Central Railway Station Museum
Museum in Asunción's 1864 railway terminus, with the first locomotive brought to Paraguay.
Paraguay opened one of the first railways in South America under President Carlos Antonio López, with the first section running from Asunción in 1861. The terminus beside the Plaza Uruguaya was begun in 1859 and formally inaugurated on 24 July 1864. It was designed by the English architect Alonso Taylor with the Italian engineer Alejandro Ravizza, who gave it a long arcaded front in an Italian manner, a clock gable and an iron train shed over the platforms.
Regular services ended in the twentieth century and the building became a museum of the national railway. Visitors walk along the original platform beside the locomotive Sapucai, built in England and the first engine to run in the country, together with carriages, the presidential coach and a turntable. The ticket hall, telegraph office and waiting rooms keep their fittings, and the collection includes timetables, uniforms, tools, photographs and documents on the building of the line.
Highlights
- Arcaded terminus of 1864 by Alonso Taylor and Alejandro Ravizza
- The first locomotive brought to Paraguay, kept on its platform
- Original ticket hall, telegraph office and waiting rooms
- Carriages, tools, uniforms and railway documents
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