The Museo del Ferrocarril (Railway Museum) in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain, is one of the largest historic railroad collections in Europe. It is housed in a redundant railway station called Madrid-Delicias in the ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

'' of Delicias. The location is near the centre of Madrid. The railway museum opened in the Palacio de Fernán Núñez, which is now the seat of the ''Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles''. After an agreement between RENFE and the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) *Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

regarding the future of Las Delicias station, the collections were transferred to Las Delicias which opened as a railway museum in 1984.

The building

The building is not to be confused with the station opened in 1996 by

Cercanías Madrid Cercanías Madrid is the commuter rail service that serves Madrid, the capital of Spain, and its metropolitan area. It is operated by Cercanías Renfe, the commuter rail division of Renfe, the former monopoly of rail services in Spain. Its to ...

called Delicias. The station was opened in March 1880 by King

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 188 ...

and

Queen Maria Cristina Maria Christina Henriette Desideria Felicitas Raineria of Austria ( es, María Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena; 21 July 1858 – 6 February 1929) was the second queen consort of Alfonso XII of Spain. She was queen regent during the vacancy of the ...

. It was commissioned by a short-lived railway company, the ''Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro de Ciudad Real a Badajoz'', which had recently opened a line from

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. History It was founde ...

to the capital. One reason for the choice of Delicias as the site of the

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

was the proximity of an existing line, the ''Ferrocarril de contorno de Madrid'', which served industrial areas of Madrid. In the year the station was opened, the railway company was absorbed by a larger rival, ''Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Madrid a Zaragoza y Alicante'' (MZA). MZA had the use of

Atocha station Madrid Atocha ( es, Estación de Madrid Atocha), also named Madrid Puerta de Atocha–Almudena Grandes, is the first major railway station in Madrid. It is the largest station serving commuter trains (Cercanías Madrid, ''Cercanías''), regional ...

, and did not need Delicias station, which it transferred to a third company, the ''Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Madrid a Cáceres y Portugal''. An international service to Portugal was developed, but the station never achieved a high volume of passengers, and it closed to passenger traffic in 1969.

Architecture

As a

, the station had separate facilities for arriving and departing passengers. However, the most impressive feature is the iron-framed

train shed A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...

covered by a single-span roof. The building was designed by a French engineer, Émile Cachelièvre. It has been suggested that he was influenced by

Henri de Dion Earl Henri de Dion (born near Montfort-l'Amaury on 23 December 1828, died in Paris on 13 April 1878) was a French engineer who contributed to the construction of the Eiffel Tower. He was an alumnus of the École Centrale Paris and specialised in me ...

's ''Galerie des Machines'', one of the metal-framed buildings erected for the

Exposition Universelle (1878) The third Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle in French, was held from 1 May to 10 November 1878. It celebrated the recovery of France after the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War. Construction The buildings and the fairgroun ...

in Paris. The Franco-Belgian Fives group provided metal for both projects.

Collections

Rolling stock

The

of the former station now houses historic

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...

Steam

Steam was used on the Spanish railways in the period 1848–1975, although the earliest locomotive in the museum dates from the 1860s.

Diesel

Locomotives in the collection include: *

Yorkshire Engine Company The Yorkshire Engine Company (YEC) was a small independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. The company was formed in 1865 and produced locomotives and carried out general engineering work until 1965. It mainly built shunting engi ...

: "Taurus"

Signalling

The museum has preserved part of a hydraulic system, developed by the Italian firm Bianchi and Servettaz, which was used to control points switching and signalling at

Algodor Algodor is a small settlement between Toledo and Aranjuez, Spain. The locality is within the municipal limits of Aranjuez and is in the Community of Madrid. It has a population of 14, but in its heyday in the 1920s there were more inhabitants a ...

Train service

The museum runs a heritage train service to

Aranjuez Aranjuez () is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Community of Madrid. Located in the southern end of the region, the main urban nucleus lies on the left bank of Tagus, a bit upstream the discharge of the Jarama. , the municipality h ...

. Known as the "

strawberry train El Tren de la Fresa or the Strawberry Train is an heritage train service operated on the railway that was inaugurated on 9 February 1851 between Madrid and Aranjuez as the second railway line in mainland Spain. The original purpose of the railwa ...

", it uses vintage rolling stock.

As a film set

The station has been used as a location in numerous films and television series. Several films set in Russia, but shot mostly in Spain, used the station as location: ''Dr Zhivago'' (1965) by

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

, ''

Nicholas and Alexandra ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' is a 1971 British epic film, epic historical drama film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, from a screenplay written by James Goldman and Edward Bond, based on Robert K. Massie's 1967 Nicholas and Alexandra (book), boo ...

'' (1971) by

Franklin J. Schaffner Franklin James Schaffner (May 30, 1920July 2, 1989) was an American film, television, and stage director. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for ''Patton'' (1970), and is known for the films ''Planet of the Apes'' (1968), ''Nicholas and Al ...

and ''

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

'' (1981) by

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, ...

. Other films filmed there include ''

The Violet Seller ''The Violet Seller'', better known under its Spanish title ''La Violetera'', is a 1958 Spanish-Italian historical jukebox musical film produced by Benito Perojo, directed by Luis César Amadori and starring Sara Montiel, Raf Vallone, Frank Vi ...

'' (1958) by

Luis César Amadori Luis César Amadori (28 May 1902 in Pescara, Abruzzi, Italy – 5 June 1977 in Buenos Aires) was an Italian - Argentine film director and screenwriter and one of the most influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era. ...

, ''

Travels with My Aunt ''Travels with My Aunt'' (1969) is a novel written by English author Graham Greene. The novel follows the travels of Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager, and his eccentric Aunt Augusta as they find their way across Europe, and eventually ev ...

'' (1972) by

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...

, '' March or Die'' (1977) by

Dick Richards Dick Richards (born 1936) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Known as a storyteller and an “actor’s director”, Richards worked with Robert Mitchum, Gene Hackman, Martin Sheen, Blythe Danner, Catherine Deneuve, Al ...

and '' Lovers'' (1991) by

Vicente Aranda Vicente Aranda Ezquerra (; 9 November 1926 – 26 May 2015) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. Due to his refined and personal style, he was one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a f ...

. Television series include

Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...

's ''

Cuéntame cómo pasó ' (Spanish, 'Tell me how it happened'), usually shortened to ''Cuéntame'' and also known in English as ''Remember When'', is a Spanish prime-time television drama series which has been broadcast on La 1 of Televisión Española since 2001. It ...

'',

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

's ''

Cable Girls ''Cable Girls'' ( es, Las chicas del cable) is a Spanish period drama streaming television series that ran from April 2017 and concluded in July 2020. Set in the late 1920s, it stars Ana Fernández, Nadia de Santiago, Blanca Suárez and Maggie ...

'' and Antena 3's ''

The Time in Between ''The Time in Between'' is a novel by Canadian author David Bergen. It deals with a man, who mysteriously returns to Vietnam, where he had been a soldier earlier in his life, followed by his children, who also go to Vietnam to search for him. The ...

'' and ''

Velvet Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

''.

References

External links

The museum's website (English)The museum's website (Spanish)
{{Authority control Railway museums in Spain Museums in Madrid Iron and steel buildings Railway stations opened in 1880 Defunct railway stations in Spain Repurposed railway stations in Europe Buildings and structures in Arganzuela District, Madrid