Dresden park railway

On behalf of	Staatliche Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten Sachsen GmbH
Period	2024-2025

Educative Exhibition
Implementation Planning
Installation

On behalf of Staatliche Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten Sachsen GmbH, we are implementing our concept for revising the educational offers of the Dresden Park Railway since the middle of last year. We are responsible for the design and planning of the implementation.

A woman can be seen from behind. She is walking into a building with a glass front. At the top it says ‘Straßburger Platz railway station’. On the right of the picture is a blue stand with a green steam railway on it. The white smoke on it reads ‘Dresdner Parkeisenbahn’.

A blue display can be seen. A green, red and black steam railway can be seen in the foreground. Drawn white steam can be seen around and above the railway. ‘Dresdner Parkeisenbahn’ is written at the top of the steam cloud.

A media station is located inside the station of the Dresden Park Railway. The media station is made of wood and has a large screen in the centre. Listening devices can be recognised on the sides. The screen is blue with some pictures on it. The headline reads ‘What do young people do on the park railway?’.

The inside of the railway station can be seen. The interior is reminiscent of a waiting hall: on the left are several wooden benches in front of a large window. Two media stations - also made of wood - with screens can be seen between the benches. The ceiling is also made of wood and, with its long wooden beams, mirrors the appearance of the benches below.

A screen is embedded in a black and grey device, with a hand hovering above it. The locomotive cleaning game can be recognised on the screen.

‘Mission statement of the Dresden Park Railway’ is written in white on a black background. Further blocks of text can be recognised below this.

75 years of the park railway

Task and approach

The Dresden Park Railway has been delighting railway fans of all ages for decades. On the occasion of its 75th anniversary, all stations were completely overhauled, in some cases thoroughly renovated and remodelled. After winning the competitive tender, we took over the design and implementation planning for the revision of the information services at the exhibitions. We are also renewing the entire signage system.

You can see an information board. A hand opens a flap under which further information on the topic of "Train drivers' tasks" appears. Above this, further dark green and orange flaps can be seen on the topics "Who keeps an eye on everything?", "Who makes the locomotives fit?" and "Who works in driving operations?".

An information board hangs in front of a white exterior wall. The title reads ‘A day's ride on the park railway’. Below it, several flaps and texts can be recognised in a light blue and white painted box. These are the flaps from the picture next to it. A red line running across the board shows the route of the locomotives through the park.

A white house is halfway down the left-hand side of the picture. A fence can be seen next to it. A canopy extends over the fence. There is a red railway in the background. A window can be seen on the inside of the house, above which hangs a sign saying ‘Tickets’. Next to the window are wooden shutters. A sign reading ‘Carolasee railway station’ hangs under the roof. To the left of the outside of the house is an information board with the heading ‘A day's ride on the park railway’.

A white house can be recognised. On the outside wall on the right is the information board for ‘A day's ride on the park railway’. To the left of the house is a device with a red wheel attached to it. Above the device is written ‘Stories from everyday life on a day on the railway’.

The interactive device ‘Stories from everyday life on a driving day’ can be seen again. A woman turns the red wheel.

Combination of analogue and digital

Our approach

We combine analogue-interactive elements on site with digital enrichments for in-depth learning. To this end, we are realising educative exhibitions both indoors and outdoors at a total of five locations. Our aim is to bring the park railway hobby and all its players closer to a wide audience. To this end, we cover both the history of the Dresden Park Railway and current processes. Our offers are designed both for adults and in a playful way for children, bringing together young and old railway fans.

A large information board hangs on the outside of a building. The headline reads ‘Welcome to the railway station’. ‘Karcherallee’ is written in small letters below it. A drawn image of the park can be seen, in which the route of the park railway is drawn in black. On the right, in a large black circle, it says ‘...and in the large garden’.

Close-up of an information board depicting the park. The section around Lake Carola can be recognised. Black lines show the route of the park railway.

Life-size figures of people in shades of green and blue stand in front of a fence. The figures are carrying conductor's paraphernalia and have their arms crossed.

An information board provides texts on ‘A hobby for life’. Drawings of figures with text underneath describe at what age you can get involved with the Dresden Park Railway.

Videos, games and more

Our implementation

In total, several media stations, analogue photo elements and interactive information boards are being created. At Straßburgerplatz station, for example, there are three media stations: In a video station, people explain their different roles in the park railway cosmos, while visitors can follow live on a screen where which train is currently located thanks to tracking technology. Alternatively, they can shorten their waiting time by playing a video game. We also combine analogue interaction elements such as a console with flaps with digital enhancements such as animated videos under the flaps. In addition, many analogue stations offer the option of scanning a QR code to delve deeper into the topic online. There is also a telephone that children can use to imitate the announcements at the station. In future, visitors will also be able to take an analogue journey through time and find out more about the history of the park railway.

A sign stands in front of a railway station. It is orange-blue and provides information about ‘Signalling technology’.

Close-up of the ‘Signalling technology’ information sign. Drawings of various signs from train traffic can be recognised. The meaning is written next to each one.

Close-up of the drawings of the individual signs for railway traffic.

An information sign in the shape of a railway is attached at an angle to a metal device. The sign shows information on the electric batteries of a locomotive. A red steam locomotive can be seen against a blue background. Several flaps can be seen on the locomotive, which can be folded up.

The flaps on the information panel about electric batteries are folded up. A QR code can be seen under the left flap. There is also a text block with information. A picture of a steam locomotive and blocks of text with information can also be seen under the right-hand flap.

Pay attention to monument protection!

Challenges

One challenge in the implementation of the project was the high monument protection requirements in the ‘Großer Garten’ garden monument. We adapted our designs to the requirements several times, for example in the placement of the stations or the choice of colours.