The National Railway Museum of Peru is located in

Tacna Tacna was known for its mining industry; it had significant deposits of sodium nitrate and other resources. Its economic prosperity attracted a wave of immigrants from Italy. Today, their Italian Peruvian descendants live in the city and many of t ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. The

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

was built at the site of the old

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a Communes of Chile, commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The ...

railway station, which connected the two cities. The museum features many preserved elements used during the second half of the nineteenth century before it was destroyed. The exhibition presents a history of the railway and its functions. The Museum is located at the

Railway Station, at Av. Gregorio Albarracín 402, at the intersection with Av. 2 de Mayo, Tacna. The train service began in 1856 and the station was built in 1855 according to a design by Walter Evans. It was declared a Historic Monument in 1980. The arch with bell tower is very characteristic. The old station is still largely preserved in its original state with many elements from the second half of the 19th century, when it was built. The exhibition gives the visitor an insight into the historical course of the railway. The Tacna-Arica Railway closed in 2012, but as of June 2014, there were plans to reopen it. Since 27 May 2016, a

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed ...

has again been running on the Tacna-Arica Railway. However, the museum has been under reconstruction since 2018. A sign informed: "Due to reconstruction, the entrance to the museum is closed until further notice. The administration." The current status is not known.

Collection

The museum has 3 rooms: Historical Documentation, Peru and Tacna-Arica. In addition, the museum's collection includes documents, photographs, parts and locomotives of the Tacna-Arica Railway. On the tracks and in the locomotive sheds there are four

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 from Baldwin and

Alco The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

, as well as three

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

passenger cars 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 t ...

bogies A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

railcars A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

and

freight cars A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...

References

{{authority control National railway museums Railway museums in Peru Buildings and structures in Tacna Region Tourist attractions in Tacna Region