Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice

The Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice presents the railway heritage of Slovenia, as gathered and preserved by the Slovene Railways company and its predecessors. Partly set in a former boiler room, with some of the old steam locomotives still set on tracks and operating, the museum is a small yet 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 technical heritage relating to various fields of railway history. Thematic temporary exhibitions are also held here, as are occasional related events. In addition, the Railway Museum is also involved in setting up regular rides with historic trains.

Location

The museum is set at the ex Ljubljana Šiška Railway station, just north of the central train station in Ljubljana.

The main part of the historic vehicles is displayed in the 'roundhouse', a semicircular shed forming the centrepiece of the depot. This shed itself is listed as a built cultural heritage. The rest of the collection is gathered in a newly acquired site next to the roundhouse, featuring a reconstruction of a traffic control office.

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 already gathered artefacts. The collection actually started to emerge already in the 1960s in a boiler building at the same address.

In 1991 the institution was renamed the Railway Museum of Slovenske železnice, focusing on the old roundhouse building with its permanent exhibition of 10 steam locomotives, out of the 60 they posses. In 1996, the year that marked the 150th anniversary of the advent of railways in Slovenia, the museum of presented to the public a permanent display of its most important railway artefacts. In 1999 the roundhouse was renovated and in 2004 a new exhibition building (instead of the former railway training school that had to be demolished) was opened to the public.

Future plans envisage the Railway Museum being incorporated into a major National Museum of Transportation, implemented under the guidance of the Technical Museum of Slovenia.

Collection

First, only the vehicle collection was open to public, showing 10 (out of their 60) locomotives (one going back to 1861) and carriages. Now, there are also 50 other vehicles presented, including items such as light auxiliary rail vehicles (draisines) 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 in situ. One locomotive is fitted for children to explore, with each engine having an information card in the window opposite.

The other part of the collection is mad up of more than 1000 pieces, for example maps, illustrations, uniforms, lanterns, telegraphs, radio stations, historic boundary stones (engraved with the individual railway companies), clocks and signalling equipment from the past 150 years.

It presents a traffic control office, rail building and maintenance, railway network development, connections, uniforms and protective signal devices. The workings of a railway station from the period of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy are also presented. It presents the construction and maintenance of the railway lines, the development of the railway network, railway uniforms, the traffic control centre, communications, and signalling and safety installations.

A small art gallery presents visitors with works of art dedicated to the railway.

33 037 v Ljubljani (2) by brunoh155 on YouTube

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, ann exhibition of old postcards depicting the famous Borovnica Railway viaduct (ruined in WWII) was prepared in collaboration with the Borovnica Historical Society. Also, history of the railways in the Prekmurje region was depicted in a temporary exhibitions set up together with the Lendava-Lendva Gallery and Museum.

The museum of the Slovenian railroads also regularly hosts the model railways’ fairs as well as many other events, more often than not intended for children.

The museum's roundhouse has also been 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 – and th weekly heritage train service which runs on Saturdays between the towns of Celje and Imeno, driving through a total of 21 municipalities.