Some of the unusual museums we’ve been to include Sewing Machine Museum& Fan Museum in London, Erotic Museum in Amsterdam, and Dolls Museum in New Delhi etc. Recently added to that list is Heritage Transport Museum in New Delhi! I visited this place when I got to test drive the brand new Tata Tigor, from New Delhi. It’s a private museum with the support of Ministry of Culture, Govt of India. It has 12 sections beginning with the automobile gallery. This section pretty much reminded me of the Autoworld Museum in Brussels with its tons of variants of vintage cars. Some featured display includes Pontiac Convertibles of 1960s, Plymouth Sedans of 1950s, Chevrolet Sedans of 1950s, Land Rovers of 1950s etc. What caught my attention was a very interesting Chevrolet 2 door coupe of 1940s. There’s also a tiny little section dedicated to Bollywood which also has the car featured in the movie Dil to Pagal He! There’s also a section that’s set up like a retro car service station which also showcased spare parts of the vintage vehicles. While that’s the most sought after section, from there it plunges deep into history with the invention of the wheel! Then it moves over to display of Pre-Mechanised vehicles of India incl. bullock carts, horse carriages, palanquins etc. There were also some old lithographs that depicted vehicles of retro India! The next section is of the heavy mechanized vehicles where I got to see a van by Volkswagon!!! Also in display were some lorrys and trucks painted in the uber colorful Truck Art which is a much important craft in Pakistan than India! This was followed by a section for Railways, but with just 1 train - the restored 1930s Jodhpur Saloon of the BBCI (Bombay Baroda Central India Railway) set up by British Raj! Even the interiors has been restored well with the royal chairs, marble tables, plush beddings etc. Then there’s a section for two wheelers which began with an interesting installation of cycles!!! A series of various Lamby, reminded me of my dad mentioning that in his youth Lambretta was difficult to acquire and has very long waiting period while Lamby was the easier one to get! Well, it was the Indian version of Lambretta!!! There were also some Lambretta and Vijay scooters, Moped bikes, Rajdoot Bikes etc in display. Apart from these there were some very quirky vehicles as well. There was a Contessa Classic with its exterior completely covered with Rs.1 coins and a Royal Enfield completely encrusted with crystals. Best of it all, there in the garden, on a railway track, stands a train compartment!!! All that said, the museum’s ticket is priced a bit of the higher side and may not be comfortable for everyone. However, the venue is available for hire. Automobile enthusiast couple? How about getting married here at the lawns in front of the train or terrace or the conference room? Around 300 people can be hosted here! That would be destination wedding with a difference!!!
To Get There:
From New Delhi Airport: 65km on NH8
From New Delhi Railway Station: 54km on NH8
From Gurgaon Railway Station: 40km on NH8
Address: Bilaspur - Taoru Road (Major District Road 132) Off NH 8 (Bilaspur Chowk), Taoru Gurgaon (Haryana) 122105 Ph: +91 11 2371 8100
Entry Fee: ₹ 400
Timings: Tue-Sun 10:00AM to 7:00PM
