Historical Museum / Narrow Gauge Railway

The site of the Historical Museum at Elk in the lake district of Masuria in north-west Poland is the former station of the Elk narrow-gauge railway. The 48-km long railway was built between 1912 and 1918 at 750-mm gauge. After destruction by the Soviet army in 1945 it was re-laid at 1000-mm. It began carrying tourists in 1993. The museum preserves examples of railway technology and rolling stock, including carriages for mail, passengers and freight of both narrow gauge and standard gauge. It was founded by the city council and in 2018 moved into the restored station. The special landscape and historical circumstances of Masuria mean that the museum explores questions about the natural environment, the borderlands between nations and the influence of modernisation. It seeks to create dialogue between past and present. It uses oral history recordings, old photographs and documents to consider the railway and the region.