PHOTO: poster the VR project Journey in the Imperial Train in the Alexander Palace

Visitors to Tsarskoye Selo now have an opportunity to experience a journey in the Imperial Train.

In October 2021, the VR project Journey in the Imperial Train opened in one of the halls on the ground floor of the Alexander Palace. Wearing special goggles, visitors can know look inside the luxurious rail carriages that served the Russian emperors: Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. With the help of modern technologies in virtual reality, the historical interiors of the carriages of one of the first trains of Imperial Russia have been recreated in great detail.

This joint project of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve and the Museum of Russian Railways was implemented with the technical support of the Infomedia Bureau of Creative Initiatives company.

The exhibit offers two options for visitors:

Ticket No. 1: Virtual Journey in the Imperial Train introduces guests to the history of the Imperial Train. Duration: 15 minutes – 250 rubles.

Ticket No. 2: Virtual Quest in the Imperial Train offers a thematic quest in the setting of the Imperiaal carriages, interacting with various objects and internal elements. Duration: 60 minutes – 500 rubles.

The history of Russian railways is closely connected with Tsarskoye Selo and the Alexander Palace. During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I in 1837, the first public railway in the country connected St. Petersburg with Tsarskoye Selo and quickly became a favourite way for members of the Imperial family to travel from the capital to their suburban summer residence.

During the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, several branches of the railway line were built not far from the Alexander Palace, which made it possible to get from Tsarskoye Selo to the most remote regions of the Russian Empire without changing trains.

After the outbreak of the First World War, Nicholas II regularly travelled from the nearby Imperial Railway Pavilion – includes 20 photos – to headquarters in Mogilev, while visiting foreign dignitaries were personally greeted by the Emperor, who awaited their arrival on the pavilion’s platform.

On 1st August 1917, it was also by train that the Imperial family were sent into exile from the Alexandrovsky Station to exile in Tobolsk.

By 1902, the imperial fleet consisted of eight trains. Following the 1917 Revolution, the fate of the wagons were utilized in different ways: some were used by representatives of the new Provisional government, others were rebuilt and adapted for passenger traffic, and the two wagons from Nicholas II’s Imperial Train – includes 8 photos – were installed in the Alexandria Park in Peterhof – were destroyed during the Great Patriotic War.

© Paul Gilbert. 26 April 2022