Museum work is not limited only to art. To preserve the legacy and history of the development of industry, the origins of large undertakings that made the country one of the most powerful in the world, is also the task of museum halls and storage facilities. The history of the creation, formation, development of railways in our country began two centuries ago. How it was, what the first equipment looked like, bridges and what tools were, tells the Museum of the Russian Railways in St. Petersburg.
First exposure
The Central Museum of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg on Sadovaya Street is one of the oldest museums dedicated to preserving the history of scientific and technological thought. Emperor Alexander I was personally engaged in its creation, having published the corresponding Manifesto about this. It says that the Institute of the Corps of Engineers is being established in the Yusupov Palace, where machines and structures important for Russia and other states should be preserved. The first models appeared in 1813. The exposition was located in six halls, where the exhibits were assembled on the basis of belonging to a particular area. Also in the storehouse received documents on construction, models of roads, structures, bridges.
In 1823, the Institute and the Russian Railways Museum were transferred to Moskovsky Prospekt. All employees on the railway got access to documentation and exposition; visits to the general public have been open since 1862. The collection was constantly updated, the main sources were organizations, ministries and caring citizens.
Museum named after Nicholas I
On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Tsar Nicholas I, who had done a lot to develop the railway infrastructure of Russia, it was decided to establish a department 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 state land in the Yusupov Garden began so that its facade was facing Sadovaya Street. In addition to items related to the railway business, objects of the Russian water transport exposition participating in the Paris World Exhibition (1901) were sent to the new museum. The legacy of this exhibition can still be seen in the halls of the museum, for example, the model “Plaisir yachts” of Peter I, the icebreaker “Baikal”, bridges and more.
The new Russian Railways Museum was opened in 1902, and by 1904 a two-story wing was added to demonstrate the rich exhibition. 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.
Soviet period
The revolution and the Civil War nearly destroyed the entire museum fund, only the efforts of enthusiasts managed to save almost everything. It began to function in 1924, the exposition consisted of five halls, in which the historical stages of the development of transport were sequentially viewed.
By 1934, there were 11 843 storage units registered with the museum. During this period, the Russian Railways Museum introduces the practice of organizing branches, traveling exhibitions.
The Great Patriotic War caused significant damage to the museum building, all exhibits were taken to Novosibirsk. The restoration of the halls and work on a new exposition began after the lifting of the blockade in 1944. Through the efforts of employees, the first exhibition opened in the summer of 1948, it was organized by the Day of the Railwayman on the site of Central Park.
The status of the Central Museum was obtained in 1987, which opened up great opportunities for collecting information and replenishing funds. At the present stage, the Russian Railways Museum stores more than 60 thousand items, which include documents, lithographs, drawings, models, models and about fifty real locomotives.
Current exposition
The Russian Railways Museum (SPB) invites you to get acquainted with the expositions located in nine rooms:
- Hall number 1: "The emergence of railways in Russia." Stands tell about the first railways with the country and the world. You can see first-hand models of the first rails, assess the severity of laying the first tracks. The model of the first steam locomotive is immediately demonstrated.
- Hall number 2: "Bridge Building". On the stands of this hall you can fully enjoy the diversity of human genius in the field of bridge building for Russian Railways. The museum offers a review of models of suspension, single-track, reinforced concrete, girder and many other bridge designs.
- Hall number 3: "Rolling stock." The exposition of the hall contains photographs, models of the first steam locomotives and wagons. Authentic vehicles providing communications on Russian Railways are presented. The museum stores documentation relating to this period, which can be found in display cases.
- Hall number 4: "Railways in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." The center of this hall is occupied by a diorama demonstrating the restoration of the destroyed station. Also presented are models of armored trains operating during the Civil and Great Patriotic War.
- Hall number 5: "Construction and road cars." The hall exhibits historical and modern models of equipment designed for road construction.
- Hall number 6. "The layout of a mechanized sorting slide." The layout is valuable for its origin and stories. The Russian Railways Museum has been keeping it since 1935, the prototype was the Krasny Liman station (Donetsk Railway). There is also a working model of a shunting locomotive.
- Hall 7: “Locomotive building”. One of the exciting exhibits. The hall contains life-size locomotives. It is possible to trace the path of the machine from the drawing to the existing machine. In addition, a large collection of historical photographs is exhibited.
- Hall number 8: "Car building". Here is the evolution of the carriage, from the most primitive to specialized specimens designed to transport 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 dispatch equipment from the very first stations to the sophisticated computer systems of our time. A large-scale layout (43 meters in length) is mounted here, which allows one to understand the specifics of the dispatching service, including four stations operating electric trains.
Stock market
At the Lebyazhye station of the Oktyabrskaya Railway, the Russian Railways Museum organized an exhibition area that will appeal to both adults and children. Here are collected 50 exhibits representing real locomotives. Some of them are unique and refer to different years of production, there are steam locomotives of 1913, diesel locomotives of 1944 and others. Some locomotives are stored at the exhibition site of the Riga Station (MSC railway) and at the site of the Warsaw Station (Oct. railway).
