The practice of adapting a post-industrial facility into a museum of technology

Paweł Mierosławski

doi:10.37190/arc230306

Abstract

The subject of the article is the adaptation of the historic Steam Locomotive Works in Skierniewice for the purposes of a “living” technical museum. The author, using his own thirty years of experience, presented the problem of reconciling the possibility of showing the old technologies of railroad work with the introduction of new functions to historic buildings. The article describes reaching a compromise between the need to preserve historic equipment and infrastructure, as well as the visual qualities of individual objects, with the requirements of current regulations and the desire to show the gathered collection in a way that is interesting and safe for visitors. The example presented in the paper concerns the territorially and cubically largest complex of historic railroad buildings in Poland, where the scale of adaptation works is the largest. The complex is also the oldest surviving relic of the technical facilities of the first Polish railroad line – the Warsaw–Vienna Iron Road. It was built in 1845 and went through several phases of expansion. At present, it preserves buildings from 1859–1943 and technical structures related to the operation of steam locomotives. In 1992, with the end of operation by the railway, the complex was loaned, and in 2002 it was transferred to a non-governmental organization for museum purposes. It is listed in the register of historical monuments under No. 964A. The Skierniewice Locomotive Deport is an example of the success of many years of renovation and adaptation work conducted by an investor that is a non-governmental organization with a modest budget and bases its activities solely on the unpaid work of volunteers.

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Paweł Mierosławski*

The practice of adapting a post-industrial facility

into a museum of technology

Introduction

Railroad engineering is a branch of technology that

has one of the best track records in cultural heritage pres-

ervation. This is particularly evident in Poland, which is

because most of the country’s locomotive types have been

preserved, as well as many copies of wagons and back-of-

house equipment. At the same time, not a single pre-war

copy of a ship used on the Vistula river remains complete,

despite the fact that they were still in use in the 1980s

The same happened to pre-war Polish agship aircraft de-

signs, of which only one exists today

In Europe, railroad antiquities began to nd their way

into museum institutions as early as three decades after

the rst lines opened. London’s Science Museum in the

1860s displayed a collection of some of England’s old-

est locomotives [1]. The rst European railroad museums

opened in the 2

half of the last decade of the 19

centu-

ry in Norway’s Hamar (1896) (initially very modest, ex-

panded in 1930) [2] and in Bavaria’s Nuremberg (1899)

– as the Royal Bavarian Railway Museum, being an ex-

tension of the Munich Railway Museum, which had been

in operation since 1882 [3].

In Poland, the Railway Museum was established in

1928 [4] in a haphazard manner to store exhibits from the

1927 exhibition in Lviv (and later exhibitions in Poznan in

1929 and 1930) [5]. Occupying oce space (a wing of the

former Warsaw Central Station in Marszałkowska Street,

and after its demolition in 1931, in the building that still

exists today at 1 Nowy Zjazd Street) [5], it did not include

* ORCID: 0009-0003-2438-2154. Warsaw, Poland, e-mail: tp4@

poczta.onet.pl

The author had the opportunity in 1984 to visit the complete Vis-

tula steamer “Bałtyk” standing in Rynia.

PZL P11 at the Aviation Museum in Krakow.

the protection of rolling stock and railroad equipment un-

til the outbreak of World War II. Protection of this part

of the heritage dates only from the 1

half of the 1960s,

when the General Directorate of State Railways issued an

order to store the last copies of the erased series of steam

locomotives. The exhibition of the preserved vehicles

dates back to 1973, i.e. to the establishment of the Rail-

way Museum (now as “Stacja Muzeum”) on the premises

of the Warszawa Główna Station at 1 Towarowa Street.

Until the 1970s the opening of museums, both in Po-

land and in Europe, did not translate into the preservation

(with the exception of station buildings) of monuments of

railroad architecture, especially the technical background

of railroads. Only extensive modernization, combined

with the closure of sections of lines deemed unprotable

and the decommissioning of elements of the old infra-

structure, developed such a need.

The rst facilities for which the need for systematic

protection was noted (in the UK) were signal box build-

ings (housing signal and turnout control equipment) and

steam locomotives. In both cases, these facilities were be-

ing decommissioned due to technological advances – the

move away from the old ways of controlling trac and the

decommissioning of steam traction [6].

This article is a description of the adaptation of the for-

mer steam locomotive depot complex for museum purpos-

es. The author, using his own thirty years of experience

(between 1991 and 2022), wishes to familiarize the reader

with the problem of reconciling the possibility of showing

old technologies with the introduction of new functions

to historic buildings. Publications about Polish (and not

only) railway museums are usually guides or promotional

materials describing their collections. Researchers of is-

sues related to railway museology focus on presenting the

history of the creation of individual institutions, without

delving into the issue of arranging exhibitions or changing

DOI: 10.37190/arc230306

Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license

62 Paweł Mierosławski

the purpose of museum buildings [7]. This is probably

due to the fact that the example of adaptation described

by the author relates to the territorially and volumetrically

largest complex of historic railroad buildings in Poland,

where the scale of adaptation work is the largest

Protection of railroad monuments in Poland

until 1990

In Poland, until the late 1980s, the protection of historic

buildings associated with railroads was occasional. The

need for their wider protection emerged as a derivative

of the economic crisis at the end of the existence of the

Polish People’s Republic. The suspension of trac on

a number of lines and the end of steam traction, which

was extended during the communist period, caused the

railroads to abandon many historic buildings [8].

The Railway Museum expressed no interest in pre-

serving or owning historical buildings, treating as worth

preserving basically only the rolling stock. This resulted,

in addition to the lack of development of the museum, in

the inability to properly maintain the movable exhibits in

its possession, if only due to the lack of canopies and the

most modest technical facilities.

