Eisenbahnmuseum Alter Bahnhof Lette

Description

As a local monument and exhibition venue in the district of Coesfeld, Bahnhof Lette (Kr Coesfeld) today presents itself as a volunteer-run railway museum. The former station building stands on the Dortmund–Gronau line and preserves the fabric of a rural station with historic operational facilities.

The brick building was erected in the last quarter of the 19th century in the round-arched style; it is two-bay, gable-fronted and has a shallow-pitched gabled roof. After the turn of the century, signal-box and freight-handling rooms were added. Originally Lette served a farming environment and at times had a station inn, which was closed when the Preußische Staatsbahn took over.

In 1903 the line became the property of the Preußische Staatsbahn; around 1907 it was upgraded to an operational location with a second track, expanded signals and a loading siding. From 1908 Lette had independent operational management until it was subordinated in 1959; the last staff left the station on 23 October 1990, and since then Lette has served as an unstaffed halt. Goods traffic shaped the life of the region until the mid-1950s; wagon-load freight handling was discontinued in June 1993. In passenger services operators and vehicle types changed: from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives and battery railcars, to diesel multiple units of classes 624/924, 628/928 and today’s Talent multiple units. Operations were at times managed by various regional railway companies; since December 2011 DB Regio AG, Region NRW has run Talent multiple units.

In 1990 an association was founded after a dismantling of the building had been planned; the initiative achieved listing as a monument in 1991. Despite partial track removal in 2000, the ensemble has been preserved. The museum displays the original rooms: a fully preserved and operational lever frame with block box, the interior furnishings of the service room and numerous tools document everyday life at the small station. The collections include models, signals, uniform items, photographs, posters, locomotive parts and historical documents. A large HO model railway runs in the basement; outside there are reconstructed signals, chimneys from former steam locomotives, rail wheels and a reconstructed half-timbered crossing-keeper’s hut (Posten 43). An archive, various vehicles held as depot items and a restored freight-handling room expand the presentation.

The museum presents rotating exhibitions on railway history, on the everyday life of railway workers, on wartime topics and on model railways, thereby offering diverse insights into the technical and social aspects of the railway.