In St. Petersburg, the popularity of retrotransport has recently increased: more and more often on the streets you can see trams and cars that our grandparents used to drive. They participate in parades and celebrations. Some vintage trams run in the city every weekend, and anyone can ride them around the city. Those who are especially interested in retro transport, want to learn about the evolution of electric transport in St. Petersburg, or simply broaden their horizons, should visit the St. Petersburg Museum of Urban Electric Transport.
About the museum
The Museum of Urban Electric Transport in St. Petersburg is a division of St. Petersburg State Unitary Enterprise "Gorelectrotrans". Tourists often ignore this museum, but its exposition is a very entertaining sight.
Museum of Electric altransport of St. Petersburg is located on the territory of the Vasileostrovsky tram park - the first in the city. The exposition is located in two of the three buildings of the depot, from which in 1907 the St. Petersburg tram left for the first time. The tram depot was built in 1906-1908. designed by engineers A. Kogan, F. Teichman and L. Gorenberg, and the administrative building was completed in the Art Nouveau style in 1906-1907. and later reconstructed according to the project of A. A. Lamagin.
History
The Museum of Urban Electric Transport was opened in Leningrad in 1967 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the launch of the first tram. At first it had no official status, and the exhibits were photographs. Restoration of equipment sent "to retire" was carried out later.
In the 1980s. Andrey Ananiev, the winner of the All-Russian competition of professional skills of tram drivers, together with his like-minded people, began to actively promote the idea of placing a real museum collection in the depot. By 1982, not only Soviet, but also foreign models of trams began to appear on the territory of the museum. Of course, these were only replicas of foreign cars produced in Russia. For example, one of their brightest representatives today is an old Brush type tram. He went on permanent routes back in 1907, that is, as much as 111 years ago! This model can be seen not only in the museum, but also in several Soviet films.
Old models of trolleybuses appeared in the museum collection in 1999. In the formin which the Museum of Electric Transport now exists, it began to function in 2008. Until that moment, similar museums had already been created in the tram and trolleybus depots, but they did not have an official status.
In 2009, there was a threat of irretrievably losing the tram fleet along with the museum. The land on which it is located was planned to be built up with various commercial facilities. After some time, the dismantling of tram tracks and contact network was even started. Nevertheless, in 2011, thanks to the team of the new governor of St. Petersburg and activists, the historical buildings were defended. November 2, 2014 Vasileostrovsky Park received the status of a cultural heritage site.
Collection
The exhibits of the museum are arranged in accordance with the chronology of the development of electric transport in St. Petersburg. The collection consists of trams and trolleybuses from old to almost modern. The museum has a horse-drawn carriage - the predecessor of ordinary trams familiar to the townspeople. And recently, the first bus appeared in the museum's collection. This is a "festival" bus that in the past carried many Soviet pop stars: Lyudmila Gurchenko, Leonid Kostritsa, Edita Piekha. There are also unique exhibits in the museum, which have been preserved in a single copy. In total, the collection of the Museum of Electric Transport in St. Petersburg includes 22 tram cars, 1 bus and 7 different trolleybuses.
All vehicles are in good working order as they are meticulously cared for and are therefore periodically featured in the filming of historicalfilms, retro exhibitions, urban parades. For example, in the painting "Heart of a Dog" car 1028 appears - just the one that is now in the museum. In addition, the exhibits of the museum were the heroes of the films "Brother", "Lenin in October", "The Master and Margarita" (car MS-1, tail number 2424) and others.
In addition to transport "with history", the museum contains various illustrations, photographs, drawings, brochures, tickets from different years, route maps, cash registers, posters, conductor bags, certificates, uniforms, office phones and composters. There are separate rooms where paintings, mini-models are presented, and various excerpts from films are broadcast, in which the already famous transport was filmed. Antique furniture from 1907 used by the park's first director is on display.
Tours
The Museum of Electric Transport of St. Petersburg is open to visitors from Wednesday to Sunday. On Saturdays and Sundays there are guided tours lasting about 2 hours four times a day. It is recommended to arrive on the tour in advance. If there are more than 8 people in a group, you can ride an old tram through the park for an additional fee.
Excursions are organized in an original way, taking into account the peculiarities of the museum: a group enters a tram or trolleybus and listens to the guide's story, then moves on to the next one. The tours are very fun and educational. From them you can learn a lot of interesting facts: for example, that trams in the city were first launched on the ice of the Neva, about howit’s not easy to work as a conductor of the longest tram in the world, about what the collision of the heaviest tram with a tank led to, that one of the trolleybuses even managed to be a temporary garden, and many other entertaining and funny stories. You can take photos and shoot videos (for free), enter trolleybuses and carriages, sit in passenger seats, and if the cabin is open, you can also inspect it. At the same time, it is allowed to touch everything, press buttons, ring bells, etc. You can’t climb only the stairs leading up to the contact network: the wires are live.
Time for self-examination of the exhibits is not limited. If you enter the salon of each car, it will take at least an hour, although at first the exposition does not seem that big.
June 23, 2018 at 13:00, as part of the "In the Artist's Studio" exhibition at the Museum of Electric Transport, a lesson on multilayer painting will be held for everyone.
From June 1 to July 31, 2018, drawings of children under 12 years old are accepted for the contest "Trams and trolleybuses in the city on the Neva". At the end of summer, the Museum of Electric Transport in St. Petersburg will host an award ceremony and an exhibition of works, the best of which will later decorate the exterior of city trams. The competition is dedicated to the 155th anniversary of the horse tram and the 315th anniversary of the city.
Reviews
The Museum of Urban Electric Transport invariably pleases its visitors. They like that next to each exhibit there isdescription plate. It is also important that you can enter many trams and trolleybuses, touch everything, take pictures, feel like a conductor and a carriage driver. Sometimes the museum even hosts wedding photo shoots. True, according to some visitors, the lighting in the depot is not bright enough to take pictures.
The guests note the excellent preparation of the administration for the Night of Museums. The flow of people is clearly organized, there are enough guides for everyone. By the way, the guides themselves know how to operate the exhibited equipment and know absolutely everything about it. Their stories are interesting even for preschoolers, so those who have been to the museum recommend coming there with children. Also, visitors are advised to dress warmly in the cold season, as the air temperature in the depot is almost the same as outside.
Useful information
Working hours: from Wednesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm, you can enter the museum until 5 pm. The box office is also only open until 5 pm.
Excursion service is provided on Saturday and Sunday 4 times a day: at 10:00, 11:30, 14:00 and 16:00.
The price of a regular entrance ticket is 300 rubles, a reduced ticket is 100 rubles. Guide services are free. Participation in a trip on a retro tram after the tour is paid separately and costs 160 rubles, and for preferential categories of visitors - 100 rubles.
Location
Address of the Museum of Urban Electric Transport: St. Petersburg, Sredny pr. V. O., 77, not far from the station. m. "Vasileostrovskaya". If you walk from the metro, the museum is located right behind the Lukoil gas station. The walk will take a maximum of 15 minutes.
From the metro to the Museum of Electric Transport of St. Petersburg, trams No. 6 and No. 40, as well as bus No. 6. The stop is called the Museum of Urban Surface Transport.
