The Kingdom of Railway

Doing the tour of Prague with my friends when came for few days; we sat to lunch at a restaurant on Wenceslas Square. An original place because the drinks you ordered came to your table on an electric train. And I was eating when I saw on the Restaurant’s TV, a video about the kingdom of railway museum. Which was effective marketing because now I want to visit this museum.

The restaurant Vytopna

The bar-restaurant Vytopna is situated on Wenceslas Square, at the top part of the street. It is just at the entry of a shopping mall. You will find it easily thanks to big yellow and orange flags hung on the front. So during the visit, we decided to take a break inside.

Once we were entered, one of the employees came to us and asked how many people and if we wanted to sit in the smoking or no-smoking area. He sat us, took our order and left. Everything was normal for the moment, until we have observed trains delivering beverages to other tables. It was surprising and funny. The electrical railway crosses the entire restaurant, which is quite big!

So, indeed, 5 or 10 minutes later, our drinks arrived in a wagon, and it stopped just in front of our table. So you just have to take your drinks and let the train leave. Another train passes on another railway to take empty glasses.

And during our break, I was watching a video on restaurant’s TV, a documentary about electrical train museum. So I had in my mind to visit this museum soon.

Kralovstvi Zekeznic, the Kingdom of railway

This museum is situated in Anděl city, a tramway and a metro station (Line B). This part of Prague is very dynamic because there is a big shopping center “Novy Smichov” which offers you many stores and activities. But that is another story…

Kralovstvi Zekeznic is on Stroupežnického 23, you cannot miss it. If you are like me and you like the restaurant Vytopna, you’ll like this visit. The museum has been open since the summer 2009. When it first opened it only had 115m² of exhibits. Now, there is 345m² on a global surface of more than 1000m².

You can walk in 2 floors, having different universes each, and a real reconstitution of Czech Republic regions.

The first floor is underground and it is a draft exhibition, which served for the official opening. It doesn’t represent real cities or regions but fictional landscapes because it was just creators’ imagination.

On the second floor, there is a 900m² zones with exhibition of different regions.

Finally, during the visit you can find a faithful representation of Prague in 2000, in 115m², equal to 11810 hectare for real. The building and the design started in 1980 and it was planned to be modified according to next 20 years buildings in the capital. This huge idea was initiated by two engineers and architects Vlastimil Slíva and Jiří Straka. However, the model represents Prague in 2000 so you couldn’t find new modifications in the city. But it is worth the trouble.

There is also the Locomotive Thomas’ Universe. You could see again this famous train at the restaurant if you have the food order number!

Different supports of exhibition

Moreover, the exhibition has been modernized and you will enjoy the visit with lot of interactivity. Most of models are made with classic material with a lot of attention to the details. You can also observe modification of atmosphere each quarter of an hour. The lighting changes so that you can watch the landscape by day and night.

Small details hidden in big landscapes

And at the end of the visit, you can see several railways made with children toys like Lego, Czech playmobils (named “Igracek”), K’nex, and even Duplo for babies.

You can also find a part of an authentic engine which they have obtained from engine depot in Ceska Trebova. It is the engine driver’s cabin which has been connected to interactive projection. So you can get to know both the workplace and individual controls.

The duration of the visit depends on your curiosity but you have to allow for at least one hour.

My impressions

It’s difficult to describe this kind of place with words. I hope pictures will give you a glimpse into the experience. Personally, during 1 hour, I regressed to my childhood! I was really surprised by the perfection of the details, because none is forgotten. The lonely negative point is about explanation signs, almost all boards are only in Czech.

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