There’s something undeniably charming about a good old-fashioned steam engine, chugging along through the rustic countryside, fluffy white clouds, almost indistinguishable from those in the brilliant blue sky above, billowing out behind it. Here at the Swedish Railway Museum in Gävle, the comprehensive history of these classic trains is laid out over 16,000 square metres in the form of 1000 locomotives, 150 coaches and hundreds of other objects related to the railway, one of the most unusual being the world’s most ancient railway carriage.

The walls are also plastered with a myriad of photographs which lead you on a journey into the past, when boats were the most advanced mode of long distance travel, and how the railroad eventually was borne out of the initial attempts to make crates in mines glide more smoothly along the tracks. The locomotion ride simulator offers a one of a kind experience to compare riding in the classic steam engine versus today’s advanced high-speed trains that seem worlds apart.

During the school holidays, children are bound to go wild with the array of child friendly exhibitions, such as a large model railway, a playground where they can experience being behind the controls, and a miniature railway that rolls through the spacious compound. Everybody from the most advanced train technician to the most inexperienced of children will leave at best a renewed train enthusiast, and at the very least knowing a little more about Sweden’s railway system.