- Address: City Square, Off Haile Sellasie Avenue, Nairobi, Kenya
- Phone: + 254 20-2221211
- Official site: nrm.co.ke
- Foundation: 1971
- Founder: Fred Jordan
- Working hours: 8.15 - 16.45
- Cost of visiting: adult - 200 KES, children - 100 KES
Kenya - is not only an exciting safari and familiarity with the unusual for us the way of life of Africans. Traveling around this country can become much more interesting if you go a little deeper into its history and visit national museums . For example, one of such places is the Railway Museum in Nairobi . Let's find out what it's interesting.
History of the museum
Even under Queen Victoria, the first African railway was built. Then the locomotives plied along it, and the queen personally arrived at the launch of the first voyage.
In 1971, Fred Jordan had the idea of creating the Railway Museum, which was opened in Nairobi . Its founder, who was also the first curator of the museum, worked on the East African railways since 1927, and since that time has collected a lot of information and interesting artifacts. All of them tell about the history of construction and operation of the railway connecting Kenya with Uganda. Today anyone can see the exposition of the museum.
Interesting exhibits of the museum
Among the most noteworthy specimens of the colonial era are the following:
- The first locomotives and wagons of British manufacture, at one time wandered along the railways of Africa;
- motorized inspection bicycle, which also had to walk by rail, but in the 50s of the last century did not pass the test, as its wheels slid off the rails;
- an armchair that was installed on a locomotive blaster and was intended for "first persons" (Winston Churchill, T. Roosevelt) so that they could admire the savannah along the way of the train;
- the famous car of Charles Raiall, in which, in 1898, he ambushed in Tsavo for bloodthirsty lions, cannibals, but fell asleep and himself became their victim;
- a miniature copy of the railway.
An interesting entertainment is a sightseeing trip, which a group of tourists can make on one of the three historic locomotives of the museum. This is possible due to the fact that the rails of the museum are connected to the rails of the Nairobi railway station. By the way, there is also a library at the museum, where you can study old documents and photographs devoted to the railway business.
How do I get to the Nairobi Railway Museum?
In Kenya , road transport is common - taxis and buses. Calling a taxi (preferably by phone from the hotel ), you can easily reach the museum from anywhere in the city. The only important point here is that the amount of payment is desirable to negotiate with the driver in advance, so that later there is no misunderstanding and problems.
As for public transport , buses and matata (fixed-route taxis) run to Nairobi. Go to Sellasie Avenue, where the Railway Museum is located, on one of the city's routes.
The Museum, dedicated to the railways of Africa, is open to visitors daily from 8:15 am to 4:45 pm. The entrance is paid, for adults it is 200 Kenyan shillings, and for children and students - twice cheaper.
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