Mulhouse Railway Museum

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Entrance area with the PLM TB 2 steam locomotive from 1860

The Mulhouse Railway Museum (French name Cité du Train or (older) Musée français du Chemin de Fer ) is the French railway museum .

history

Saint-Pierre locomotive of the Compagnie de Paris à Rouen
Express locomotive C 145 of the PLM from 1900
Heavy 2'D1'-express train of the SNCF -series 241 P from 1950
Streamlined 2'C2 'express locomotive 232 U 1
Electric locomotive E 4002 of the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi

The first plans for a railway museum were forged after the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 . However, these fizzled out because over the years it was not possible to agree on a suitable location. In 1969, the city of Mulhouse offered the French national railway company SNCF a museum site for their historical rolling stock .

Two years later, in 1971, the first locomotives were housed in the old locomotive shed in the northern part of Mulhouse's north station. A new building on a neighboring property in Mulhouse-Dornach was opened to the public in 1976 and in 1983 it was extended by 6 tracks for the first time .

After a decline in visitor numbers, the French national and regional governments, with the help of the city of Mulhouse, decided to renovate the museum and present it to the public under a new concept. The operation was transferred to the private Culturespaces in 2004 for a period of 12 years .

Under the motto "The Golden Age of the Railway " ( Le siècle d'or du chemin de fer ), events from the period from 1850 to 1950 were staged in a new, 6000 square meter hall, which was opened in 2005. The new name Cité du Train was also introduced on this occasion . In addition, the number of exhibits has been increased by 25 to 103.

In the old renovated building, which exhibits the oldest locomotive in mainland Europe and emphasizes the history from 1844 to 1981 and the technical aspects, the mechanisms for steam generation and the development of diesel and electric locomotives as well as passenger and freight cars can be traced.

In the open-air area outside the two buildings there have been further exhibits of the railway infrastructure and a 127 mm garden railway for visitors since 2013 (from April 1 to October 31). A restaurant is located in the connecting building. The 25,000 square meter site currently has as many exhibits in reserve for which there is no space in the museum. These objects are not accessible to the public in Mohon, a district of Charleville-Mézières in the Ardennes department .

In 2016, 33 steam locomotives , 17 electric locomotives , 9 diesel locomotives and 20 multiple units (including two cogwheel vehicles ) or multiple units were on display in the publicly accessible area , and since spring 2015 the power head of a first-generation TGV . There were also numerous passenger and freight cars as well as u. a. Draisines and a snow plow . They provide an overview of the history of the French railways from its beginnings to modern times. The outstanding exhibits include the Saint-Pierre locomotive from Compagnie de Paris à Rouen from 1844, the 231 E 22 (train locomotive of the luxury train Flèche d'Or ) and the 232 U 1, a streamlined steam locomotive, which was released by Société in 1938 alsacienne de constructions mécaniques (SACM) was ordered, but could not be delivered until 1949 due to the German occupation of France in World War II . The oldest electric locomotive on display is the 161 BE 3, a class 161 BE double locomotive acquired by PLM in 1929 ; the world record locomotive BB 9004 is also available. The diesel traction is represented with numerous exhibits, including the six-axle CC 65001 and the power car of an RTG turbo train . The most notable railcars include a type 22 Micheline with rubber tires and a Bugatti railcar of the “Présidentiel” type, built in nine copies. A Sprague-Thomson railcar from the Paris Métro allows a virtual driver's cab ride.

  • Micheline type 22 rubber- tyred railcar

  • Bugatti -Présidentiel

  • Diesel-electric locomotive of the SNCF series CC 65000 from 1956

Rosny Rail

The museum has a branch in the greater Paris area. In the old station of Rosny-sous-Bois , an exhibition is dedicated to the technology related to rail transport. That museum does not offer a large vehicle show, but exhibits all about signaling and rail technology.

Web links

Commons : Mulhouse Railway Museum  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cité du Train - Musée français du Chemin de Fer à Mulhouse , accessed on May 29, 2018

Coordinates: 47 ° 45 '2 "  N , 7 ° 17' 38"  E