As opposed to a professional museum, the then Polskie

Ko leje Państwowe (Polish State Railways; PKP) autho -

rities recognized the emerging interest in railroad heritage

among domestic and foreign enthusiasts. The important

role of monuments in creating a positive image of railroads

was demonstrated by the celebrations of the 150

anni-

versaries of the opening of railroads in Western European

countries (starting with the rst chronological celebrations

in Germany in 1985). PKP was stimulated by the invitation

of a Polish representation to the celebration of the 150

anniversary of Dutch railroads in Utrecht. The passage of

an active Polish steam locomotive through Germany and

the Netherlands aroused great interest, which changed

the approach of PKP authorities to the monuments they

owned. The Committee for the celebration of the 150

an-

niversary of railroads in the Po lish lands, established by

the General Directorate of the PKP at that time, in addition

to preparing their concept, was given the task of creating

“open-air” railroad museums within PKP structures in

1988 [10]. The Committee proposed organizing outposts

in selected locomotive depots that were scheduled for liq-

uidation. They were to have infrastructure that could be

adapted for exhibition purposes. It was expected to pro-

vide conditions for storing rolling stock collections and

carrying out their conservation in the preserved technical

facilities. Also important were the architectural and his-

torical qualities of the facility, as well as its location in

a region attractive to tourists. As a result of the analyses,

it was envisaged that museum facilities would be set up

In the course of adapting the facilities in Skierniewice for exhi-

bition purposes, it was necessary to rely on the technical experience of

railway schools (Łódź, Warsaw) or former PKP course training centres

(Gdańsk), which in the past organized and had well-equipped vocational

workshops. The model was also based on archival studies on the prepara-

tion of facilities for the practical education of railway employees, e.g. [9].

within the structures of PKP on the grounds of steam lo-

comotive depots in Wolsztyn, Jaworzyna Śląska, Kłodzko

and Ełk. This concept was only partially implemented.

In the early 1990s, there was also a demand for broad-

er protection of the decommissioned narrow-gauge rail-

road networks, operating within the structures of PKP, the

State Forestry, mining and sugar ministries. So far, only

part of two narrow-gauge railroad systems have been used

for tourist and museum purposes, in Żnin on 600 mm

track and in Sochaczew on 750 mm track.

At the same time, there was an increase in civic acti-

vity, thanks to the simplication of non-governmental or-

ganization (NGO) registration procedures. They began to

exert pressure on state owners of monuments and conser-

vation services.

Directions for the protection

of railroad monuments in Poland

The emerging in 1990–1995 concepts of monument

preservation by the state-owned enterprises that were us-

ing them yielded only partial results. In fact, these mea-

sures only postponed the denitive withdrawal of the

“state” from maintaining museum exhibitions and their

use in promoting railroads for about a decade. In the mid-

dle of the 1

decade of the 2000s, the Railway Museum,

which remained within the structures of PKP, as well as

the so-called open-air museums

in Wolsztyn, Jaworzy-

na Śląska and Kościerzyna, were nally handed over to

various local government units. Local governments estab-

lished business ventures of their own (e.g., Stacja Muze-

um) [11] or leased them to other entities (e.g., a private

Museum of Industry and Railways in Silesia was estab-

lished in Jaworzyna Śląska [7]). Narrow-gauge railroad

lines were handed over by PKP to the local authorities

(county oces, local government authorities), which most

often lend rolling stock and equipment to operators who

are foundations or associations [12].

In the early 1990s, a number of independent private or

community initiatives [13] emerged to organize railroad

museum facilities, both on narrow-gauge railroads and fa-

cilities on normal track.

It can be hypothesized that national initiatives varied

in the scope of preservation depending on the width of

the track. “Narrow gauge” projects were always aimed at

preserving a given line or network as an aggregate con-

sisting of tracks, buildings and rolling stock. Hence, the

so-called “spatial transportation system” was identied as

the object of protection

. The idea was to leave the nar-

row-gauge line with its equipment and rolling stock as

a complete relic of former transportation technology. Very

The phrase “open-air museum” is used in the text in the colloquial

form that has been adopted for years in the circles of railroad historians and

enthusiasts. It does not dene the type of exhibition activity carried out,

in particular, it loosely refers to the denition of an open-air museum, etc.

Such a dened object of conservation protection was indicated,

among others, by the author in applications submitted in 1989–1995 by

the Polskie Stowarzyszenie Miłośników Kolei (Polish Association of

Railway Enthusiasts; PSMK).

The practice of adapting a post-industrial facility into a museum of technology 63

often, therefore, objects that would not meet any of the

criteria for legal protection on their own were recognized

as components of a monument

In the case of initiatives on the normal track, the pri-

mary goal was initially to preserve historic rolling stock,

in principle mobile and therefore one that can be stationed

anywhere. The preservation of back-of-house facilities was

treated as a secondary objective, enabling the storage and

preservation of mobile monuments. It was believed that

the elements of former railroad buildings, technologically

related to the collection on display, could only be a back-

ground for the “proper” exhibits. Hence, the choice of lo-

cations for some of the current exhibits was not justied by

their architectural or historical value

. Only as moderniza-

tion and decommissioning of historic buildings progressed

did the need for their protection begin to be recognized.

Initiatives to reactivate narrow-gauge railroads are

mostly still in operation today. Unfortunately, due to costs,

trac is largely carried out only on selected sections of the

various networks of these railroads. Normal track ventures

have to some extent ended in collapse

or half-success

Successful and sustained development of the historic pres-

ervation project has occurred in only one case. This project,

initiated in 1991, included the protection from liquidation,

the takeover from PKP and the successive adaptation for

exhibition purposes of the former Lokomotywownia Skier-

niewice (Skierniewice Steam Locomotive Depot) complex.

