All aboard for Utrecht, but mind the sliding doors!

"The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before"
- G. K. Chesterton

To paraphrase a good friend of mine, here comes a boring trains post. As the expiry date for my Museumkaart rapidly approaches, I have been making a valiant effort to visit as many museums in the Netherlands as possible! So last weekend I embarked on a day out to Utrecht, with the aim of visiting Het Spoorwegmuseum (the Dutch Railway Museum) and the Rietveld Schröderhuis.

Het Spoorwegmuseum

The grand entrance to the railway museum.

My primary aim was to visit the train museum, which had recently launched a new attraction: De Vuurproef. It turned to take you through the history of railways, then leading to you all driving a train in a simulator. It was actually quite good and certainly had the kids that were also on the ride wanting to do it all over again!

Working replica of De Arend ("The Eagle"), the first Dutch train, from 1839.

One interesting fact I discovered was that the first train to arrive in the Netherlands, De Arend, was in fact driven by a man from a small coal mining village near Newcastle upon Tyne, England. What a small world!

In summary, the museum had a lot of interesting attractions and more than a few locomotives. It was also completely overrun with kids, which shows it's not just another stuffy museum!

Oh, and on the way out I treated myself to one of these for the mantelpiece...

Model of an NS Class 1600

If you really want to see more pictures of trains then take a look at this album!

Het Rietveld Schröderhuis

Rietveld Schröder House in the suburbs of Utrecht

Part two of my Utrecht trip was a visit to the Rietveld Schröder House, which I had recently heard about on Saturday Live, a programme on BBC Radio 4.  In short, the building was built by in 1924 by Gerrit Rieldveld for recently widowed Truus Schröder with the aim of having an upstairs that was open plan for the daytime, but in the evening could be partitioned into several rooms using a series of sliding doors. It was also furnished with Rietveld's unique furniture.

I'm really interested in modern architecture and this small building, a fascinating example of De Stijl architecture, is well worth a visit. However, you have to reserve a place as only 12 people can go into the house at once!