The space was acquired and renovated by the trust in 1990. The museum was founded as a charitable trust in 1990 by Christopher Littledale, the museum's first and current Director, and opened in 1991. In November 1998 the museum was forced to close for three years due to flooding caused by road-resurfacing work on the area in front of the station, which had interfered with a Victorian drainage system. The museum reopened on 12 October 2001, after Railtrack funded repair works to waterproof the museum, and in November 2004 HRH Duke of Gloucester visited the museum and unveiled a commemorative plaque. In November 2005 the museum was awarded £1,594.70 of grant money from the Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex Museum Development Service's "SEWS Museum Development Fund", to purchase computer equipment and create a database of specialist information about toys. The museum launched a "Make History Fun" campaign in October 2005, with comedian and archaeologist Tony Robinson the campaign's patron. Claire Eden was curator of the museum between September 2005 and December 2006, replacing Andrew Woodfield. Local band Peggy Sue and the Pirates staged a short performance at the museum as part of the T Mobile phone network's "The Great Escape" Festival. Tony Robinson's visit to the museum on 1 June 2007 achieved extensive BBC News coverage. The museum also appeared in "The Argus" on 29 June 2007 and the "Brighton and Hove Leader" on 5 July 2007, for a fairground exhibit that was displayed between July and October 2007. The planned return of the iconic Art Deco Brighton Belle all-electric Pullman train was celebrated on 23 September 2010 with a street party and the unveiling of a full-sized mural of a Pullman carriage by the Chairman of the 'Railway Heritage Trust and Museum Patron Sir William McAlpine. Inside the museum, the "Glamour of Brighton" exhibition was opened by the Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Councillor Geoffrey Wells. The mural depicts the Brighton Belle waiting to leave Brighton Station and extends for the full length of the museum. Laurence Olivier, a regular traveller on the train, is pictured at one of the carriage windows. The museum celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016 with a special programme of events and a series of new exhibits, including an improved Meccano display and a new display of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century dollhouse miniatures. The museum is usually closed on Mondays for maintenance work and cleaning, and for larger school visits that would be disruptive during normal public days.