History of the Skierniewice Steam Locomotive

depot complex

The steam locomotive depot (later Locomotive Depot)

in Skierniewice is the oldest of the surviving

, one of the

original ve [14], architectural layouts of the technical

facilities of the Droga Żelazna Warszawsko-Wiedeńska

As an example, the Bieszczady Forest Railway, included in the

preserved in its condition from the period of expansion in 1958–1962,

where the only buildings from before this reconstruction are the only

two buildings in the Majdan-Cisna station area. One of these buildings

is a style-less wooden station building, the other is a wooden warehouse

built according to the standardized design of the Imperial Austrian rail-

road. Even the course of the railroad line coincides with the historical

route of 1895 only at the section from Wola Michowa to Cisna, i.e. on

about 30% of the total line.

An example of a location where the architectural criterion was not

taken into account may be the facility in Chabówka, and an example of

the absence of both criteria is the display in Zduńska Wola–Karsznice or-

ganized at free sections of track on the site of an active locomotive depot.

Sometimes this collapse took place in an atmosphere of scandal

created after the sale or scrapping of exhibits acquired for museum pur-

poses (Krzeszowice, Piotrków Trybunalski, Warsaw).

In one of the projects (Pyskowice), despite considerable ad-

vancement, the steam locomotive depot complex has not been handed

over to a new user, and its basic facilities (the main hall, oce and dis-

patch buildings), despite being under conservation protection, suered

a construction disaster or total devastation, the scale of which does not

promise the possibility of adaptation under the nancing conditions of

national social organizations. The second project (Jarocin) is limited by

the lack of regulation of the status of the property.

Before that, there was only a steam locomotive depot in Warsaw,

existing on land now occupied by Warsaw’s Central Station and a com-

plex of PKP residential buildings in Żelazna Street.

(Warsaw–Vienna Railway; DŻWW), the rst railroad line

in the Kingdom of Poland

This complex, along with the original station buildings,

was sited adjacent to the river and the northern part of

the park near the former palace of the bishops of Łowicz

(then in the possession of the Russian state treasury) [15].

The idea was to conveniently connect the facilities used

by the imperial house by modern means of transport [16].

Proximity to the river guaranteed the supply of water con-

sumed by the locomotives. The steam locomotive depot

was laid out in 1845 in accordance with the rules of the

time

– opposite the original

station building

– and

the necessary buildings were probably erected the fol-

lowing year. These buildings survived until the end of the

1850s. The oldest buildings that still exist today date back

to the period of expansion of the DŻWW related to the

increase in transportation and the extension of the existing

Skierniewice–Łowicz branch to the then northern border

of the Russian Empire in Aleksandrów Kujawski.

In 1858, a water tower, still standing today, was erected

[17]. In 1862, the rst [18] eight-station part of the ex-

isting parking hall (in the shape of a fan) and a turntable

for steam locomotives (on the site of the current one

)

were built. At the same time, a separate workshop build-

ing was erected and the rectangular parking hall, dating

from 1846, was adapted into an oce and accommoda-

tion building. The new fan-shaped parking hall obtained

its present-day dimensions by 1878 [19].

The steam locomotive depot complex was severely dam-

aged in October 1914 during the retreat of Russian and later

German troops. The fan hall and the turntable

[20], [21]

were demolished, while only minor damage

was done

to the workshop and oce buildings, as well as the pump

house and the former water tower. The hall was provision-

ally rebuilt during the Prussian occupation, in 1917–1918

The Warsaw–Vienna Iron Road was opened to trac on the

War saw–Grodzisk section on June 15, 1845. However, it is not the

oldest railroad in the current Polish lands – the oldest being the Upper

Silesian Railway (Oberschleschische Eisenbahn), which opened on the

Wrocław–Oława section on May 14, 1842.

In the 1

half of the 19

century, this was due to the desire to

shorten the length of tracks and water pipes within the station.

The building in question is the original one, designed in 1846 in

the “Moorish” style by Adam Idźkowski (1798–1879), which was de-

stroyed in 1945. The current one, reminiscent of English Gothic, was

erected about 300 m closer to Warsaw in 1873, designed by Jan Kacper

Heurich (1834–1887).

Similar steps were taken in the construction of stations in, for

example, Piotrków Trybunalski, Częstochowa or Jaworzyna Śląska (this

applies chronologically to the rst and second steam locomotive depots,

the current one is the third facility of this type).

The axis of rotation of the turntable bridge determines the geo-

metric centre of the circle of the fan-shaped parking hall and the geo-

metric point of contact of the axis of the access tracks, hence once estab-

lished the axis must remain constant.

Photos of the destruction were published by “Tygodnik Ilus-

trowany” in issues 47/1914 and 52/1914; they are also depicted in the

postcard “Skierniewice Lokomotivschuppen” issued by A.J. Ostrowski

in Łódź, probably in 1915.

According to period photos, scans in the author’s collection.

A report on the activities of the Directorate of State Railways

in Warsaw 1918–1928 on pages 63 and 64 attributed the rebuilding of

the facility to the Polish railroad authorities [22]. Meanwhile, in the au-

64 Paweł Mierosławski

In this condition the steam locomotive depot operated

until 1939

. During the war, the German occupation au-

thorities embarked on a two-stage modernization of the

complex.

The rst stage of it, implemented since early spring 1940

consisted in adapting the Skierniewice complex to the in-

creased trac of steam suburban trains after the destruction

of the electric traction on the Warsaw–Żyrardów section

The oce, accommodation and workshop build ing was de-

molished, and a new one was erected – an oce, sta and

storage building. The track layout was changed, enlarging

the coal entanglements (“zasieki węglo we”)

and expand-

ing the facilities for loading coal onto steam locomotives.

In the second stage, in 1942–1943 (when Skierniewice

became one of two steam locomotive depots serving freight

trac from the direction of Zagłębie

), the repair capac-

ity was expanded. A machining hall and a workshop and

sta building were erected. The fan hall was also expand-

ed to extend the tracks of the parking stands. However,

elements of the makeshift reconstruction of 1918 were left

thor’s collection there is a photo of a group of Prussian railwaymen posing

in front of the already rebuilt steam locomotive depot hall, dated April 1918.

