Castlerea Railway Museum facts for kids
The Castlerea Railway Museum, once known as Hells Kitchen Railway Museum, is a special private museum. It is located on Main Street in Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland. This museum is all about trains and their history.
Contents
About the Museum
This small museum is run by a railway fan named Sean Browne. He started collecting railway items way back in the 1950s. The museum shows off his amazing collection.
What You Can See
Inside, you can find many interesting things from old railways. These include signals, lamps, and bells. There are also tokens, warning signs, posters, and old train timetables. You can even see station signs from different places.
The Big Train Inside
The main attraction at the museum is a huge train engine. It is a Metropolitan-Vickers A Class locomotive. This type of engine was first used in 1955. It was part of a big plan to change Irish railways from steam trains to diesel trains. This change finished by April 1963. Sean Browne bought this engine in 1994.
He bought diesel locomotive number 055, which was also called A55. This engine is very big. It is about 15.5 meters (51 feet) long and 4.25 meters (14 feet) high. It weighs 61 tonnes! Getting this giant engine into the building was a huge job. It needed a lot of rebuilding work.
The engine would have cost about £100,000 when it was new. Sean Browne bought it for only £1,600. This was its scrap value. On July 7, 1998, the engine made its last trip. It traveled from Dublin to Castlerea. Then, it was carefully placed inside the Hell's Kitchen bar. At that time, it was the only pub in Ireland with a full-sized train inside!
A Piece of History
Another interesting item in the museum is a special "junction staff." This was used on the railway line from Ballaghaderreen to Kilfree Junction. This was the very last track where steam trains were used. That line closed down in 1963.
What Happened Next?
By 2012, the pub and bar where the museum is located were reported to be closed.
