Railway Heritage Centre, Tiruchirappalli

{{Infobox museum

| name = Railway Heritage Centre

| native_name = இரயில்வே பாரம்பரிய மையம்

| native_name_lang = ta

| image =

| caption = A vintage steam locomotive at the entrance of Tiruchirappalli Junction

| alt = A vintage steam locomotive at the entrance of Tiruchirappalli Junction

| map_type =

| map_relief =

| map_size =

| map_caption =

| coordinates = {{coord|10.7967|78.6858|region:IN|display=inline,title}}

| established = {{Start date and age|2014|02|18|df=y}}

| dissolved =

| location = Near Rail Kalyana Mandapam (Community Hall)
Tiruchirappalli Junction,

Tiruchirappalli.
PIN - 620 001

| type = Heritage centre

| accreditation = Ministry of Culture (India)

| key_holdings =

| collections =

| collection_size =

| visitors =

| director = Divisional Railway Manager,
Tiruchirappalli railway division

| president =

| curator =

| owner = Southern Railway zone, Chennai

| publictransit = Central Bus Stand {{rail-interchange|bus}}
Tiruchirappalli Junction {{rail-interchange|rail}}

| car_park = On site

| network =

| website =

}}

The Railway Heritage Centre is a railway museum–cum–heritage centre for rail exhibits at Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India.

Overview

The museum was set up with initial funding of {{INRConvert|1|c}} in order to preserve old artifacts and photographs, rare documents and equipment for posterity. In addition, it also provides interesting historic developments of the South Indian Railway Company and its timeline. In early 2013, the construction of the museum began at an area of {{convert|9500|sqft|m2|lk=in|sigfig=2}},{{cite news|last=R. Rajaram|title=Rail museum to chug down memory lane|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/rail-museum-to-chug-down-memory-lane/article4472176.ece|accessdate=20 February 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=4 March 2013|location=Tiruchi}} adjacent to the Rail Kalyana Mandapam (Community Hall), near Tiruchirappalli Junction,{{Google maps|title = Location of Railway Heritage Centre, Tiruchirappalli|url = https://maps.google.co.in/maps?q=10.796712,78.685857&hl=en&ll=10.79668,78.686464&spn=0.00303,0.004951&num=1&t=h&z=18|accessdate = 20 February 2014}} and was formally inaugurated on 18 February 2014 at a final cost of {{INRConvert|1.5|c}}.{{cite news|title=Tiruchi Rail museum to receive visitors from April|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/tiruchi-rail-museum-to-receive-visitors-from-april/article5705316.ece|accessdate=20 February 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=19 February 2014|location=Tiruchi}}

Exhibits

The museum which is a part of the erstwhile South Indian Railway’s sesquicentennial celebrations, and has both indoor and outdoor exhibits. Some of the indoor exhibits include old documents and digital archives (rare photographs, maps, gazettes, railway manuals and books used during the British Raj) and epoch artifacts (old lamps used at stations made up of "China glass", clocks, bells, staff badges, etc.). The outdoor exhibits include a couple of vintage locomotive engines and a functional toy train.{{cite news|last=Nahla|first=Nainar|title=Keeping track of railway history|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/keeping-track-of-railway-history/article4956280.ece|accessdate=20 February 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|date=26 July 2013|location=Tiruchi}}