Railway Museum, Southern Province, Zambia
3.5 (82 reviews) Spent < 1 hour Ranking #11 in Livingstone Speciality Museums
Interesting but expensive
It is an interesting museum built on the site of the Zambezi sawmills and has a good collection of old steam engines and carriages. It is located on the outskirts of town but easy to find. The only downside is the exorbitant $15 entrance fee which probably explains why I was the only one there. After buying my ticket the man on the desk gave me short talk on the history of the Zambezi sawmills and explained some of the photos on the walls. Some of the trains have information boards while others do not. There is a first class Rhodesia Railways carriage that you can walk through. Incorporated in the museum is the Jewish museum which gives information on the Jewish in Zambia. I took around two hours to look round it and take pictures. It is open all the year round.
Address
Chishimba Falls Road, Livingstone 20100 Zambia
Current local date and time now
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 8:06
User Ratings
3.5 based on (82 reviews)
Reviews
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4Lucelle S 5:00 PM Jul 4, 2019
Jewish museum
We wanted to go the specifically to see the Jewish museum . It is a small but well worth while museum to visit. There is information about the history of the early Jewish settlers to the town and the contribution that they made. There is information about general Jewish history, customs and holocaust. The railway museum has original trains which was interesting to see. It is quite far from the town and you will need a taxi
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4CliodhnaZtoical 5:00 PM Nov 1, 2016
Great history gem
The majority of activities in the area are all focused around the falls but after two full days of falls activity this was a welcome break for me. This may not be of interest to everyone but I love trains and have visited quite a few train museums around the globe so was excited to visit. I have no issue with the $15 entrance fee, it's a tourist town so of course tourists are charged more then locals (There was a local school group there when I arrived) Yes it's small and a little run down in parts compared to some train museums I've visited but the engines are looked after and you can get right up to close to them, the staff are very friendly and knowledgeable. The cut away engine explaining how steam engines work is a great and as an artist who was there to draw the trains I really appreciated it. The Jewish museum was a very welcome surprise packed full of information that gives you an insight not just to the jewish story of southern africa but of the history of Zambia as well. I don't think it's a museum for everyone but if you like trains and/or history I think it's well worth the visit.
