The Railway Museum in Nairobi has been renovated recently and it is much better than before. It's a little bit shabby around the edges, but provides a very good overview of Kenya's railway history. I recommend this for all tourists and Kenyans alike. Go in the early morning or late afternoon to avoid the heat and downtown traffic.
If one were a real trains buff, perhaps this "museum" would have been more interesting than it was to me. Other than a large and unorganized room full of materials and photographs, the museum consists of a number of train cars and engines sitting outside in the weather, slowly -- perhaps not so slowly --rusting away. Other than what one can deduce from reading the "signs" on the equipment itself (such as "manufactured in 19 __ at ___), there was no museum signage to assist in understanding where and when the equipment was used. Not recommended.
I am not in to railways particularly but this place intrigued me so I took a taxi there with my 4 year old daughter. We were almost alone at the museum. There is a guided tour around the museum but I declined as my daughters attention span wouldnt permit it.Instead I had a quick whizz around this bit and then went to where all the trains were parked up. They were incredible,where in the uk could you climb over these sleeping giants,stand on the footplate and play with the controls without the health and safety nazis spoiling the fun ? Although they are slowly decaying they still hold your interest and to my daughter this was a wonderful adventure park. Its well worth a visit,bring water and some food,as there is none available and have a pic-nic in the shadow of the carriage that the man-eating Tsavo lions dragged a victim from in the peace and quiet of this gem of a museum.
There are a lot of interesting 1 meter gauge locomotives here. Well worth an hour or two.They have the engine from Out of Africa!
The railway museum is fabulous, a little but tatty but so evocative of the colonial past when railways dominated East Africa. Lots of memorabilia like the original dining services for EAR in the museum itself plus the historic trains on the tracks outside. Don't be put off by the downtown location, it is easy to access and there is safe parking. But don't enter through the taxi park at the railway station, drive a bit further down Haile Selassie Ave and take the first turn left at the Post Office
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