Gijón Railway Museum (Spain)

This review will present the Gijón Railway Museum by some on-site experiences of October 09, 2016. The Asturias Railway Line was inaugurated, in 1891 (Compañía de los Ferrocarriles Económicos de Asturias), thus, the Museum, which is placed where the old Norte de Gijón Station was located, safeguard 125 years of the regional railway history. It is a complex that exhibits the relationship between the train, the social, technical and economic history, which we could do a small trip around.

The Building

It is really impressive the good condition that the whole building is preserved. The façade was extended by a façade constituted by metal, glass and a squared modern building, built in 1993. This intervention allows the visitors to recognize the old building station. The most interest is that the old building follows the same shape of the old one, creating a symmetrical volume linked by a center one, the one that covers the trails.

Comparing the building to the model exhibited inside of it, we could see that the color and the windows frames were changed. The old workshop seems to follow the same idea. There is a footbridge made by a metallic structure and a concrete floor with the texture of wood. In an exhibition room created in the old building, the internal lining is new and the wall cover too. Even the trail cover, which connects the old building with the new one, has a different metallic structure and a modern lining, but the old metallic structure of the railway yard is still there.

The Exhibition

The exhibition starts with a big chronological line that describes the railway history in the world, country and regional scales. However, the big surprise is located behind it. Two big locomotives and many wagons are disposed on the trails, while on the sidewalk are exhibited some old engines and train parts. Everything is well signed with technical information, thus, while you walk aside the trails, where you can see more kinds of trains and the constitution of the rail track system, you have an explanation of the trains. In the workshop is hidden the nicest surprise, they kept all the tools disposed as they used to be. Besides that, there are some interactive exhibitions to explain the basic assumptions of the railway operation. To make things funnier, there are some screens passing some scenes of the “Our Hospitality”, a movie of 1923, which represents in a funny way the railway use.

Continuing the circuit, some exhibition stands shows the industries that made part of the railway history. In the way back to the main building, many trains and train parts are disposed. People are allowed to get in some of them. The new building contains different tools, the panels used to control the train system, small parts of the train and of the infrastructure, the presentation of some engineers, the development of the railway web around the country and many models of the railway landscape and some of the interior of the trains.

Besides all of that, they expose the evolution of signs, tickets and flyers that were used along the years.

The Museum and the City

The museum is located next to the coast, in the Plaza de la Estación del Norte. Around it there are many public spaces, residences, small markets and offices. Its relationship with the city is not that obvious, but the museum has many activities to attract attention, like conferences, summer activities, educational events, activities for kids, theatre plays and model exhibitions. All these initiatives make the museum be part of the citizens’ life, and not be used only as a tourist place. Besides that, it has a documental archive, which can be used by any researcher that has interests on it. The entrance is payed during the week, but on Sundays is for free. All the practical information and even some of the technical one, can be found in the museum website (http://museos.gijon.es/page/5284-museo-del-ferrocarril-de-asturias)

Final Considerations

There are many railway stations that were reused as museums, but not all of them are properly cared as the Gijón Railway Museum. The museum has a very big collection, making its visitors travel into the past. Besides that, the variety of subjects is really impressive, apart the urban influence in the development of the city, the museum transmit the railway value in many fields, like in the industrialization, the technique development and the engineering field. Through a lot of knowledge and a hint of interactivity, the Gijón Railway Museum is a very pleasant and interesting place to visit and to inspire new railway museums!