Russian Railway Museum

The Russian Railway Museum ( Russian Музей железных дорог России ), formerly the October Railway Museum ( Russian Музей Октябрьской железной дороги ), is a railway museum in Saint Petersburg , Russia .

Main building of the former October Railway Museum

history

In 1977, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Russian railway, the construction of the museum began. In 1978 it was opened as the October Railway Museum on Liteiny Prospekt 62 and consisted of a collection of old railway vehicles.

On August 1, 1991, the Museum of Railway Technology was reopened in the village of Shushary (Шушары) as a department of the October Railway Museum. It was located a few kilometers outside of Saint Petersburg. The nearest train station was named Parovosny Musei (Паровозный музей - Steam Locomotive Museum). 40 exhibits were shown on an area of 7,500 m² and 1000 m of track. Over the years the number of exhibits increased to 180.

In 2001, parts of the museum's exhibition moved to the former Warsaw Railway Station in Saint Petersburg. Here the museum covered 20,000 m² with four exhibition tracks and one track for historic steam trains.

In 2007, planning began for the museum to move again, as the tracks leading to Warsaw train station had to be cleared.

In 2012, construction work began on a site right next to the Baltic train station .

On November 1, 2017, the museum was reopened as the Russian Railway Museum . With an area of around 39,000 m² and 16,000 m² of hall space, it is one of the largest railway museums in the world. In two buildings, an old locomotive shed and a large, modern new building, as well as on a large outdoor area, around 200 locomotives and wagons from 180 years of Russian railway history as well as other exhibits are shown.

Pictures from the old location in Warsaw train station:

steam train
Heavy gun TM-2-12
Steam locomotive E2201
Diesel locomotive T33-1001
Rail-based intercontinental missile complex
snow plow
Different steam locomotives
P36-0251 from 1956, the last steam locomotive built in Russia. Image from Schuschary