The freeze on modernization of the complex during the Second

Polish Republic was due to the loss of traction signicance of the Skier-

niewice steam locomotive depot in the late 1920s. In April 1939, there

were already only 16 locomotives stationed in Skierniewice (that is, sev-

en fewer than the number of positions in the depot) serving only local

trac [16, p. 314].

The author established this period on the basis of a mason’s sig-

nature with the date 16.04.1940, made on the masonry joint of the foun-

dation of the well of one of the water cranes.

Although electric train trac was opened on 1.06.1940, at the turn

of 1939/1940, i.e. at the time of the decision to expand the Skierniewice

complex, the German authorities were against the reconstruction of the

electric traction (copies of correspondence in the author’s collection).

This is the name used by PKP for coal depots in steam loco-

motives, to distinguish it from the depots used as commercial yards in

expedition and freight storage areas.

As of 30.03.1943, 57 locomotives were stationed in Skier-

niewice, 41 more than before the outbreak of war [16, p. 329].

in it, a wooden wall with entry gates and a wooden, even

unfounded

roof support structure.

The condition after this expansion lasted until 1963–

1964, when the hall was reconstructed. Only then, i.e. after

45 years (!), were its wooden makeshift structures removed.

The hall gained a steel roof structure with a high skylight,

supported by prefabricated reinforced concrete columns.

In 1985–1988, a (now defunct) container oce build-

ing and garages were erected on the site.

PKP operated the complex in a gradually limited ca-

pacity until mid-1992, after which they decided to aban-

don it. In December 1992, the authorities of the then

Warsaw Central Railway Department suggested that the

current owner take it over for museum purposes.

PKP lent the complex without delay, however, the

transfer of ownership of the main part of the complex

took place in 2002, and the rest of it in 2018.

Preserved buildings and structures

The Skierniewice steam locomotive depot is located

on today’s western end of the station plain, bounded by

the scarp of the Łupia River and Bielańska and Łowicka

Streets, on the opposite side of the railroad line to the sta-

tion (Fig. 1). It is an architectural premise typical of the

half of the 19

century [23] designed to service steam

locomotives, with a central element in the form of a spa-

cious stabling and repair roundhouse hall in the shape of

a fan

with a turntable

[24] located on the axis. The

The columns and braces of the substructure rested on founda-

tions (presumably anchored) lying on the oor of the hall – this can be

seen in photographic documentation from the modernization period in

1963 (in the author’s collection).

In the 19

century, other hall layouts were also used – circular

with a turntable in the building (e.g. Warszawa Praga), rectangular or

composed of several fans (e.g. Katowice, Nysa).

A turntable is a rotating bridge used either to put steam locomo-

tives on the hall tracks or to change their direction of travel. The Skier-

niewice turntable is one of the two existing cases of a sectoral turntable

Fig. 1. Plan of the locomotive shed in Skierniewice

(source: property owner, cooperation by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 1. Plan parowozowni w Skierniewicach

(źródło: materiały właściciela obiektu, współopracował P. Mierosławski)

The practice of adapting a post-industrial facility into a museum of technology 65

hall’s original (1878) dimensions include 24 stalls

, with

one of them converted to oce and storage space around

1890 (Fig. 2).

Adjacent to the hall is a rectangular machining sec-

tion with a two-story workshop and sta building. It was

erected in 1942–1943.

The complex also includes free-standing buildings

– a two-story oce and lodging building and a one-sto-

ry oce and storage building, erected between 1940 and

1941, a water tower dating from 1858

expanded around

1884 and adapted around 1900 for social facilities, and

a steam pumping station from 1880 with a surface water

intake from the Skierniewka River.

In addition to the buildings, the complete technical in-

frastructure needed to operate and maintain steam trac-

tion locomotives has been preserved. It includes a 23 m

diameter turntable (1949 type design), water cranes with

a capacity of 5 m³/min (1922–1940), coal shaft lifts of the

Teudtlo system (1939–1941), and a trail crane (1940).

The structures (except for the coal lifts) were maintained

in working condition.

The total area of the complex of locomotive depot build-

ings is 3.77 hectares, and the total length of the railroad

track is 3.2 km. The entire complex, i.e. the site, buildings

and structures, is listed in the register of monuments of

in Poland, with an incomplete angle of rotation. More extensively in:

[24, pp. 401–432].

At the time, it was one of the largest roundhouse halls in the

Russian Empire.

The design of the tower may have come from the atelier of Hen-

ryk Marconi – builder of many waterworks in the Kingdom, including

the rst Warsaw waterworks, completed in 1855–1856.

the former Skierniewice province (No. 964A). Boundaries

of conservation protection coincide with the outline of the

fence, i.e. with the boundaries of two plots

Architectural qualities of the complex

The area of the complex ts into the triangle of neigh-

bouring Skierniewice monuments, which also includes

the park and palace layout of the bishops of Łowicz and

the Sobediana garden with a palace designed by the cre-

ator of the original station, Adam Idźkowski. The com-

plex is part of a collection of former Viennese Railway

buildings preserved in Skierniewice: the station (1873),

a residential building with utility facilities (1875), the

“SkB” signal box (circa 1905), and is the point of several

specially marked tourist routes, such as the urban route of

“Viennese” objects and the railroad/car route “Szlakiem

Kolei Wiedeńskiej” (“Along the Vienna Railway”), “In-

dustrial Mazowsze”.

The complex includes buildings from dierent eras of

the development of industrial architecture. The oldest of

them – the former water tower – refers in its style to the

farm and residential buildings of the nearby palace settle-

ment (Fig. 3). Technical buildings

(hall, pumping station

Plot 2/2 and 2/6 of precinct 9 of the city of Skierniewice.

Demolished in 1940, the oce and lodging building, erected in

1860–1865, was the only one to receive plastered elevations, which was

probably due to the fact that it was created from the reconstruction of

an earlier building of a completely dierent nature, and an aesthetically

pleasing brick elevation would have been impossible in such a case. The

building can be seen on postcards (in the background) from around 1910

depicting the Skierniewice train station.

