Trains arouse curiosity in almost all children and some adults. But even inveterate travellers are familiar with only a few types of modern trains and need to learn what the railways were like in the 19th and early 20th centuries. But will young tourists refuse to find out why the locomotive is puffing and who feeds the passengers of long-distance trains? The Madrid Railway Museum provides such a unique opportunity.
The museum's exposition is at the railway station built at the end of the 19th century. It is only a 20-minute drive from Atocha Main Station. If you come to Madrid with a child by train, you can immediately compare the old and new stations. Long tracks and platforms are similar, but the old station lacks the current futuristic trains and the characteristic noise of arrivals and departures.
The Madrid Railway Museum has collected an extensive collection of steam, heat and electric locomotives. On the side of many locomotives, the inscription RENFE flaunts — they have served on the Spanish railways since 1941.
Do you think steam locomotives are a thing of the past? In fact, they were used in Spain until 1984. One of the locomotives with a steam power plant can be looked into, see the internal mechanism and get an explanation of how it works. Among the traditional jet-black locomotives, one green one flaunts — this is the oldest collection copy, dating back to 1862. But in the 1950 Talgo locomotive, the features of modern high-speed trains are already recognizable.
Museo del Ferrocarril de Madrid did not ignore the passengers either. At the exhibition of railway cars, you can see the first wooden cars, modest third-class saloons and luxurious mobile apartments. There are also several dining cars in the museum. Access to the railway kitchen is also open — probably, the cooks and stokers of the locomotives were equally hot.
Curious specimens of the museum collection are the Wagon WM300 truck, which can travel on rails, and a narrow-gauge steam locomotive used in the mining industry (it moved along a track 55 cm wide). But in the museum, you will see not only trains but also station clocks and railway models and learn about how the railway equipment is maintained in good condition. Next to real locomotives and wagons, their toy copies were also placed.
Finally, here you can join an utterly unusual entertainment in Madrid — a trip on the "strawberry train" along the old Madrid-Aranjuez route. The timetable and cost of the trip can be found on the museum's website.
