Schauplatz Eisenbahn, Railway museum in Hilbersdorf, Germany
Schauplatz Eisenbahn is a railway museum in Hilbersdorf that houses historic locomotives in two large brick roundhouses, each with a rotating turntable at its center. The site displays steam, diesel, and electric-powered engines alongside preserved rail infrastructure, offering a picture of how trains were operated and maintained over many decades.
The museum was founded in 2020 and uses a former marshalling yard with late 19th-century equipment such as coal bunkers and water cranes still in place. This infrastructure demonstrates how railways operated over a century ago and what facilities were essential to their daily functioning.
The site preserves the craft traditions of coal-fired rail operation, which visitors experience at the Boiler House Festival in August when soot-blackened machines run in motion. People gather here to witness the labor that powered these railways and understand the physical effort behind the rail transport of an earlier era.
The site is best explored on foot, with the roundhouses and outdoor areas easily accessible for walking. Visitors should wear sturdy footwear and prepare for weather, as much of the grounds remain open and exposed.
Visitors can climb into the operator's cab of locomotive 44 1338 and experience the control console from the perspective of a train engineer. This vantage point offers a rare sense of how it felt to operate such a massive machine.
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