Fig. 2. View of the roundhouse (photo by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 2. Widok hali wachlarzowej (fot. P. Mierosławski)

66 Paweł Mierosławski

1943 (Fig. 6) is almost identical (although having a “mirror

image” of the layout of the rooms) to the locomotive depot

building in Sędziszów, which performs similar functions.

The buildings constructed in Skierniewice, like other

Eastern Railway project developments

, were undoubtedly

to receive (which did not happen) plastered façades (Fig. 7).

The buildings were constructed (at least in part) with

materials ordered centrally in Germany. Roong was

made of high-quality ceramic plain tiles, from G. Sturm

of Freiwaldau

and Kodersdorfer Werke AG

, imported

from hundreds of kilometres away. One of the buildings

was covered with a perishable concrete plain tile, now be-

ing replaced entirely with ceramic.

The buildings use burnt brick in the load-bearing and

curtain walls, and lime-cement only in the partitions.

The surviving design documentation for buildings

from the 1940–1941 period bears the stamps of Warsaw

companies – Przedsiębiorstwo Inżynieryjno-Budowlane

inż. Ryszard Łapiński and Biuro Budowlane inż. Wacław

porated into the Reich, in a residential building for railroad workers in

Kutno.

The buildings of the Eastern Railway, despite many similarities

with the buildings of the German Reichsbahn (DR) Railway operating,

for example, in the areas of Poland annexed to the Reich, did not receive

the “fashionable” on the territory of the DR façades of clinker bricks,

having in each layer a distinctive layout: head-over-truck-over-truck.

Now Gozdnica, located on the Lusatian Neisse River.

Kodersdorf in the Upper Lusatia region of Germany (Saxony).

with chimney) built in the following decades of the 19

century were erected with sparingly decorated (pilasters,

protruding lintels, cornices) façades made of facing brick,

according to the solutions proposed

by VDEV

[25].

On the other hand, the buildings from 1940–1943 were

built on the basis of typical designs, developed as part of

the expansion of the “Eastern Railway” (Ostbahn) operat-

ing in the General Government

[26]. Two stages of the

construction of these buildings are evident, diering in

the shape of the roof, the dimensions of the window open-

ings and the form of the woodwork. The two buildings

constructed in 1940–1941 – an oce and social building

(Fig. 4) and a storage building (Fig. 5) – have their coun-

terparts on the premises of the locomotive depot in So-

chaczew

, and the workshop and social building erected in

It is worth noting that the ornamentation of the brick façades of

buildings on the Warsaw–Vienna Railway (almost identical to the designs of

the Prussian railroads), diers from the ornamentation of the brick façades

of buildings constructed on the railroads owned by the Russian Treasury.

VDEV (Verein deutscher Eisenbahnverwaltungen) – the Asso-

ciation of German Railway Administrations, an organization founded in

1847, bringing together dozens of railroad administrations from areas

including Germany, Austria and Hungary to disseminate technical stan-

dards. The Warsaw–Vienna Iron Road was a member of VDEV, thus

beneting from Western European technical documentation. For more

on VDEV, see: [25, p. 93].

For more on this type of building, e.g.: [26, p. 281].

The same form of windows, probably industrially made, and

a similar building block were also used, for example, in the area incor-

Fig. 3. Former water tower (photo by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 3. Dawna wieża wodna (fot. P. Mierosławski)

The practice of adapting a post-industrial facility into a museum of technology 67

König. Both of these companies operated in Warsaw in

the pre- [27] and post-war [28] periods, which may sug-

gest that the Germans entrusted the adaptation of designs

or the execution to Polish private companies.

The concept of a steam locomotive depot

as a living museum

In a technical museum, the undeniable educational value

is the presentation of working exhibits. Thus, the concept

of a “living” museum is most appropriate in this case [29].

Technical relics should be exhibited

with the presenta-

tion of their working technology and original purpose. At

the same time, this ensures that the exhibits are maintained

in a condition close to that of normal operation.

The concept of a living museum in the case of build-

ings

and structures related to technology also has many

advantages, the most important of which is to ensure the

maintenance of the specialized installations in the facility

and fullling an educational function. A technical monu-

ment, upon decommissioning or changing its original pur-

This is the author’s belief.

pose, loses some of the characteristics of a monument by

losing the statutorily designated “testimony of a bygone

era” [30, Article 3(1)], while its maintenance meets the

statutory disposition of “monument protection” [30, Ar-

ticle 5(1), (4) and (5)]. Therefore, eorts should be made

to maintain selected elements of the object’s technical

functionality as a link in the chain of the technology it rep-

resents. This postulate is met by a number of railroad muse-

um facilities, both domestically and internationally. Among

the domestic facilities, a mention should be made of:

– The steam locomotive depot in Wolsztyn, where

a 1907–1909 hall with a water tower and a post-war but

1930s-style social building are still in use according to

their original purpose,

– The open-air rolling stock museum in Chabówka, al-

though gathered in a less historically valuable complex

of buildings, plays the role of a living museum, just like

Wolsztyn, fullling all the original technical functions,

– The Museum of Industry and Railways in Jaworzyna

Śląska, which has a spacious fan hall dating back to the

early 20

century, and modest technical facilities that are

still in operation.

In addition, a mention should be made of a number of

active, museum-quality narrow-gauge railroads, led

by the

Fig. 4. Office and accommodation building (photo by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 4. Budynek biurowo-noclegowy (fot. P. Mierosławski)

Fig. 7. View of the machine hall (photo by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 7. Widok hali maszyn (fot. P. Mierosławski)

Fig. 5. Office and warehouse building (photo by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 5. Budynek biurowo-magazynowy (fot. P. Mierosławski)

Fig. 6. Workshop and social building (photo by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 6. Budynek warsztatowo-socjalny (fot. P. Mierosławski)

68 Paweł Mierosławski

Upper Silesian, Żnin, Rogowska and Raciborski Ore rail-

roads. Narrow-gauge railroads, however, generally (though

not always) play a signicantly smaller role of buildings

and a larger role of linear infrastructure facilities than mu-

seums on normal track.

