Innsbruck's last narrow-gauge railway, connecting the Fulpmes and Stubaital stations, was closed in 1983, after 79 years of faithful service to the city.
A group of enthusiasts immediately emerged, determined to fight for the preservation of the old locomotives and railway lines. They managed to achieve the impossible - to create the Tyrolean Railway Museum, although not without the help of influential politicians, including the mayor of Innsbruck.
The museum, which opened in 1985, is based at the old Stubaital station, at the foot of the picturesque Bergisel mountain. The museum staff received a depot, the station building, a network of tracks and, of course, rolling stock in the form of diesel locomotives, steam locomotives and carriages - both passenger and freight. The museum's collection is constantly replenished with new exhibits, which are carefully restored. Almost all of them are operational. As of 2009, the museum had 10 diesel locomotives, 10 passenger and 5 freight carriages, several trams and even one rare snowplow.
For fans of the old railway, special trips are organized along the surviving tracks to stations like Stubaital, which once belonged to the “Lokalban” - a network of Bavarian railways that existed from the 1880s. An excursion on a vintage train, choo-choo-choo, with the Alps, fields, forests, and the delightful landscapes of Tyrol all around - what could be more romantic?
