The Chennai Rail Museum is a railway museum in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The museum opened on 16 April 2002 in the Furnishing Division of the
Integral Coach Factory
Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of Chennai. T ...
(ICF) near
Perambur
Perambur is a neighbourhood located in the northern region of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Etymology
In Tamil, ''pirambu (பிரம்பு)'' means bamboo and ''ur (ஊர்)'' means city or place. Before British rule, this place was w ...
. The museum has technical and heritage exhibits, with a sizable collection of
steam engines from the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
. It also has vintage coaches (such as
Ooty trains), which were endemic on Indian railways. Most of the older models were manufactured by the
North British Locomotive Company, with some trains in the collection dating back more than a century.
Toy-train rides are available. There are 3 air-conditioned Indoor Galleries (ICF Gallery, Rail History Gallery, Art Gallery, 2 Other Non-airconditioned Galleries, a 90-seater air-conditioned Dolby Digital Movie Theatre (Railway and Railway Heritage Films), Natyarangam, Amphitheatre, a Number of Metal Sculptures made from scrap, 3D MURAL at the entrance, Cartoon Hero Characters better viewed from the Joyous Toy Train Ride, Rail Coach Restaurant, Eco Green Park, Lust Green vegetation, etc., The museum is managed and maintained by the ICF.
Location
It is located in
Perambur
Perambur is a neighbourhood located in the northern region of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Etymology
In Tamil, ''pirambu (பிரம்பு)'' means bamboo and ''ur (ஊர்)'' means city or place. Before British rule, this place was w ...
area, which is renowned for its
Integral Coach Factory
Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of Chennai. T ...
. 71 series buses connects Rail museum to prominent places like Broadway,
Chennai Central
Chennai Central (station code: MAS, short for ''Madras''), officially known as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, is the main railway terminus in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the busiest railway ...
,
Chennai Egmore
Chennai Egmore, formerly known as Madras Egmore, also known as Chennai Elumbur (station code: MS), is a railway station in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Situated in the neighborhood of Egmore, it is one of the four intercity railway terminals in t ...
,
Kilpauk
Kilpauk is a semi residential area located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The distance from Chennai's city to Kilpauk is about 6 km. The region is situated off the Poonamallee High Road in the west. Adjacent areas of Kilpauk include Chetpe ...
,
Ambattur
Ambattur is located in northwestern part of Chennai City, in Ambattur taluk of the Chennai District, surrounded by Avadi, Anna Nagar, Padi, Mogappair, Kallikuppam, Surapet, Korattur, Ayappakkam, and Thiruverkadu. It covers an area of . The nei ...
and
Avadi
Avadi () is a suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit, located in the Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu, India. It is a municipal corporation west of Chennai, about from Chennai Central Railway Station. It is surrounded by majo ...
.
History
The Regional Rail Museum (RRM, its original name) was established in March 2002. The
Railway Board
The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the country's rail transport. The ministry operates the statutory body Indian Railways, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport and is h ...
had a strong interest in its development, since it would be a model for other RRMs planned for
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
. The Chennai museum was first proposed in a 1993-94 suggestion by the Railway Board secretary to the ICF general manager, followed by meetings between the museum's future director and the ICF
CE. It was inaugurated by Railway Minister
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unit ...
on March 31, 2002, and opened to the public on April 16. The RRM was renamed the Chennai Rail Museum to commemorate the 377th
Madras Day
Madras Day is a festival organised to commemorate the founding of the city of Madras in Tamil Nadu, India. It is celebrated on 22 August every year, 22 August 1639 being the widely agreed date for the purchase of the village of Madraspatnam or ...
on August 22, 2016. The renovated museum, with a new Art gallery, was inaugurated on October 2, 2016 by
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
recipient
Padma Subrahmanyam
Padma Subrahmanyam (born 4 February 1943, in Madras), is an Indian classical Bharata Natyam dancer. She is also a research scholar, choreographer, teacher, Indologist and author. She is famous in India as well as abroad; several films and docume ...
in the presence of artist Manian Selvan and ICF General Manager S. Mani.
Overview
The museum has two galleries, a number of 19th-century outdoor heritage exhibits, a toy train that takes visitors around the perimeter, and a playground.
Its collection includes indoor and outdoor exhibits. The indoor galleries contain photographs detailing the early years of the ICF and Indian Railways. The museum also houses working scale models of trains, and rare colonial-period artifacts. This will be the location of new exhibits for the museum's second decade.
[ A video about Neal's ball token system (which provided signaling between trains) is featured, as well as a coach in which ]Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
traveled.
The museum's outdoor exhibits include 41 train models. An 1895 model of a Fowler steam ploughing engine
A traction engine is a steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any traction engin ...
(manufactured by John Fowler) and 1860s double-deck coaches are on display. Models include Coach of Inspection car RA 30 (manufactured by Metropolitan Carriage and Finance), Crane Hercules (used for emergency relief) and luxury
Luxury may refer to:
* Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises
*Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars
**Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...
coaches. Nearly all of the museum's coaches are accessible to visitors.