Railway-related establishments that meet all the pos-

tulates of a living museum of technology are more than

a hundred on our continent. Great Britain and Germany

are leaders in this eld, where there are dozens of such

centres each. Examples of establishments organized in

former steam locomotive sheds include:

– Museum of the German Railway History Society

(DGEG) in Bochum-Dahlhausen, with active workshop

facilities and rolling stock [31],

– Museum of the Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) Histo-

ry Foundation “La Rotonde” in Délémont [32].

An example of a museum that also meets the denition

of a living museum is the rebuilt steam locomotive shed of

the former Berlin-Anhalt Railway (BAE) from 1874 [33],

which is one of the facilities of the Museum of Technol-

ogy and Communication in Berlin. This steam locomo-

tive shed, which is part of a complex of spacious, modern

exhibition buildings and adjacent to the decommissioned

tracks of the Anhalt Railway Station (Park am Gleisdrei-

eck), which has been turned into a park [34], has never-

theless lost a lot of the features of its former technological

identity, despite the meticulousness of its reconstruction.

Challenges of the adaptation process

of a post-industrial facility

The main challenge of the process of adapting a post-in-

dustrial facility is to adopt methods of preservation and

operation that will allow the monument to retain selected

technical functionalities. The implementation of such an

outlined process is signicantly more complex than in the

case of adapting a post-industrial facility to a new function,

such as residential, oce or commercial. In the case of such

a change, adaptation is based solely on construction work.

Maintaining the original functions, on the other hand, re-

quires works not only of a construction nature, but also re-

lated to the protection of specialized technical equipment.

A separate issue is usually the poor technical condition.

Such a facility before adaptation is sometimes underin-

vested or improperly operated, and often abandoned. This

gives rise to the need to carry out ad hoc rescue work si-

multaneously with planned adaptation. Renovation work

on historic technical infrastructure to preserve their his-

toric value must be carried out taking into account current

technical standards and safety regulations. Often these

goals are seemingly mutually exclusive, so the revital-

ization must be carried out by people with extensive ex-

perience in both current and past technologies represent-

ed in the facility. This results in a signicant increase in

costs, the need to use compromise technical solutions or

to change previously made decisions on the future scope

of operation or display of historic buildings.

Challenges of adaptation to museum function

of Skierniewice steam locomotive depot

The eorts of the current owner, the Polskie Sto wa rzy-

szenie Miłośników Kolei (Polish Association of Railway

Enthusiasts, PSMK), to organize a museum facility began

in 1988 with the collection of rolling stock. Initially, few

elements of the collection could easily be made available

as so-called monuments on sites such as those of PKP.

With the growth of the collection and the diculties in

securing it, the search for a permanent place for it began.

The experience of cooperation with PKP during the

organization of railroad “open-air museums” determined

the direction of eorts, while for organizational reasons

it was limited only to the area of central Poland. It was

the Skierniewice Locomotive Depot, scheduled for liqui-

dation, that was chosen. Despite PKP’s quick decision to

transfer the complex for museum purposes, the entire pro-

cedures were spread out over 25 years due to the unreg-

ulated legal status of the land and changes in regulations

crucial to the process. The prolongation of the handover

process made it impossible to carry out renovation work

in a planned manner, which, in view of the ensemble’s

inclusion in the register of historical monuments and the

signicant scope of the work, had to be preceded each

time by applying for a building permit, which the formal

owner was not interested in.

The locomotive depot was signicantly neglected when

the Association took it over – as it was scheduled for liqui-

dation (Fig. 8). The abandoned buildings had not had their

plumbing drained before winter, and the interiors (most

notably the stairwells) had been devastated during remov-

als. The buildings had previously not undergone inspec-

tions for many years, and were also partially unprotected

against theft. The state of repair was also inuenced by

the quality of the construction work carried out previously.

Due to a lack of funds and materials, the works were car-

ried out by low-skilled brigades, using far-reaching sav-

ings and substitute solutions.

In addition to the condition of the buildings, the chal-

lenge was the condition of key technical infrastructure,

including the turntable, lifts and water intake facilities,

as well as the catastrophic condition of parts of the track

with wooden ties that had exceeded their useful life.

Fig. 8. Pumping station (photo by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 8. Pompownia (fot. P. Mierosławski)

The practice of adapting a post-industrial facility into a museum of technology 69

A signicant risk factor was the lack of several hundred

meters of fencing, leaving the facilities vulnerable to theft

and vandalism.

The long life of the Skierniewice steam locomotive

plant has resulted in a build-up of installations. For a cen-

tury and a half, for example, independent water supply

networks were built here, including two for drinking water

(one with a deep-water intake) and for 80 years a modi-

ed industrial water network with its own river intake. The

water mains were made of cast-iron socket pipes, no lon-

ger used for years. The separation of the complex from the

active railroad junction resulted in common installations.

Therefore, despite the separation, common medium- and

low-voltage cable routes are still in place, traction and

lighting poles of the adjacent railroad line are sited. Ele-

ments of land drainage and storm water drainage, as well

as industrial water connections are shared. This required

the conclusion of relevant contractual agreements.

Development of a concept for renovation

and adaptation works

The scale of the complex and limited funding forced

the PSMK to select an expert team of people with expe-

rience in steam traction railroads. The team developed

the basis of the adaptation concept in writing, with the

assumption that it would be updated periodically.

