Museum of the Moscow Railway

In its original inception this Russian rail museum was simply an exhibition of Vladamir Lenin’s funeral train and a selection of its regalia, but after being closed for years, the museum has reopened to the general public as an all-encompassing collection covering the city’s varied locomotive history. 

The museum was first called the Museum of Lenin’s Funeral Train when it was first put on display in a corner of a Moscow train station. The original U-127 locomotive and the car that held Lenin’s body as it was transported from where he died to Moscow, were on display along with wreaths and other ephemera that accompanied the historic death trip. However as interest in the site waned, the train and its displays were closed off from public view. The museum pieces remained in private holding for decades seeming more and more like they would be permanently mothballed.

However in 2011, after massive renovations and additions to the collection, the museum was reopened as the Museum of the Moscow Railway. At first the collection was available only to private viewings, but by 2012, the museum had opened its doors to the general public.

Now the museum, which is still quite small, once again displays Lenin’s funeral engine and car, but now the displays also include exhibits on the development and growth of the rail system in the entire city. Uniforms, dioramas, and scale models have also been added to help remember the area’s rail history.