Tracks Through Time is an interactive exhibition to be created at Stoke on Trent Station in partnership with Foxfield Steam Railway, Community Rail Partnership, University of Portsmouth. The project shares real stories of women, disabled workers, and diverse heritage staff, past and present in shaping the railway over the last 200 years.
Promenade Performance
On the launch day audiences will be able to move through the exhibition with short scenes built from interviews and archival sources. Professional actors and community performers will share stories from historical insight and oral histories. The exhibition will also have a costumed person in attendance throughout the week to encourage visitors to engage in the exhibition and to add their own thoughts and experiences of how the railway has shaped the way that we live in Britain today.
Exhibition & Digital Archive
The exhibition will have displays of photographs, transcripts, recorded testimonies, and community co-created art and audio. As well as developing a partnership with researchers from University of Portsmouth and community researchers from the Portsmouth. Recorded testimonies will be available via sound cloud to be accessible to wider audiences through a digital archive. The exhibition will also be portable so that it can be displayed at Foxfield Railway at a later date or at other sites as appropriate.
Tracks Through Time will show some of the hidden or less known contributions to 200 years of the railway in the local area. Connecting communities and generating social value through authentic storytelling. Together, we can honour the extraordinary contributions of women, disabled people, and ethnically diverse staff—past and present—building a legacy that resonates on and off the rails.