9 - Passenger cars collection

On the first tracks of the Rotonda (Rotonda) building, we come across a collection of seven cars –cars were used to transport passengers while wagons were for freight. The first track features a third-class car, which gives us an idea of the harsh travelling conditions in the 19th century and in more than half of the 20th century. The steam and soot from steam locomotives frequently entered the compartment, especially when going through tunnels, which meant that the passengers reached their destination with blackened faces and dirty clothes. As the Museum shows, the first vehicles for transporting passengers were very primitive, being very similar to the stagecoaches, carriages or covered wagons on which they were based, as we can see in the three cars that make up the “Centennial Train.”

What was truly outstanding about the railway’s appearance was the opportunity of transporting a large number of people at the same time, which facilitated great waves of migration and their important consequences, from a social, demographic, urban development or economic perspective. Until its appearance, the possibilities of movement were limited to members of the upper classes. Some studies claim that most people did not travel more than 15 km from their home locality in their entire life. Another noteworthy change was that, for the first time, it obliged people of different social categories to mix together in trains and stations, something that was previously unthinkable. It was a real revolution for the world of that time. The railway democratised collective passenger transportation.

This area of the Museum reveals the bottom parts of the cars. We can see how the wheels evolved from the initial two-wheeled axles to the so-called bogies, undercarriages with two or more axles, each with two wheels, beneath the vehicle. The Museum features two models of these elements, which give us a close-up look at how this system improved suspension, curving performance and enabled the construction of larger cars. Trains have constantly been evolving from the very beginning and the innovations incorporated into wheel systems have resulted in increased comfort and safety.