Virtual Museum Tour : Rail Museum, Howrah

The Rail Museum, Howrah was established in 2006 to display the history and heritage of railways in the eastern part of India with special focus on Howrah railway station.

Rail Museum, Howrah

The collection includes the first broad gauge electric locomotive built in India, a WCM-5; a HPS-32 steam locomotive captured during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971; and the Indraprastha, claimed to be the oldest remaining Indian Railways shunting locomotive.

Steam locomotive in semi-covered shed at museum

History of the Rail Museum :

The Rail Museum is an open-air establishment that was set up in 2006 and is a window into the past to know more about the locomotives built over 100 years ago. The Hall of fame inside the museum gives insights into the history, the engineering and the evolution right from steam engines to diesel to electric railways. The heritage museum has models as well as actual decommissioned trains. One can check out the Garet Roller, ER’s 2-4-2 Steam Locomotive, Double Decker train Passenger coach belonging to the early 20th century, the YG, the WCM5 locomotives and the Passenger Carriage from the 1940s. The museum is a rich source of information about the trains and the history of the train system mainly of Eastern India.

Construction of the Howrah Rail Museum :

The Howrah Rail Museum covers a vast space of land near Howrah Station. It consists of a huge gate and tracks laid out from the right side of the gate. There are huge sheds built at regular distances to each other which home the magnificent collections of locomotives. These include the electric locomotives, diesel locomotives, as well as the rare to find steam locomotives which are preserved or reconstructed. There is also a miniature model of the Howrah Railway Station created with immense details. There are signals constructed close to the tracks laid across the museum which help us understand their working. The museum is carefully constructed and designed to give the visitors a pleasant and enriching experience.