Russian Railways Museum, St. Petersburg: description, history, interesting facts and reviews

The museum business is not limited only to art. To preserve the heritage and history of industrial development, the sources of great beginnings that made the country one of the strongest in the world, as well as the task of museum halls and storage facilities. The history of creation, formation, development of railways in our country began two centuries ago. How it was, what the first technique, bridges and what tools looked like, is told by the Russian Railways Museum in St. Petersburg.

The first expositions

The Central Railway Transport Museum of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg on Sadovaya Street is one of the oldest museums dedicated to preserving the history of scientific and technical thought. His creation was dealt with personally by Emperor Alexander I, having issued a corresponding Manifesto about it. It says that the Institute of the Corps of Engineers is being established in the Yusupov Palace, where important machinery and structures important for Russia and other countries should be preserved. The first models appeared in 1813. The exposition was located in six halls, where the exhibits were collected according to the principle of belonging to one or another sphere. Documents for construction, mock-ups of roads, structures, bridges also came to the storage.

In 1823, the Institute and the Museum of Railways were transferred to Moskovsky Prospekt. The documentation and exposition were accessible to all employees on the railway, for the general public, visits were opened in 1862. The collection was constantly replenished, the main sources were organizations, ministries and indifferent citizens.

Museum named after Nicholas I

To the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tsar Nicholas I, who made a lot for the development of the railway infrastructure of Russia, it was decided to establish a museum in St. Petersburg, giving him the name of the emperor. The scale of the name and the number of potential exhibits required a large room. The construction of a new building on the government land in the Yusupov garden was started, so that its facade was turned to Sadovaya Street. In addition to items related to the railway business, the Russian museum exhibited items from the Russian water transport exhibition that participated in the Paris World Exhibition (1901). The legacy of this exhibition can still be seen today in the halls of the museum, for example, the model "Peter's Pleasure", the icebreaker "Baikal", bridges and so on.

The new RZD museum was opened in 1902, and by 1904 a two-story wing was attached to demonstrate the rich exposition. More massive rarities were placed here: the boat of Peter I, as well as the boat of Emperor Alexander II, the banners of the railway battalion. The second wing was built in 1909 and the institute museum was transferred to it, which at that time was one hundred years old.

The Soviet period

The Revolution and the Civil War nearly ruined the whole museum fund, only by efforts of enthusiasts it was possible to save practically everything. It began functioning in 1924, the exposition consisted of five rooms, which consistently looked at the historical stages of transport development.

By 1934, 11,843 storage units were registered on the museum's holdings. During this period the RZhD museum introduces the practice of organizing branches and traveling exhibitions.

The Great Patriotic War caused significant damage to the museum building, all the exhibits were taken to Novosibirsk. Restoration of the halls and work on the new exposition began after the lifting of the blockade, in 1944. With the efforts of the staff, the first exhibition opened in the summer of 1948, it was organized by the Day of the Railwayman on the Central Park site.

The status of the Central Museum was received in 1987, which opened up great opportunities for collecting information and replenishing funds. At the present stage, the Museum of Railways stores more than 60 thousand items, which includes documents, lithographs, drawings, models, models and about fifty real locomotives.

Existing exposition

The Museum of Railways (St. Petersburg) invites you to see the expositions located in nine halls:

• Hall number 1: "The birth of railways in Russia." Stands tell about the first railways with the country and the world. You can first see the mock-ups of the first rails, assess the severity of laying the first tracks. Immediately the model of the first locomotive is demonstrated.
• Hall number 2: "Mostostroenie". At the stands of this hall you can fully enjoy the diversity of the human genius in the field of bridge construction for RZD. The museum offers to review models of hanging, single-track, reinforced concrete, beam and many other bridge designs.
• Hall number 3: "Rolling stock". The exposition hall contains photographs, models of the first locomotives and wagons. The original devices providing communication on RZD are presented. The museum stores the documentation relating to this period, which can be viewed in the windows.
• Hall number 4: "Railways in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." The center of this hall is occupied with a diorama, demonstrating the work on the restoration of the destroyed station. The models of armored trains that operated during the Civil and Great Patriotic War are also presented.
• Hall number 5: "Construction and road machines." The hall exhibits historical and modern models of equipment designed for road construction.
• Hall number 6. "Model of the mechanized sorting hump." The breadboard model is valuable with its origin and stories. The Museum of Russian Railways has been keeping it since 1935, the prototype was Krasny Liman station (Donetsk railway). There is also an operating model of the shunting locomotive.
• Hall number 7: Locomotive engineering. One of the spectacular expositions. The hall houses locomotives in full size. There is an opportunity to trace the way of the machine from the drawing to the operating machine. In addition, a large collection of historical photographs is exhibited.
• Hall number 8: "Wagon building." Here is the evolution of the car, from the most primitive to specialized specimens intended for transportation of oil, alcohol, live fish, etc. The latest developments of Russian engineers for high-speed movement are also in the hall.
• Hall number 9: "Organization of train traffic." The Russian Railways Museum presents dispatching equipment from the very first stations to complex computer systems of our time. Here is mounted a scale model (43 meters in length), allowing to understand the specifics of the dispatching service that includes four stations, operating electric trains.

Stock market

At the station "Lebyazhye" October Railway, the Museum of Railways organized an exhibition site, which will appeal to adults and children. There are 50 exhibits representing real locomotives. Some of them are unique and refer to different years of production, there are locomotives of 1913, diesel locomotives of 1944 and others. Some of the locomotives are stored on the exhibition grounds of the Riga railway station (MSC railway) and on the site of the Warsaw railway station (Oct. Railway).

Reviews

Reviews of visitors to the Russian Railways Museum in St. Petersburg are mostly enthusiastic, especially if the tour was made by dads with children. Adults mark a large number of real steam locomotives, locomotives, operating models. Positive assessments went to the guides, telling about every exhibit in the museum halls. Visitors noted that the treasury of knowledge was significantly replenished.

Negative feedback refers to the small number of exhibits that can be seen from the inside. Moms with children of primary school age and preschool age complain that it is difficult to climb large objects.

But everyone's overall impression is positive, almost everyone advises not to pass by, but to go and see everything yourself, in the near free time. RZD Museum, address: Sadovaya street, building No. 50 (metro station Spasskaya, Sadovaya, Sennaya Ploshchad). The cost of tickets on weekdays is 300 rubles, on weekends - 400 rubles. Discounts for children, students and pensioners.