spend hours just trying to see it all!
