Before plans become popular as travel vehicles, trains were the primary way to travel to another city; even now, many people prefer to travel via trains for various reasons, including safety issues, entertainment reasons, and others. Trains are fun to ride, especially for children, that’s why many toy factories have produced several different train and track models as a toy for children. Many adults are also fans of trains and train models; there are several fierce competitions and exhibitions about trains around the world for that reason. There are several museums about railways and trains around the world as well. One of the largest ones in Europe locates in St. Petersburg, which shouldn’t be a surprise since St. Petersburg called the city of museums. There are dozens of museums, large and small alike, in St. Petersburg, which is one of the reasons why St. Petersburg is so prevalent in the Russia tour. Many people have decided to travel to St. Petersburg on their tour to Russia because of the number of attractive places this city provides. One of these attractions is the Russian Railway Museum on Bibliotechny Pereulok.
The history of the Russian Railway Museum dates back to 1974 when the trade union and the management of the October Railway had decided to establish a museum of Military and Labor Glory of the employees of the company. However, it took three years for the committee to start their work on gathering exhibits for the museum. The first Railway Museum was opened on Liteyniy avenue in 1978. While the museum management didn’t do much to gather exhibits for the museum, a small group of train lovers, railway workers, and railway company officials gathered together to preserve the rolling stock items. Their propose of keeping the rolling stocks met by the management of the October Railway and the museum executives. The station of Shushary in the southern outskirts of the city was given to the museum, which was opened for the public as a branch of the Central Museum of the Oktyabrskaya Railway in 1991. The museum on Shushary Station occupied about seven and a half thousand square meters and had around 40 exhibits, including nine steam trains, eight locomotives, and one electric locomotive alongside several other items and freight and passenger cabin. Over several years of activity, restoring old pieces, and collecting new things, the collection of the railway museum improved in terms of quality, and also grew to more than 180 exhibits. The collection of the museum was not only from the Leningrad railway but also from all around Russia and even from around the globe. The unique exhibits inside the museum made some people call the museum, Russia’s national railway collection.
The Russia Railway Museum relocated to Varshavsky Railway Station in 2001, which was closed for the scheduled passenger services. The museum was opened in August of that year for the public with 80 most valuable exhibits of the previous museum. The new museum located inside the historic center of the city, it was more accessible for the visitors; its visitors grew sixfold, and the museum turned to one of the attractions of the Russia tour. The new museum occupied an area of two hectares and had 1.5 km of exhibition tracks divided into four exhibition tracks. However, since the Varshavsky station was built exclusively for commercial use, it hasn’t had any indoor museum; on top of that, the former rail tracks were required to be removed since the city had plans to replace them with residential buildings. Those were the main reasons why the museum shut down, and reconstruction was started in 2007. It took about five years to design the plan for restoration of the museum and the area, and another five years to complete the construction. The new museum was opened in 2017 as one of the largest railway museums in Europe with both indoor and outdoor exhibition and over 35000 exhibits and items, including about 120 of railway vehicles.
The Russian Railway Museum locates a few steps away from Baltiyskiy Station, covering a vast area of 3.9 hectares, with around 120 private railway vehicles. The old October Railway Museum exhibits transferred to this museum, and various new items have been added to the collection over time. Currently, the museum has two buildings, a further significant modern architecture and an old locomotive depot building, which are connected via a suspension bridge to form a single structure instead of two individuals. Inside the indoor exhibition, one can find multiple railway related items, including old uniforms, medals, models, and other train-related artifacts. The outdoor display also has several interesting exhibits, including numerous unique steam trains, old locomotives, electric locomotives, and other railway vehicles. Most of the items inside the outdoor exhibition maybe only watched from the outside, but you can find some of the trains to have board options as well. One of the most exciting exhibits inside the museum would be the SS-24 Scalpel rail-mounted missile system, which is parked in the outdoor exhibition. The Russian Railway Museum is an excellent place for both children and adults to have an exciting time during their tour to Russia as well as an educational trip about trains and their history during their travel to Russia. We at the Star Travel Company suggest a visit to this museum to our train enthusiasts on our Russia tour program. We also recommend a visit to Grand Maket Rossiya to people who love trains, locomotives, and train models on our Russia tour program. This museum is designed disabled-friendly, and there is both Russian and English guidance for tourists who have decided to add this museum on their tour to Russia visit-list.
If you would like to learn more about other Russia attractive places, including the places that you can visit during your tour to St. Petersburg or historical site that you must visit on your Moscow tour, we recommend you visit our weblog. You can also find several useful tips about how to travel to Russia, such as the best shopping centers in Russia, how to get a Russian travel visa, learn about Russian Ruble (Russian money), top Russian traditional cuisine that you should try on your Russia tour, and other pieces of advice on our weblog.
