The Railway Museum of Athens, Greece, was founded by the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) in 1978. It is currently located at 4 Siokou Street, next to the mainline from Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 to Inoi. The museum has a collection of items related to the history of rail transport

Rail transport

Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

 in Greece, many of them exhibited in its five rooms. The museum is open daily from 09:00 to 13:00 except Mondays, and is also open on Wednesday evenings from 17:00 to 20:00. Admission is free. Photography in the museum is prohibited.

Notable exhibits

The museum has very limited space. The rolling stock collection is exhibited in Hall B and consists mainly of metre gauge

Metre gauge

Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...

 vehicles. Exhibited rolling stock includes the following:

Hall B

• Krauss 0-4-0T metre gauge steam locomotive 4, Tiryns (1884).
• Couillet 0-6-0T metre gauge steam locomotive A-5, Messolongion, of the former Northestern Greece Railways (1888).
• Couillet 2-6-0T metre gauge steam locomotive Γ-211 (1890).
• 2-6-0 metre gauge locomotive Z-7505 of SPAP, Societé Alscacienne de Constructions Mechaniques Grafenstaden (1890).
• Cail 0-6-2RT steam locomotive no 4 of Diakofto Kalavrita Railway
  Diakofto Kalavrita Railway
  The Diakofto–Kalavryta Railway is a historic gauge rack railway in Greece. Located on the northern Peloponnese, it runs 22 km from Diakofto through the Vouraikos Gorge and the old Mega Spilaion Monastery and up to Kalavryta, stopping en route at Zachlorou.The line was built by the Piraeus,...
  
   (1899) with ΔΚ-111 3rd class passenger coach.
• Β 151 2-4-0 metre gauge steam locomotive made by Henschel & Sohn, Cassel, S/N 11135 (1912).
• Εα 204 Batignolles 2-6-0T standard gauge
  Standard gauge
  The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
  
   steam locomotive (1903), converted to a snowplough
  Snowplow
  A snowplow is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes...
  
  .
• Royal saloon (standard gauge) of Athens-Piraeus Railway. Built at Piraeus Works of Athens & Piraeus Railway (predecessor of EIS and ISAP
  ISAP
  I.S.A.P. is the acronym for the Athens-Piraeus Electric Railways , the oldest urban rapid transit system of Athens metropolitan area in Greece. It is the second-oldest underground metro system in the world, after the Metropolitan Railway, of 1863, now a part of the London Underground...
  
  ) as a gift to King George I for the 25 anniversary of his reign. It was first exhibited at the Olympia International Exhibition of Athens (1888).
• Open coach (standard gauge), a present of Oriental Railways to Sultan Abdul Aziz of the Ottoman Empire.
• MAN/EIS standard gauge tram vehicle 63 of the former Piraeus Harbour Tram (1935) of Hellenic Electric Railways S.A. (EIS).

Sidewalk

Three industrial locomotives from Eretria Chrome Mines:

• An 0-2-0T industrial steam locomotive made by Jung (1927).
• An 0-2-0T industrial steam locomotive made by Orenstein & Koppel (1904).
• An industrial diesel locomotive made by Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG (1957).

Backyard

In poor condition, the following EIS/ISAP

ISAP

I.S.A.P. is the acronym for the Athens-Piraeus Electric Railways , the oldest urban rapid transit system of Athens metropolitan area in Greece. It is the second-oldest underground metro system in the world, after the Metropolitan Railway, of 1863, now a part of the London Underground...

 rolling stock is in oper air storage awaiting renovation:

• Tram car EIS 54 of Piraeus Harbour tram.
• EIS 59 overhead line maintenance vehicle of Piraeus Harbour Tram.
• EIS 31 Goossens steeple-cab electric locomotive.
• EIS 501A trailer for first generation EMU
  Electric multiple unit
  An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
  
  .
• An electric railcar of Piraeus-Perama light railway.

External links

• Museum web page