Museum Stations

HISTORY

In 1907, the strategic railway line running between Bologoye – Polotsk – Sedlets was commissioned. Russia built the line as part of the alliance with France for the possible transfer of troops to its Western borders. Despite its low economic significance, no expense was spared to build it in a single architectural style.

The line played a huge role during the First World War, the Russian Civil War and the Great Patriotic War. Railway workers and soldiers repeatedly demonstrated their courage and heroism along the line. At its 124th kilometre, a memorial sign was erected saying "Here the Enemy was Halted."

The line passes through the old cities of Ostashkov and Toropets, with their monuments and distinctive appearance. Not far from the line, near the city of Ostashkov, is the famous Russian shrine, the Nilova Pustyn monastery.

In addition to its great historical context, the line is unique as a nature reserve. It runs through Blue Rus’, through forests and across rivers and lakes, along wonderful parts of natural beauty – Lake Seliger and the Upper Volga. The line also attracts mushroom pickers, berry pickers, fishermen and, of course, tourists.

Bologoye – Polotskaya is a unique natural railway reserve. Despite the brutal bombing of the war, not everything was destroyed. Miraculously, manual switches and some historical buildings and structures survived, while operating semaphores and an electric token can still be seen on the Soblago – Torzhok section – living transport rarities.

In 2013, Russian Railways decided to declare the Bologoye – Polotskaya line a protected area of ​​​​Russia’s railways. In 2018, it launched the first suburban retro steam train in Russia under the name of Seliger after the eponymous lake along the Bologoye – Ostashkov line. The same year, the Old Railway Station Kuzhenkino museum complex was opened, which became a kind of "capital" of the protected railway line.

WHAT TO SEE

The Old Railway Station Kuzhenkino museum complex offers visitors a time machine into the past, where they find themselves transported to a small railway station during the first half of the twentieth century far from Russia’s two capitals of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The central object of the complex is a magnificent wooden building of the station in the Art Nouveau style, designed, like other buildings along the line, by the remarkable architect Stanislav Volovsky. It recreates the waiting room for passengers travelling in first and second class, the baggage compartment, and an office for the station master. The hall for third class passengers houses an exhibition on the history of the line, old Ministry of Transport benches, a drinking tank with a mug on a chain, and an exhibition of photographs of the Ostashkov engine driver and photographer A. Alekseev.

The complex also includes a toilet and a kerosene cellar. In 2023, the exhibition was decorated with another unique object – a guardhouse with a recreated interior from the early 20th century. The exterior of the building was reproduced in strict accordance with archival drawings and designs.

Visitors can also examine the water tower with its preserved tent and even look inside, as well as operate a real manual switch and see how water is collected from a hydraulic column and pumped into the locomotive’s tender.

HOW TO GET THERE

• By car to the address: Kuzhenkino station, Bologovsky district, Tverskaya Oblast.
• By the Seliger retro train with its working steam locomotive Bologoye – Ostashkov at weekends and during holidays at the suburban fare, and on other days by the regular suburban trains (see the online timetable), or by bus from Bologoye station.

The museum complex is open to visitors free of charge every all day except Mondays and Tuesdays, from 10:00 to 17:00.