The exhibits are interspersed with posters of high-speed trains from around the world, the history of Indian Railways and models of coaches made for Sri Lanka, the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
and Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
. They also include a coach from the Mumbai suburban train network, old railway maps of India, century-old clocks, and a diesel-locomotive engine block. Outdoor exhibits include life-size models of a Nilgiri Mountain Railway
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is a railway in Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, India, built by the United Kingdom, British in 1908. The railway is operated by the Southern Railway zone, Southern Railway and is the only rack railway in India. ...
coach, a GM inspection car, an MG EMU, a hospital van, a hand-operated crane, an overhead equipment car, a meter gauge EMU, and a variety of engines (steam, diesel and plough).
The museum also contains photographs of visits to ICF by world leaders, royalty, and other dignitaries. The model trains run on three tiers, and over 150 photographs document the history of ICF and Indian Railways.
The ICF Diamond Jubilee Gallery has photographs by Ian Manning which were digitally restored, including one of a steam-engine turntable. It also has a first-class compartment seat, a scale model of third-class MG coaches designed and manufactured at ICF for Uganda, and photographs of dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth II, K. Kamaraj
Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975, hinduonnet.com. 15–28 September 2001), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) ...
, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
. An art gallery contains over a dozen paintings. The paintings, by artists such as M. S. Murthy and Shahid Pasha, illustrate subjects commonly found in railway stations and related establishments. Murthy's ''Gandhi'', is a tribute to the man and his philosophy. In Pasha's ''Kanhaiya's Journey'', a young Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
showing his mother Yashoda the way home as she pulls a suitcase and tries to board the Mathura Express at the Bangalore railway station. The painting demonstrates that one's god (or gods) are not restricted to temples, but are present everywhere to provide guidance.
An antique steam engine which once operated in the Nilgiri Mountains
The Nilgiri Mountains form part of the Western Ghats in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Southern Karnataka, and eastern Kerala in India. They are located at the trijunction of three states and connect the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats. At le ...
is at the museum entrance, and the space surrounding it is decorated with greenery and herbs. A walking path helps visitors get close to the antique train.
Visitors
The museum was established to showcase the Heritage of Indian Railways. Work on it began in 2001, and the museum was inaugurated in March 2002 by Railway Minister
A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructure. ...
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unit ...
. Several additions have been made since then, and the museum constructed a train ride for children. Although nearly 5,500 people visit the museum each month (primarily students and local residents), the railway struggles with a lack of awareness and publicity despite its role in India's growth. During 10th-anniversary celebrations in 2012, the museum announced plans for expansion. In August 2017, 14,792 people visited the museum (up from 10,809 visitors in August 2016). Many visitors complain that the museum deserves better facilities and clean pathways. Many heritage models are desperate for painting.
Restaurant
On August 31, 2018, a rail coach-themed restaurant opened at the museum. The air-conditioned Chennai Express restaurant is inside a Linke Hoffman Busch train coach provided by the ICF. It is the second such restaurant opened in the country by the IR, following one in Bhopal
Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...
(2015). The restaurant offers Chinese, continental, North- and South-Indian cuisine.
The area leading to the coach entrance was designed to resemble a railway platform. The restaurant can seat 64 people at tables in the coach and on the platform. The coach's interior was designed to resemble the Maharajas' Express
The ''Maharajas' Express'' is a luxury tourist train owned and operated by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). It serves four routes across North-West and Central India, mainly centered on Rajasthan between the months of ...
and the Deccan Odyssey
The ''Deccan Odyssey'' is an Indian luxury train modeled on the '' Palace on Wheels'' and put into service to boost tourism on the Maharashtra route of the Indian Railways. The train, owned by travel company Cox & Kings since 2014, takes vis ...
. Its adjacent kitchen is a repurposed shipping container. The coach's exterior was painted by Asma Menon and a team of artists.
Theater
The museum opened a small 90-seater, Digital Dolby, Large Screen, air-conditioned theater on August 15, 2018. The theater, with a capacity of 90 people, to showcase films about the Integral Coach Factory, Indian Railways, World Railway and Railway Heritage clippings to museum visitors.
See also
* National Rail Museum, New Delhi
The National Rail Museum in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, displays exhibits on the history of rail transport in India. The museum was inaugurated on 1 February 1977. The museum spans over an area of over 11 acres and the indoor gallery compris ...
* Rewari Railway Heritage Museum
The Rewari Railway Heritage Museum (formerly the Rewari Steam Locomotive Shed) is a c.1893 railway museum in Delhi NCR at Rewari city in Haryana, India. Built in 1893, it is the only surviving steam locomotive shed in India, and houses some of ...
* Railway Museum Mysore
The Railway Museum at Mysore, India is an outdoor exhibit of vintage locomotives.
The Railway Museum was established in 1979 by ''Indian Railways'', the second such museum after the ''National Railway Museum'' in Delhi. The museum is opposite ...
* Railway Heritage Centre, Tiruchirappalli
The Railway Heritage Centre is a railway museum–cum–heritage centre for rail exhibits at Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.
Overview
The museum was set up with initial funding of in order to preserve old artifacts and photographs, rare ...
* Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railway
Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railway is a miniature railway museum located in the Erandwane locality of Pune, a city in the state of Maharashtra, India. The museum hosts working models of various types of trains. It was started by Bhausaheb Joshi ...
References
External links
*
Rail Museum - a hidden gem: Slideshow
{{authority control
2002 establishments in Tamil Nadu
Children's museums in India
Museums established in 2002
Museums in Chennai
Rail transport in Tamil Nadu
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...