Adopting a written form provided the opportunity to

adapt the concept to the changing state of knowledge. It

was drawn from archival documentation and iconography,

obtained from a search in archives (primarily PKP units)

that lasted several years. Design documentation from 1940–

1943 became the basis for building inventories, while post-

war sketches were a source of knowledge about under-

ground installations

. The development and constant modi-

cation of the concept of work in a complex of such a scale

as the locomotive shed makes it possible to get used to the

necessity of spreading tasks over many years and the lack of

quick, spectacular successes. In the case of a non-govern-

mental, community-based organization, this allows main-

taining continuity and an even pace of works.

The planned adaptation of the complex to a museum

role, as specied in the concept, was straightforward in

view of the overlap between most of its former and

planned functions. Only one function, related to the main-

tenance of the former oce and storage space, did not

correspond to the new, exhibition one. But the adaptation

of oce or storage space to an exhibition function does

not cause signicant interference with the structure or lay-

out of the various buildings.

Included in the concept of work, the preliminary inven-

tory of facilities and the analysis of the functions assigned

to them was the basis for the development (and subse-

quent modication) of functional-utility programs drawn

up for the execution of construction projects necessary to

obtain building permits.

Secondary surveying maps produced contained a number of sig-

nicant misrepresentations and simplications.

The process of planned adaptation

After preparing a concept for the work, the work be-

gan with a detailed inventory of the condition of buildings,

structures and external installations. Consideration was

given to reconciling the maintenance of historic infrastruc-

ture in accordance with current technical standards. The

order of needs was dened and the work plan was divided

into salvage, planned renovation and planned adaptation.

Work began in 1993, with the departure of PKP em-

ployees, and the lack of title to the property meant that, de-

spite the denition of a schedule for the work, most activi-

ties were initially ad hoc. Initial activities were limited to:

– cleaning up the area,

– security against theft (reinforcement of entrances,

glazing, repair and replenishment of window coverings,

remaking of main hall gates locks, permanent closure of

unused entrances),

– reviews of electrical and water supply systems,

– reconstruction of the heating system (portable stoves),

– ad hoc roof repairs,

– maintaining the eciency of the turntable, tracks

and turnouts.

The stage of planned renovation and adaptation works

began after the transfer of the complex to ownership, which

made it possible to seek public support and obtain con-

struction permits. Beginning in 2001, among other things:

– construction projects for all facilities have been

completed and permits obtained,

– all the missing tracks in the workshop hall (25%

were missing) and the entrance gate were rebuilt,

– 75% of the roong of the main hall was replaced,

and the remaining 25% was repaired,

– 30% of the main hall’s glass skylight was rebuilt,

– the roof was rebuilt and the interior of the oldest part

of the hall was rebuilt (shell) for exhibition purposes,

– a major repair of the track and turnout (about 35%)

and the turntable was carried out,

– the team’s electrical system was repaired, and redun-

dant lighting poles were eliminated,

– comprehensive roof repairs were carried out on four

buildings; two buildings under repair,

– redundant outbuildings and garages were demol-

ished,

– approximately 20% of the area has been adapted for

display,

– sick trees were removed, new plantings were made

in accordance with the guidelines.

The overall advancement of the renovation and ad-

aptation project should be assessed at 40%. It should be

mentioned that along with the renovation of the buildings,

repairs to exhibits and equipment are being carried out.

Each group of works is systematically phased in terms of

currently identied needs and resources. During the phas-

ing, changes were made as dictated by the originally un-

foreseen growth of specialized sections of the collection.

Adaptation for exhibition purposes of the buildings of the

main hall, machining hall, forge, foundry was limited,

apart from renovation, to the delineation of passageways,

escape routes and new sanitary facilities.

70 Paweł Mierosławski

The only case of deep interference in the existing lay-

out of the building was the comprehensive reconstruction

of the so-called “Łowicz annex”

, i.e. the position of

the main steam locomotive hall, rebuilt around 1890, for

workshop facilities (Fig. 9). This part of the hall, extend-

ed “economically” in 1942–1943, suered a construc-

tion disaster in 2006. The crumpled beams of the ceiling

above the rst oor collapsed, along with a part of the

roof truss supported on it. The incident occurred despite

relieving the beams with the removal of the ceiling’s clay

topping and shoring. After the demolition of the damaged

interior, provision was made for the display of large-scale

equipment (semaphores, indicators, signal boxes). This

was achieved by partially introducing a single-box layout

(eliminating the ceiling over the rst oor on about 40%

of the area). The ceiling over the rst oor was also elim-

inated, referring to the layout of the 1862–1890 building,

without interfering with its external shape.

The ceilings left over part of the rst oor were made

as a reinforced concrete slab on steel beams, reinforced in

the areas of exhibit loading. This yielded 205 m

of space

suitable for exhibiting equipment up to 9.5 m in height

and weighing up to 3,000 kg. The largest size exhibit (arm

semaphore) was set up before the roof reconstruction was

completed.

The rooms in the oce and storage buildings, except

for modications to the electrical and telecommunications

systems and the removal of secondary partition walls,

were not altered. During the adaptation, there was no in-

tention to interfere with the structure of the buildings, and

the changes restored the original layout of the rooms. This

layout has a major impact on the shape of the exhibition.

An important part of the exhibition planning was the

delineation of tour (and evacuation) routes and photogra-

phy spaces with regulation of direct access to the exhibits.

The customary name for the oldest part of the roundhouse hall

came about because of the direct proximity of this part of the hall to the

tracks of railroad line No. 11 Skierniewice–Łowicz.

For safety reasons, a maximum number of simultane-

ous visitors has been set for each exhibit. The principle

of visiting with a trained guide has been adopted, which

makes it possible to dispense with stationary sta in indi-

vidual rooms. These conditions are important for an ac-

tive technical exposition, as it involves ensuring the safe-

ty of visitors – who do not have adequate safety training.

This poses the need to anticipate and minimize potential

hazards already at the design stage.

The layout of the buildings has forced the location of

bulky and heavy objects indoors on the non-basement rst

oor, which sometimes separates the displays to the detri-

ment of the cognitive process.

