The railway is an important transport for Russia, it daily carries millions of passengers from one region of the country to another, as well as millions of tons of various cargoes, from liquids to metals.
Museum of the October Railway
In Russia, there are several museums dedicated to rail transport, including such a museum in St. Petersburg, and it was opened not so long ago - in 1978.
The main goal of the museum is to tell visitors about the railway network in general, and in particular about the railway junction of St. Petersburg.
The museum will introduce interesting historical sites, such as the Tsarskoye Selo Railway, the Petersburg-Moscow Railway, a railway window to Europe, etc.
Separate exhibits tell about the revolution and civil war. At that time, tremendous damage was caused to railway transport, and its speedy restoration was the most important task of the Soviet Union.
The main fund of the museum is over 50 thousand exhibits. In addition to technology, documents, photographs, albums, graphs, manuscripts, as well as instruments, rails with the brands of manufacturers, signal lights, bells and the railway form, which changed in different historical periods, are presented.
The railway is an integral part of the history of Russia, and the Central Museum of the October Railway considers it its mission to collect important historical facts, store them carefully, tell all visitors about it, trying to convey to them that this is a heritage to be proud of.
It is interesting that when the museum was opened, the first expositions were located at the Shushary station, but in 2001 the equipment was relocated to the Warsaw station.
Museum expositions
Museum expositions can be divided into several directions. The first is a historical exposition, where trains, wagons that appeared a long time ago and are now not operational are presented.
The second direction is modern technology, where natural samples of technology are presented. Here you can see the most complete collection of steam locomotives, electric locomotives, freight cars, which were built in Russia or abroad, but were also used in Russia.
For example, the Oktyabrskaya Railway Museum in St. Petersburg presented such an exhibit as a steam tank built in 1897, which is one of the oldest steam locomotives in Russia, the S-68 steam locomotive, which was considered the best example of pre-revolutionary construction, and the first Shchel-1 locomotive built in Leningrad in 1924.
In addition to domestic equipment, you can see equipment and foreign production from Canada, USA, France, Hungary, etc.
The third unique direction of the exhibition is the Carriage Museum, created in 1984, which also carries out regular cultural and historical flights. In addition to the presented expositions in St. Petersburg, the Museum of the October Railway has several more branches. They are located in the Pskov and Tver regions.
Museum of the October Railway in St. Petersburg: ticket price
Before entering the museum, at the entrance you need to purchase a ticket, the cost of which varies depending on the category of citizens. So, for schoolchildren, students and senior citizens, the cost will be 50 rubles, the cost of a standard ticket is 100 rubles.
If you need a guided tour, then agree on this in advance, the price will be set different.
For a separate category of citizens, admission to the museum is free, this includes honorary railway workers, large families, children under 7 years of age, disabled people, and participants in military battles.
Each visitor must know that photographing exhibits is possible only for a fee, and this should be checked at the box office.
For all May 18, the International Museum Day, admission is free.
In addition to the presented expositions, the museum often hosts various events related to the railway. You can learn more about these events on the institution’s website or at the box office.
Address and time
The Museum of the October Railway is located in St. Petersburg at the address: Embankment Canal Embankment, 114, in the building of scientific and technical information.
The museum is open only on weekdays from 11:00 to 16:00.
