Saxon Railway Museum, Railway museum in Hilbersdorf, Germany.
The Saxon Railway Museum is a railway museum in Hilbersdorf, a district of Chemnitz in Germany, housed in a former locomotive depot. The grounds include a large turntable, maintenance pits, fueling stations, and several halls where steam locomotives of different types are on display.
The depot at Hilbersdorf served goods train locomotives and was one of the last major bases for Class 58 engines, still counting 30 of them in 1967 before Class 50 locomotives displaced them in the 1970s. It maintained steam locomotives until the last were withdrawn in 1988, and the depot itself closed in 1992, when the society took over the listed buildings.
The annual Heizhausfest draws railway fans from across the region to watch working steam locomotives move along the tracks. On that day, the depot comes alive in a way that gives a real sense of how the place once operated day to day.
The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, which gives enough time to walk through the halls, the turntable area, and the workshop spaces at a relaxed pace. Sturdy footwear is a good idea, as the grounds are large and many paths run over uneven surfaces.
The depot was one of the last major bases for DRG Class 58 locomotives, with 30 still on its books in 1967 before Class 50 engines displaced them in the 1970s. Locomotive 38 205, now displayed here, was stationed at Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf as a museum engine from 1979 to 1998 and remains on loan from the Nuremberg Transport Museum.
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