RAILWAY MUSEUM

50 Sadovaya ulitsa 190068 St. Petersburg
Open: 11am - 5.30pm
Closed: Fridays, Saturdays and the last Thursday of every month
Tel. 315-1476
Nearest metro stations: Sadovaya and Sennaya ploshchad

The Railway Museum, housed in a specially constructed building (1901-02, architect Peter Kupinsky; enlarged 1910-11 by Evgeny Baumgarten), was one of Russia's first technical museums. The essence of the present-day institution dates back to 1813, when a museum was founded at the Institute of the Communications Engineers Corps. In 1862 it opened its doors to the general public.

The exhibition surveys the development of railway transport in Russia from the second half of the 19th century to the present day. It describes the creation of the first Russian steam locomotive by Yefim and Miron Cherepanov, the construction of the first Russian 'chugunka' (railway) in Nizhny Taghil, the history of the Tsarskoselsky Railway from St. Petersburg to Pavlovsk (the first in general use), the building of the Trans-Siberian Railroad and the work of its designers and builders. Of particular interest are models of railways, railroad structures and lifesize examples of rolling stock facilities.