This week some of 34I were lucky enough to go on the Inspiration Train Experience. This experience was to celebrate 200 years of train travel since 1825. The students were met with three carriages on the East Lancs Railway Line in Rawtenstall.
In the first carriage, the students experienced the history of train travel and completed a 'History Detective Question Sheet', where all the answers were readily available to find on the carriage. The students then recorded their first ever train journey, where they remembered how that experience made them feel.
The second carriage was more interactive, where the students had different activities to try. One of these activities was to create their own sturdy bridge using building blocks. Another activity was to engineer their own wheels to smoothly run down a track. In this carriage, there was a model of the 'Tunnel Boring Machine,' where one of the members of staff on the train explained how the machine worked which was fascinating.
In the final carriage, the learners were told about the different job roles in the rail industry, they were then able to dress up and role play these different careers.
When asked what they thought about the day, the students replied,
"It was awesome, there was a lot of things to see and do".
"It was really interesting, learning about the trains in the olden days, I feel really inspired and that I could get a job in this industry".
"I really enjoyed the train and all the activities on it".
When asked what their favourite part of the whole experience was, learners replied,
"I liked filling in the questionnaire the most and learning new facts".
"I liked the interactive activities on the train, and making my own bridge".
Everyone had a 'RAILY' good time on the Inspiration Train and who knows, we might have a future train driver in our class!