Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice

The Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice displays the railway heritage of Slovenia, as gathered and preserved by the Slovene Railways company and its predecessors. Featuring still functional old steam locomotives set in a former boiler room, this is a small yet very curiously laid-out and comprehensive museum.

The museum is divided into two sections: a collection of vehicles (steam locomotives, coaches, wagons and other historic rolling stock) and a permanent exhibition of old apparatuses, tools and other items of heritage relating to various fields of railway history and technology. Thematic temporary exhibitions are held here, as are occasional related events. Additionally, regular rides with historic trains are also a part of this enterprise.

One of the steam locomotives in the Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice collection of vehicles, 2012

Location and venue

The museum is set at the ex Ljubljana Šiška Railway station, just north of the central train station in Ljubljana. The locomotives and carriages are displayed in the 'roundhouse', a semicircular shed forming the centrepiece of the depot. Provisionally laid with railway tracks, the shed itself is enlisted as cultural heritage. The rest of the collection is gathered at a separate site next to the roundhouse.

Background

The museum was formally established in 1981, when the Ljubljana Railways established a museum section to manage its collection of old locomotives and some other historic artefacts, consciously collected since the 1960s and stored in a boiler building that now houses a part of the museum.

In 1991 the institution was renamed the Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice, focusing the exhibition on the 10 steam locomotives (out of the 60 they posses). In 1996, marking the 150th anniversary of the advent of railways in Slovenia, the permanent exhibition was enriched with another display, this one with somewhat smaller railway artefacts. In 1999 the roundhouse was renovated and in 2004 a new exhibition building was opened to the public.

The former boiler room which now houses the Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice collection of vehicles, as photographed somewhere around 1935.

Collection

The main vehicle collection is made up of 10 locomotives (one of them going back to 1861). However, there are also 50 other vehicles such as carriages and light auxiliary rail vehicles once used by rail supervisors and maintenance personnel. Both narrow and standard gauge locomotives can be found in the round house, most of them in superb condition. One of the locomotives is fitted for children to explore.

There are also about 1000 pieces related to rail building and maintenance, railway network development, the workings of a railway station and the related communications infrastructure. Maps, illustrations, uniforms, lanterns, telegraphs, radio stations, historic boundary stones (engraved with the individual railway companies), clocks and signalling equipment present the railway life and services from the period of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy onward.

Also, a small art gallery presents visitors with works of art dedicated to the railway.

A Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice reconstruction of the old railway bureau, complete with the emperor Franz Joseph's (1830–1916) portrait, 2012

Temporary exhibitions and events

The museum's permanent collection is enriched by thematic documentary and artistic exhibitions that deal with railway history or motifs. For example, an exhibition of old postcards depicting the famous Borovnica Railway viaduct (ruined in WWII) was prepared in collaboration with the Borovnica Historical Society. Similarly, the history of railways in the Prekmurje region was depicted in an exhibitions set up together with the Lendava-Lendva Gallery and Museum.

The museum also regularly hosts the model railways’ fairs as well as many other events, more often than not intended for children. The roundhouse is occasionally used as a venue for independent and alternative culture events such Mladi levi Festival and concerts by the group The Stroj.

Heritage train

There are two heritage trains currently operating, one being the steam locomotive that traverses the Slovene Alps – the Transalpina - the Bohinj Railway. Another is the weekly heritage train service which runs on Saturdays between the towns of Celje and Imeno, driving through a total of 21 municipalities.