Train World

Train World is the official museum of the Belgian national railway company, SNCB/NMBS, and it sits at Prinses Elisabethplein 5 in Schaarbeek, on the northern edge of Brussels. What separates it from most national railway collections is that it is not simply housed in an old station - it is built into a station that still works. Trains call at Schaerbeek every day, two minutes from the museum door.

The station opened in 1887 and its buildings were designed by the architect Franz Seulen in a neo-Flemish Renaissance style, the left wing going up around 1890 and the main right wing in 1913. The Brussels-Capital Region listed it as a monument in 1994. Train World occupies the restored station buildings plus a purpose-built shed to their north, giving more than 8,000 square metres (86,000 square feet) of exhibition space. The museum opened to the public on 25 September 2015, having been inaugurated the previous day by King Philippe, after an investment of €20.5 million.

The other thing that sets it apart is who designed the visit. The scenography is the work of François Schuiten, the Brussels comic artist behind Les Cités Obscures, who was made honorary stationmaster of Schaarbeek station after the opening ceremony. The result is closer to a staged narrative than to a row of locomotives on parallel roads: 22 locomotives and some 1,200 objects arranged with theatrical lighting, an original nineteenth-century railway bridge reassembled indoors, and a simulator that lets visitors drive a virtual train through Schaerbeek.

This is a hard museum to photograph and an interesting one to photograph well. Schuiten's scenography lights the equipment theatrically - pools of light, deep shadow, coloured washes - so the exposure decisions matter more than the framing. A fast lens and a willingness to work at high ISO will do more for you here than a wide zoom, and the staged darkness rewards details, reflections and partial views over full three-quarter roster shots.

The building gives you the other half of the pictures. The 1913 Seulen station frontage on Prinses Elisabethplein, the restored interiors and the reassembled nineteenth-century railway bridge inside the hall are all worth frames in their own right. Because Schaerbeek is a live station two minutes away, you can also photograph current SNCB traffic and then walk into a museum about where it came from - a before-and-after that few railway museums can offer.

Train World publishes no photography policy on its English visitor pages, so ask at the desk before setting up a tripod, particularly in the dimly lit staged sections where other visitors are moving through narrow routes.

The oldest object here outranks the rest of continental Europe. The Pays de Waes, a tank locomotive built in 1844, is the oldest steam locomotive preserved in Belgium and is described as the oldest preserved locomotive on the European mainland - a machine that could already reach 60 km/h (37 mph) in the 1840s.

At the other end of Belgian steam sits the Type 12, the streamlined express class built for the Brussels-Ostend boat trains. On 12 June 1939 a Type 12 covered the 105 km (65 miles) from Brussels to Ostend in 57 minutes, touching 165 km/h (103 mph). No. 12.004 was preserved by SNCB and briefly returned to running order for the 150th anniversary of Belgian railways in 1985, then stood exposed to the weather for years; it has been under cover at Train World since the museum opened in September 2015.

Between those two poles the collection runs through Type 18 steam, electric locomotive 1503, diesel 6406 and the AM 35 electric multiple unit, along with royal carriages built for the Belgian court and stainless-steel Trans Europ Express coaches - the fast international trains that ran across the continent before high-speed lines existed. Schuiten's staging means you meet them in sequence and in the dark rather than under strip lighting, which is a genuinely different experience from a conventional museum hall and, for some railfans, a frustrating one when it comes to seeing detail.

Expect a designed, theatrical museum rather than an inventory. The lighting is low and directional, the route is sequenced, and interactive material is aimed squarely at children between about four and fourteen - which makes it strong for families and occasionally awkward for anyone who came to study running gear. Allow two to three hours.

Opening is Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays, with last admission at 15:30 - a hard cut-off worth planning around, because it is 90 minutes before closing. There is also an exceptional annual closure from 31 August to 17 September while the temporary exhibition is assembled, so check the site before travelling in early September.

Admission is €15 for adults, €11 for children aged 6 to 17, €5 for ages 4 and 5, and free below 4. MuseumPass, ICOM and passport 365/Riebedebie holders enter free but must be processed at the box office rather than online, and Belgian railway employees enter free on production of ID. Groups of 15 or more pay €11 per person, and a guided tour for up to 15 people costs €120, with €10 added at weekends, on public holidays and for evening events.