Due to the fact that the former oce buildings are, in

part, social facilities for volunteers (sta), it became nec-

essary to set aside areas in these premises that are inacces-

sible to the public.

Lessons from practice

The practice of adaptation of the former Locomotive

Depot in Skierniewice has shown that the transformation

of a post-industrial facility into a technical museum re-

quires the involvement of the investor-user, who should

not expect the designer to have an idea of the target func-

tions of the adapted facility. The role of the investor is

crucial in developing a concept for the development and

function of the facility. He or she must, on the basis of

his/her own knowledge and experience, outline the ex-

pected concept of future use (in the case of Skierniewice,

the investor’s own development concept was confronted

with concepts made, for example, as diploma theses of

students of the Warsaw and Lodz Universities of Tech-

nology, or as works of a promotional nature prepared by

professional architectural oces). The most important

thing is the development of a detailed program by the in-

vestor (the requirements of the ordering party within the

framework of the functional-utility program specied in

the regulations) and its agreement with the designer as to

the possibility of implementing the given concept.

Direct and continuous cooperation with the designer at

all stages of design work avoids possible disputes aris-

ing either from the designer’s misinformation or lack of

realism in the investor’s expectations. The investor for

historic post-industrial buildings should look for design-

ers, rst of all, with experience in the eld of industrial

construction (with authorizations in accordance with the

requirements of conservation services).

The practice acquired in Skierniewice indicated that

the lack of ongoing cooperation at the designer–investor

line and the lack of experience of the designer in the eld

of industrial construction lead to the impossibility of im-

plementing the prepared construction project (there was

such a case).

It is very important for the investor to cooperate with

conservation services, including the transfer of knowl-

edge of techniques and technological processes related to

a given facility.

During the implementation phase, it is necessary for

the investor’s representatives to constantly supervise the

Fig. 9. The oldest part of the roundhouse

(photo by P. Mierosławski)

Il. 9. Najstarsza część hali wachlarzowej

(fot. P. Mierosławski)

The practice of adapting a post-industrial facility into a museum of technology 71

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References

conduct of construction work and to be in close contact

with the construction manager and supervisor.

The investor and the designer should keep in mind that

the so-called proven contractor may not be able to cope

with the selected specialized work (there was such a case).

The complex of the Skierniewice Steam Locomotive

Depot is an example of the success of many years of reno-

vation and adaptation work conducted by an investor that

is a non-governmental organization, basing its activities

solely on the unpaid work of volunteers.

Translated by

Michał Goszczyński

72 Paweł Mierosławski

Abstract

The practice of adapting a post-industrial facility into a museum of technology

The subject of the article is the adaptation of the historic Steam Locomotive Works in Skierniewice for the purposes of a “living” technical mu-

seum. The author, using his own thirty years of experience, presented the problem of reconciling the possibility of showing the old technologies of

railroad work with the introduction of new functions to historic buildings. The article describes reaching a compromise between the need to preserve

historic equipment and infrastructure, as well as the visual qualities of individual objects, with the requirements of current regulations and the desire

to show the gathered collection in a way that is interesting and safe for visitors.

The example presented in the paper concerns the territorially and cubically largest complex of historic railroad buildings in Poland, where the

scale of adaptation works is the largest. The complex is also the oldest surviving relic of the technical facilities of the rst Polish railroad line – the

Warsaw–Vienna Iron Road. It was built in 1845 and went through several phases of expansion. At present, it preserves buildings from 1859–1943 and

technical structures related to the operation of steam locomotives. In 1992, with the end of operation by the railway, the complex was loaned, and in

2002 it was transferred to a non-governmental organization for museum purposes. It is listed in the register of historical monuments under No. 964A.

The Skierniewice Locomotive Deport is an example of the success of many years of renovation and adaptation work conducted by an investor that

is a non-governmental organization with a modest budget and bases its activities solely on the unpaid work of volunteers.

Key words: historic preservation, railroad monuments, living museum

Streszczenie

Z praktyki adaptacji obiektu poprzemysłowego na muzeum techniki

Tematem artykułu jest adaptacja na cele „żywego” muzeum technicznego zabytkowej parowozowni w Skierniewicach. Autor, korzystając z wła-

snych, trzydziestoletnich doświadczeń, przedstawił problematykę godzenia możliwości pokazywania dawnych technologii pracy kolei z wprowadza-

niem do zabytkowych obiektów nowych funkcji. W artykule opisano dochodzenie do kompromisu między koniecznością zachowania zabytkowych

urządzeń i infrastruktury oraz wizualnych walorów poszczególnych obiektów z wymogami obecnych przepisów i dążenia do pokazywania zgroma-

dzonej kolekcji w sposób ciekawy i bezpieczny dla zwiedzających.

Przedstawiony w pracy przykład dotyczy największego terytorialnie i kubaturowo zespołu zabytkowych obiektów kolejowych w Polsce, w któ-

rym skala prac przystosowawczych jest największa. Zespół ten jest również najstarszym zachowanym reliktem zaplecza technicznego pierwszej

polskiej linii kolejowej – Drogi Żelaznej Warszawsko-Wiedeńskiej. Powstał w 1845 r. i przeszedł kilka faz rozbudowy. Obecnie zachowane są w nim

obiekty z lat 1859–1943 oraz budowle techniczne związane z obsługą lokomotyw parowych. W roku 1992, z chwilą zakończenia eksploatacji przez

kolej zespół został użyczony, a w roku 2002 przekazany na własność organizacji pozarządowej na cele muzealne. Jest wpisany do rejestru zabytków

pod nr 964A.

Kompleks skierniewickiej parowozowni jest przykładem sukcesu prowadzenia wieloletnich prac remontowo-adaptacyjnych przez inwestora

będącego organizacją pozarządową, posiadającą skromny budżet i opierającą działalność wyłącznie na nieodpłatnej pracy wolontariuszy.

Słowa kluczowe: ochrona zabytków, zabytki kolejnictwa, żywe muzeum