Madrid Railway Museum (Spain)

This time the Railway Heritage World Blog will present the Madrid Railway Museum.

Diana Sánchez is an architect in love with industrial heritage and photography. To feed a bit of her passion she has a blog called “Patrimonio Industrial Arquitectonico”, where she posts every kind of industrial heritage news and opinions.

On May, 2016, she shared with her readers an experience in the Madrid Railway Museum, which we hope you will like too!

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Tuesday, 4 October, 2016

A Visit to the Madrid Railway Museum.

Good Industrial morning! Today I would like to speak about an amazing museum that I visited on May of this year, it is the MADRID RAILWAY MUSEUM.

Museum Façade. Delicias Station, Diana Sánchez, May, 2016.

The museum has an amazing engine collection and it is located in the main building of the old Delicias de Madrid Railway Station.

Original use: Railway Station

Year of construction : 1880

Location: Paseo de las Delicias nº 61, Madrid.

Currently use: Railway Museum

Madrid Railway Museum Website: http://www.museodelferrocarril.org/

History of the building. Old Delicias Station.

The Delicias Station was inaugurated in 1880. The station was designed as the last stop of the Madrid – Ciudade Real railway line, which continued until the Portuguese border passing by Badajoz. This line started to entirely work on February 3, 1879, and, after almost a year, on March 30, 1880, the Delicias Station started to work too, as an act presided over by the Spanish Royalty, Afonso XII and María Cristina.

The building in which the Museum is currently located is the main station building. It was dedicated to the transit of travelers, so it had a great public visibility.

More information about the main building.

Station historic image, http://www.fernandomunoz.com.

The transport of passengers ended in 1969 and the transport of goods in 1971, some of the line buildings, which configured its industrial heritage, disappeared or were converted to receive new uses. Currently they are a part of the railway bibliography through some industrial archeology studies that are been made since the Museum started to work.

Information Source: http://www.museodelferrocarril.org

The external part of the Railway Museum, Diana Sánchez May, 2016.

Museum opening hours

From October until May

Monday – Thursday: 9:30 – 15:00

Fridays and holydays: 10:00 – 18:00

Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 – 20:00

From June until September

Tuesday – Sunday: 10:00 – 15:00

Closed on December 25, janurary 1º and 6.

The Museum has a huge collection, I could walk around and delight myself with all the nice machines. In the museum website you can find its plan, where you can see the different sections that the museum has.

- STEAM ENGINES

Steam engines, Diana Sánchez, May, 2016.

- ELECTRIC ENGINES

Electric Engine, Diana Sánchez, May, 2016.

- DIESEL ENGINES AND MOTOR VEHICLES

Central Platform View, Diesel Engines and Moter Vehicles, Diana Sanchéz, May, 2016.

- PASSENGERS’ TRAINS AND WAGONS

Passengers’ trains and wagons, Diana Sanchéz, May, 2016.

- IMAGES CENTRAL PLATFORM

Central Platform, Diana Sanchéz, May, 2016.

While I walked through its platforms and nice machines I felt like I used to feel when I was a kid, contemplating the beauty and the strength of these engines. It is a perfect museum to visit with kids, they experience it in a very intense way and the trains are a part of the Industrial Heritage that pleasant the kids the most.

Back part of the museum, Diana Sánchez, May, 2016.

The trains give a kind of nostalgic feeling that attracts everyone, the museum value exists because of them. Besides its Architectural Industrial Heritage (due to the main station) and its Movable Industrial Heritage (due to its impressive collection), the museum has an historic and didactic value. It is definitely a nice place for all ages.

RAILWAY MUSEUM DETAILS

- Outside