Renovated National Rail Museum was inaugurated and
dedicated to the Nation yesterday i.e. 5th January 2016 by the Minister
of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in the august presence of the Minister
of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha. On this occasion National Rail Museum
website, E-Book and a Mobile App were also launched. Also, a smart card system
for museum ticketing has been launched on that day.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri
Suresh Prabhu said that the Museums are places of knowledge and learning and is
meant for all categories of society like student professional and general
public He suggested that they should be a small section in the museum which
presents future challenges before the railway sector. He said that museum
should revolve as laboratory of Ideas.
In his speech Minister of State for Railways Shri
Manoj Sinha said that a commendable work has been done on renovation of
existing national railway museum. It is added many new features which will be
liked by the visitors.
Other dignitaries present on the occasion included
Shri A.K. Mital (Chairman/Railway Board), Shri Hemant Kumar (Member/Mechanical),
Shri S. Mookherjee (Financial Commissioner), Shri G.R. Agarwal (Secretary/Railway
Board), Heads of major Museums in the city and many higher officials from the
Railways and other Ministries. ED (Heritage) Railway Board Shri Manu Goel conducted
the proceedings of the programme. Director National Rail museum Shri U.S. Meena
proposed the vote of thanks.
Modernity and Museum appear
anachronistic but this has precisely been the goal of a comprehensive
renovation programme undertaken by National Rail Museum with contributions from
RITES, IRCON, CONCOR and the other PSUS under Ministry of Railways . A rich
experience which shall kindle the quest for knowledge in younger generations
and enthrall everyone has been the objective of the renovation.
As a part of renovation, about 75 major exhibits
have been restored to their original glory. A new Toy train which is at par of
international standards has been added. A beautiful Musical fountain now adorns
the heart of the museum, near the museum junction. Signages have been improved
to give an international visitor experience.
Latest acquisition has been the simulators including
train simulators, Diesel loco, Steam Loco and coach simulators. These will be
open to public for ride & feel the actual train running experience by
themselves. The coach simulator will give an insight of the development by
Railways over 162 years & contribution towards Nations progress using state
of the art 3D virtual reality.
A Miniature train (1:87) Ho scale model layout is
depicting the complete old & new townships, with various modes of transport
– road, rail, metro train and even air. Modern transportation concepts like
tube rails, etc. are on display. Visitors would even find a cricket match in
progress in Wankhede Stadium in this Cricket crazy Nation. Apart from these,
the renovated indoor gallery will be taking the visitors to a memorable
journey from early transportation era to the latest and even to the futuristic
designs. All these have been displayed through miniature models, brief
description and using the latest touch screen displays and designed suiting to
all age groups. Quiz sections will be of interest to the children and
enthusiasts. Arrival of each visitor will be there on the special edition of
National Rail Museum times to give a highly personalized experience. Every
Visitor can take home a copy of NRM times showing him in the news. Upgraded toilets
with RO system, easily available dustbins, mechanized cleaning systems have
been introduced in NRM to showcase “Swacch Bharat Abhiyaan” launched by Hon’ble
Prime Minister.
A major change to lawns of NRM is the “Rail Garden”-
a garden scale (1:22.5) model layout is depicting the train running in
different terrains across the country, passing through various historic
stations- Delhi Junction, Guna, Charbagh, CSTM & Madras Central. Ropeways,
funicular and mountain trains are other added attractions. An outdoor
experience par excellence which will leave haunting memories in the minds of
all visitors.
A new restaurant with a replica of Central Dome
portion of World Heritage Building of Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus(CSTM) with
its unique food serving train will make NRM experience one of the best .
Visitors will be able to enjoy snacks in the garden restaurant while playing
chess, ludo etc. on the specially designed tables.
BACKGROUNDER
: -
National Rail Museum occupies an
important place in the Rail Museums of the World with its vast collection
featuring exhibits from the dawn of Railways to the modern times. NRM was
dedicated to the nation on 1st February, 1977. It was earlier
called “Rail Transport Museum” till 1995. Spread over 11 acres, the museum has
an extensive collection of rail exhibits that comprise of more than 90 vintage
Steam, Diesel & Electric locomotives, Royal Saloons, Cranes and Wagons.
World’s oldest working steam locomotive “Fairy Queen” that features in Guinness
Book of World Records, the 111 years old world’s first steam mono rail that
belonged to the Maharaja of Patiala and the fully roadworthy 102 year old
unique Morris fire engine that used to serve the Nizam of Hyderabad have place
of pride in the priceless collection, alongwith scores of other rare jewels.
Featuring high on the tourist itinerary of Delhi, the museum registered a
footfall of almost 4.00 lakh in the year 2015 (Jan-Dec).
New
Attractions In Renovated National Rail Museum
MINIATURE INDIA
India’s
largest working Railway model layout. Depicts different kinds of landscape
models of 1:87 scale.
SIMULATORS
Motion
platform Steam, Diesel & Coach Simulators have been installed &
commissioned for the public.
Indoor Gallery
A
unique collection of train models, interactive games, cutting edge
communications and divided into six sections to cover all major aspect of
Railways.
Rail Garden
1:22
scale trains running in different terrains across the country passing through
various scaled down historical stations like Delhi junctions, Guna, Charbagh,
Bombay VT etc. Ropeways, funicular and mountain trains are added attractions.
1:8 Scale
Introduction of
1:8 scale toy train chugging on miniature track of about half a km length. This
is first of its kind in India.
The Rail’s Restaurant
Housed
in replica of Central Dome portion of the World Heritage Building of CSTM. Food
will be served by the train only.
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AKS/MKV/MN/DK