The living railway museum, a meeting place for train enthusiasts in Longueville (77)

At the heart of a locomotive depot in Longueville lies the Musée vivant du chemin de fer, France's second largest train museum in terms of heritage. Founded by theAssociation de jeunes pour l'entretien et la conservation des trains d'autrefois (AJECTA) in 1968, the museum is run by railway rolling stock enthusiasts, with the aim of preserving it by exhibiting it in a cultural venue dedicated to the French railroads.

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"Without the creation of AJECTA, the rotunda would have been destroyed, and the steam locomotives would have been scrapped," says one of the museum's volunteers. Now listed as a national monument, the museum's magnificent rotunda, where a dozen steam locomotives proudly reside (7 of which are also listed as national monuments), is perfectly maintained, and with it all the museum's equipment, saved just in time by the association's volunteers.

So, for over 50 years, AJECTA volunteers have been collecting, renovating and maintaining the historic rolling stock available to the living railway museum. From steam locomotives and historic carriages to trains used in the great wars of the 20th century, the Longueville museum bo asts a unique heritage, enabling visitors to discover the evolution of the train in real life, as far back as 1866 (the date of manufacture of the museum's oldest locomotive).

Among the curiosities in the museum's collections are the oldest signal box in France, formerly located in the Cravant-Bazarnes station (Loiret), a former carriage from the famous Lorient Express used to transport passengers' luggage, and a dining car from the Train Bleu, the luxury train that once linked Paris and Ventimiglia (Italy), where it is still possible to dine on rare occasions!

All year round, the museum invites you to take a ride on one of its historic trains: at Christmas time, on Santa's steam train; at Halloween, on the Pumpkin Train; at Easter, on the Easter Egg Train? You can also visit the warehouse free of charge and take part in special events during the annual Heritage Days.

Among the locomotives you can see on site are :

• the Rame Saint-Germain (3 classes on the same train between Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the forerunner of the RER A)
• 040 4-853 Nord: locomotives from the Northern French railway network
• 030 T 3032 "RIMAUCOURT": locomotive historically used on the Haute-Marne network
• ...

The museum is open every Sunday and public holiday, from 1pm to 5pm, except during the annual Christmas school vacations. Admission is €4 per person, €2 per child aged 6 to 11, and children under 6 are free. The visit is free, but volunteers on site will be happy to tell you about the history of certain locomotives and the museum itself... A real added value, with information told by enthusiasts. The museum is accessible by public transport: just take Transilien line P (from Gare de l'Est) and get off at Longueville station.