The centre was established in the old London, Midland and Scottish Railway yard, which was once part of Crewe Works, between the junction to Chester and the West Coast Main Line.

[3] The centre has a series of exhibits, ranging from the only surviving APT-P train, a miniature railway, model railways, three open signal boxes (Crewe Station A, Crewe North Junction and Exeter West) and a varied collection of standard gauge steam, diesel and electric locomotives, as well as occasional visiting locomotives.

Built by British Rail (BR) the 1970s and 1980s, this Class 370 Advanced Passenger Train (APT) is the only surviving APT-P set.

The Heritage Centre is also home to a 1,000m2 Exhibition Hall, which doubles both as an event space and as the main museum building.

During the 2018/19 closed season, the building underwent a light refurbishment; this included replacement of the original 1987 entrance doors and a full internal repaint.