Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Sochaczew (Polish: ''Muzeum Kolei Wąskotorowej w Sochaczewie'') is a -gauge

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

based at Sochaczew in Poland, about west of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. The museum's headquarters are that of the former Sochaczew County Narrow Gauge Railway (Polish: ''Sochaczewska Kolej Powiatowa''). It has a fleet of historic 750mm-gauge

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

and

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

s, goods wagons,

passenger car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s and draisines. It has also a small number of

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

and other exhibits. Part of the railway has been restored to service. Trains from the museum to Kampinos Forest run on Saturdays from the end of May until the mid-September and also on Wednesdays during the summer holidays. The museum was established in 1984 and opened in 1986. It is a branch of the

Railway Museum in Warsaw The Stacja Muzeum is located at the former Warsaw Główna PKP railway terminus and is very close to the Warszawa Ochota railway station. The museum's exhibits are divided into permanent and temporary collections — the latter being displayed ...

. Due to the uncertain status of land property and financial difficulties the future of both is uncertain.

History

Regular service of Sochaczew County Narrow Gauge Railway ended on 30 November 1984, and the museum was established in December. In the early days all efforts were made to repair, renovate and protect premises, vehicles and to do the necessary repairs of the tracks and vehicles. Preservation and repair works started. Archives and some of the exhibition rooms were placed in the

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

main building. Also the sheds for draisines were converted into exhibition rooms. Sporadic train services began in May 1986. The museum was opened to the public on 6 September 1986. By the end of 1986 the museum had collected 107 vehicles, including 33

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, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s. In the 1996 this number reached 253. In 2009 the total number of all types of rolling stock was 263, including 56 steam locomotives. After scrapping and selling several units this number fell to 228 in 2011. Some of the vehicles still need substantial restoration before moving from storage to display. In the late 1980s the tracks were repaired, mainly

sleeper A sleeper is a person who is sleeping. Sleeper may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Sleeper (Marvel Comics), a Nazi German robot utilized by the Red Skull in Marvel Comics * The Sleeper (Wild Cards), a character in the Wild Ca ...

s replacements but also two bridges were fixed. On 10 July 1991 the Technical Commission of Narrow Gauge Railways (Polish: ''Komisja Techniczna z Zarządu Kolei Dojazdowych'') granted clearance to operate the line to Wilcze Tułowskie, where the trains now terminate.

Preserved rolling stock (selection)

Steam locomotives: * Pw53-1980 * Px29-1704 (in service) * Px48-1755 (awaiting repair) * Px49-1794 * Px49-1796 * Px49-1797 * Py4-741 * Tx4-1315 *Ty10914 *Tya6-3326 Muzeum-kolejnictwa-sochaczew

Diesel locomotives: *

Lxd2 The Lxd2 is a B′B′ narrow gauge diesel-hydraulic locomotive of the Polish state railway Polskie Koleje Państwowe (''PKP S.A.''; en, Polish State Railways, Inc.) is the dominant railway operator in Poland. The company was founded when t ...

-250 *

-342 * Lyd1 * WLs75 Passenger cars * 1Aw

Notes

References

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Links

Muzeum Kolei Wąskotorowej w Sochaczewie
– official website (in Polish) {{authority control 1984 establishments in Poland History of rail transport in Poland Museums established in 1984 Museums in Masovian Voivodeship Railway museums in Poland Sochaczew County