Israel Railway Museum
Encyclopedia
Israel Railway Museum is the national railway museum
of Israel
, located in Haifa
. The railway museum is owned by Israel Railways
and is at the now closed Haifa East Railway Station.
of the former Hejaz Railway. The museum features a collection of rolling stock
, signs, tickets and other items. The museum has both an indoor and an outdoor section, with the indoor section having been renovated in 2000.
The museum is at Haifa East railway station but trains do not stop there. However, by prior arrangement with the museum manager, groups of at least 25 people who are visiting the Railway Museum may arrange for an intercity train to stop at Haifa East.
Railway museum
A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives , railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment.See List of railway museums...
of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, located in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
. The railway museum is owned by Israel Railways
Israel Railways
Israel Railways is the principal passenger railway operating company in Israel, and is responsible for all inter-city and suburban rail way passenger and freight traffic in the country. All its lines are standard gauge. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from...
and is at the now closed Haifa East Railway Station.
Features
The museum features the railway history of Israel, its predecessor states and neighbouring countries back to 1892. The location itself is an attraction, as it was the shed for the Jezreel Valley branchJezreel Valley railway
The Jezreel Valley railway, or simply the Valley railway refers to a historical railroad in Ottoman and British Palestine, which was part of the larger Hejaz railway and ran along the Jezreel Valley....
of the former Hejaz Railway. The museum features a collection of rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
, signs, tickets and other items. The museum has both an indoor and an outdoor section, with the indoor section having been renovated in 2000.
Some notable exhibits
- Palestine Railways saloon coach No. 98, built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon CompanyBirmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon CompanyThe Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company was a railway locomotive and carriage builder, founded in Birmingham, England and, for most of its existence, located at nearby Smethwick, with the factory was divided by the boundary between the two places...
in England in 1922. It provided VIPVery Important PersonA Very Important Person, or VIP is a person who is accorded special privileges due to his or her status or importance.Examples include celebrities, heads of state/heads of government, major employers, high rollers, politicians, high-level corporate officers, wealthy individuals, or any other...
transport for, among others, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Queen Elizabeth of Belgium and Sir Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
. - Coach No. 4720 was built in Belgium in about 1893 for Egyptian State Railways. In World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
it was converted into an ambulance coach for the Egyptian Expeditionary ForceEgyptian Expeditionary ForceThe Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. Originally known as the 'Force in Egypt' it had been commanded by General Maxwell who was recalled to England...
's Sinai Military Railway. In the 1956 Israeli invasion of SinaiSuez CrisisThe Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
it was captured and transferred to Israel Railways who used it on breakdown trains. - Hejaz Railway tank locomotiveTank locomotiveA tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon...
No. 10 is the only steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
left in Israel. It is a 0-6-0T shunterSwitcherA switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...
built by KraussKrauss-MaffeiThe Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co KG or simply Krauss-Maffei is an injection molding machine manufacturer and defence company based in Munich, Germany...
in Germany in 1902. - Tender of Palestine Railways P classPalestine Railways P classThe Palestine Railways P class was a type of standard gauge mixed traffic steam locomotive on Palestine Railways and its successor Israel Railways. The PMR introduced the class in 1935 and Israel Railways withdrew the last ones in 1960.-Background:...
locomotive No. 62, built in 1935 by the North British Locomotive CompanyNorth British Locomotive CompanyThe North British Locomotive Company was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp Stewart and Company , Neilson, Reid and Company and Dübs and Company , creating the largest locomotive manufacturing company in Europe.Its main factories were...
in Scotland. The locomotive was one of a class of six 4-6-0 tender locomotives that hauled main line trains between Haifa and Kantara East on the Suez CanalSuez CanalThe Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
via LyddaLodLod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
and El Arish. In 1960 all remaining standard gaugeStandard gaugeThe standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
steam locomotives in Israel were scrapped after they had been replaced by diesel trains. - Steam craneSteam craneA steam crane is a crane powered by a steam engine. It may be fixed or mobile and, if mobile, it may run on rail tracks, caterpillar tracks, road wheels, or be mounted on a barge...
no. C-25-1, built in 1918 by Cowans, Sheldon and Company in England for the Railway Operating DivisionRailway Operating DivisionThe Railway Operating Division was a division of the Royal Engineers formed in 1915 to operate railways in the many theatres of the First World War...
of the Royal EngineersRoyal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
. - Steam crane no. C-30-1, built in 1950 for Egyptian State Railways and captured during the 1956 Israeli invasion of Sinai
- EMD G12EMD G12The EMD G12 was a class of locomotive built by GM-EMD, and its Canadian affiliate General Motors Diesel. In addition, Australian licensee Clyde Engineering built ten locomotives for New Zealand in 1957, five for Hong Kong, 23 for Queensland, 14 for Western Australia and seven for BHP. Australian...
1,425 bhp Bo-BoBo-BoA Bo-Bo or Bo′Bo′ is a locomotive with two independent four-wheeled bogies with all axles powered by individual traction motors...
diesel-electric locomotive no. 107, built in 1954. - EMD G16EMD G16The EMD G16 is a diesel locomotive built by General Motors in the USA and under licence by Clyde Engineering in Australia and MACOSA in Spain. It has been used in Australia, Brazil, Egyptian Railways, Hong Kong, Israel Railways, Spain, Yugoslav Railways and on the successor Croatian Railways,...
1,950 bhp Co-CoCo-CoCo-Co is a code for a locomotive wheel arrangement with two six-wheeled bogies with all axles powered, with a separate motor per axle. Co+Co is the code for a similar wheel arrangement but with an articulated connection between the bogies. The equivalent UIC classification for this arrangement is...
diesel electric no. 163, built for Egyptian Railways in 1961 (ER fleet no. 3361), captured during the 1967 Israeli invasion of SinaiSix-Day WarThe Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
and transferred by Israel Railways to work on freight lines in the NegevNegevThe Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
desert.
Opening hours
The museum is open Sunday to Thursday from 8:30 to 15:30. Payment is by cash or cheque at the door.The museum is at Haifa East railway station but trains do not stop there. However, by prior arrangement with the museum manager, groups of at least 25 people who are visiting the Railway Museum may arrange for an intercity train to stop at Haifa East.