Train World is a

railway museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic ...

Schaerbeek (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...

, a municipality of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, and the official museum of the

National Railway Company of Belgium The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Ve ...

(NMBS/SNCB). It is situated in the preserved buildings of

Schaarbeek railway station Schaerbeek railway station () or Schaarbeek railway station () is a railway station in the municipality of Schaerbeek in Brussels, Belgium, opened in 1887. The train services are operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB). ...

and in a new shed built to its north. The museum was opened in September 2015 by King

Philippe Philippe is a masculine given name, cognate to Philip, and sometimes also a surname. The name may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince ...

History and location

Train World is located at

, incorporating the station building. The museum's

scenography Scenography is the practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography can be defined as the combination of technological and material stagecrafts to represent, enact, and produce a sense of plac ...

was designed by the comic book artist

François Schuiten François Schuiten (; born 26 April 1956) is a Franco-Belgian comics, Belgian comic book artist. He is best known for drawing the series ''Les Cités Obscures''. Biography François Schuiten was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1956.De Weyer, Geert ...

. The museum was scheduled to be opened in 2014, but was delayed and was open to the public on 25 September 2015, having been formally opened the previous day by King

. Until then, €20.5 million had been invested into the project, which planned to attract 100,000 visitors per year from its third year of operations onwards.

Overview

The museum is over and displays 22

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s, as well as 1,200 other objects, including an original 19th-century railway bridge. Also featured is an interactive railway simulator, where players drive a train through current-day

, and a possible future Brussels. One of the most important objects in the museum is the " Pays du Waes"

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

, dating from 1845, which is the oldest preserved locomotive in

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

. File:Train World Schaerbeek (1).JPG, Former ticket hall of

Schaerbeek railway station Schaerbeek railway station () or Schaarbeek railway station () is a railway station in the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality of Schaerbeek in Brussels, Belgium, opened in 1887. The train services are operated b ...

, now used as an exhibition space File:Pont du Luxembourg (Train World) coursive.jpg, Deck of a railway viaduct over the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

, which now serves as a raised platform for the public File:Train World, the railway museum in Brussels 05.jpg, Electric locomotive 1503 (left) and diesel locomotive 6406 (right) File: Type 12 12.004 - Train Word - 03.jpg, Steam locomotive type 12 (left) and AM 35 (right)

References

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External links