Metelen Land railway museum, Railway museum in a former station in Metelen, Germany
The Eisenbahnmuseum Metelen Land occupies the 19th-century station building on the Münster–Enschede line, preserved when the station was downgraded to a halt in 1984. Run since 1986 by the Eisenbahn-Interessengemeinschaft Metelen, it displays a uniform and cap collection, the station's fully working mechanical signal box, a ticket printer, a passenger weighing scale with card issue, a model railway layout and level-crossing barriers. A 100-metre demonstration track with a switch carries a self-built hand-lever draisine; the society also owns a saloon coach, workshop wagons, track-building equipment and an industrial diesel locomotive.
The station on the 64 km Münster–Enschede line opened in 1875. When the station was downgraded to a stop in 1984, the 19th-century building was saved from demolition and later placed under monument protection. Since 1986 the Eisenbahn-Interessengemeinschaft Metelen e. V. has run the museum in it, with support from the NRW-Stiftung for the conversion and for bat protection measures.
The museum is run by the Eisenbahn-Interessengemeinschaft Metelen, a volunteer association that has maintained the former station since 1986. Its members built the hand-lever draisine that visitors can ride on the roughly 100-metre demonstration track, and they keep the station's mechanical signal equipment in working order.
The museum occupies the former station building at Metelen Land, now a stop on the Münster–Enschede line served by the Euregio-Bahn (RB 64). The building is a protected monument; the museum is run by the Eisenbahn-Interessengemeinschaft Metelen. The station was downgraded to a halt in 1984, so the museum and the active platform share the site.
A functioning mechanical signal box is still in operation and shows how railway staff once manually controlled switches and signals. On adjacent track sections, visitors can observe historical railway equipment during occasional operations.
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