Atatürk Vagonu Müzesi

About Atatürk Vagonu Müzesi

The Atatürk Carriage Museum (Atatürk Vagonu Müzesi) is the private railway carriage that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk used on his journeys around the country from 1935 until his death. TCDD describes it as the most authentic surviving part of the Beyaz Tren (White Train), and it has been displayed inside the Ankara railway station complex since 1964, when TCDD arranged it as a museum. In 1991 the Ministry of Culture registered it as a cultural asset belonging to Atatürk that must be protected. The carriage is 14.8 metres long and weighs 46.3 tonnes, and was built in 1935 by Linke-Hofmann-Werke in Breslau. Visitors walk through the guard room, bathroom and bedroom to the square sitting room at the end of the corridor. On display are Atatürk's backgammon and chess sets, panama-cane armchairs, the radio on which he listened to Anatolian folk tunes on his travels and the gramophone on which he played records of Verdi, Beethoven and Bach. The White Train also carried Atatürk on his last journey, from İzmit to Ankara, after his death on 10 November 1938. The carriage is in the same station complex as the Milli Mücadelede Atatürk Konutu ve Demiryolları Müzesi, the War of Independence headquarters and railway museum, so the two can be seen together. Practical notes: TCDD says the carriage can be visited on weekdays, 09:00-12:00 and 13:00-17:00 (closed at weekends and on religious holidays), by groups of 10 or more who request an appointment in advance; entry is free. Appointments: 0312 520 43 68 or 0312 520 43 78.