Spoorwegmuseum De Mijlpaal, Railway museum in Mechelen, Belgium

De Mijlpaal was a railway museum in Mechelen displaying vintage locomotives, historical carriages, and artifacts that traced the development of Belgian rail transport. The collection presented technical objects from different eras showing how rail travel evolved across the country.

The museum occupied a building from 1837, probably the oldest railway building on the European continent. Mechelen was the zero point of the Belgian railway network: the milestone column erected in 1835 marked the start of the first line from Brussels, and distances to new stations were measured in miles from there. The museum closed on 1 October 2011 and its collection moved to Train World in Schaerbeek.

The collection shows models of Mechelen from three different time periods: 1835, 1885, and 1935, documenting how the city changed across these eras. Visitors can observe how the urban layout and infrastructure transformed over a century.

The museum closed on 1 October 2011 and its building on the Centrale Werkplaatsen site in the Arsenaal quarter was slated for demolition, so there is nothing left to visit there. The collection moved to Train World in Schaarbeek, where the locomotives and models are shown. Plan your visit around that museum instead.

A memorial column in front of Mechelen station marked the first railway line between Brussels and Mechelen and served as a measurement point. This column was a symbol of the beginning of the modern railway age in the region.