European public transport museum reviews

Basics:
Address: Augustusstraße 1, 01067 Dresden, Germany
Web: http://www.verkehrsmuseum-dresden.de
Opening Times: Tue-Sun 1000-1800
Admission: Adults 9 euro, concessions 4 euro

Visit date: September 2016

Access by public transport:
The museum is in the pedestrianised Baroque area of Dresden and is within a short walk of many local tram routes.

Collection:
The museum has a small but interesting rail collection consisting of:
Motor and driving wheels of E50 class electric loco E50 42
Replica of Leipzig and Dresden Rly 0-4-2 "Saxonia"
Baldwin 0-4-4-0T 600mm gauge articulated locomotive using the Pechot-Bourdon articulation system, claimed to be one of only two surviving articulated locomotives using this system in the world.
Saechsische Staatsbahn IV-K 0-4-4-0T 750mm gauge Mallet articulated loco, restored as Deutsche Reichsbahn 99 535, one of a famous class used on the narrow gauge lines of Saxony.
"Princess Mathilde's Saloon" carriage from 1885 Saxony Royal Train
Bockwaer Coal Rly 2-4-0T "Muhlenthal". Dating from 1861, claimed to be the oldest surviving steam locomotive constructed entirely in Germany.
Deutsche Reichsbahn E71 class electric loco E71 30
Experimental 1899 Siemens four-wheel steeple-cab electric loco

Additionally, the museum has a large collection of cars and two-wheeled vehicles from Eastern Germany from the nineteenth century until the end of the DDR era, and water and air transport collections based more around small exhibits.

Presentation:
The museum exhibits are rather crammed into the Johanneum, a sixteenth-century stables and mews constructed in elaborate Renaissance style to fit with the rest of the Schloss complex. This means that some of the exhibits are difficult to examine or get a full view of. Labelling is mainly in German and English. Nevertheless, an interesting and rewarding visit.

Basics:
Address: Prinses Elisabethplein 5, 1030 Schaarbeek
Web: http://www.trainworld.be
Opening times: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00 (last admission 15:30)
Admission: 10 euros, concessions 7.50 euros

Visit date: March 2016

Access by public transport: The museum is based at Schaarbeek railway station, a major railway junction in the inner suburbs of Brussels, served by many local rail services and by city bus and tram routes.

Collection: The museum has a medium sized collection of steam and modern traction locomotives on static display, as well as a selection of assorted small exhibits. Highlights include the oldest surviving locomotive to run in Belgium, Pays de Waes, the Pacific 10.018 with its oddly short boiler, and the streamlined Atlantic 12.004. The collection is chosen for historical significance rather than maximum size. The oddest inclusion is a genuine railwayman's cottage, still on its original site and with the museum constructed around it. The interior is restored in post-war style.

Presentation: The museum is atmospherically but controversially designed by the celebrated Belgian comic creator François Schuiten, with distinctive lighting effects that have aroused the hostility of people whose main objective when visiting a railway museum is to take photos. Some technical detail is lacking in the labelling, but the museum gives a good idea of the general and social history of the railways. A box van used for the deportation of Belgium's Jews to the Holocaust houses affecting newsreel footage of the events. On another macabre note, a display on level crossings is accompanied by a "scare 'em straight" son et lumiere depiction of a car being hit by a train!

Basics:

Address: Sillerstraße 123, A-2231 Strasshof an der Nordbahn
Web: http://www.eisenbahnmuseum-heizhaus.com
Opening times: April to October. Thursday to Sunday plus public holidays 1000-1600. Sundays are full open days with diesel or steam (alternate weeks) locomotives in operation for footplate rides, guided tours, miniature railway and refreshment facilities.
Admission price: €7 adult, €3,50 child. Diesel operating days €8, €4. Steam operating days €9.50, €4.50

Visit date: September 2014

Access by public transport: Vienna S-Bahn line S1 to Silberwald station (NOT Strasshof). 40 minutes by train from Hauptbahnhof, then 10 minute, well-signposted walk.

Collection: A large selection of steam, diesel and electric locos and rolling stock, much unrestored. Includes some unusual older steam locomotives from the early days of Austrian rail. The museum hosts part of the Austrian national railway collection, previously displayed at the Technical Museum in Vienna until it was reconstructed with less railway exhibition space. A prize exhibit is the express passenger 2-6-4 number 310.23, dating to 1911.

Presentation: Restored locomotives and freight vehicles are displayed in the former main shed building, with German labelling. Passenger rolling stock and unrestored locomotives are currently in the open air, unlabelled. No guide book is available but basic information on all vehicles is available on the website.