Pablo Neruda Railway Museum

The Pablo Neruda Railway Museum is located in the building of the old Temuco Machine House. The construction of the Machine House began in 1929, and was completed in two stages between 1933 and 1941. Steam locomotives were repaired here. In the eighties the decline of the railway system began, which led to a total abandonment of the building and its dependencies. The municipality of Temuco manages to rescue the building, still damaged by the passage of time, constant humidity and earthquakes, transforming it into the Pablo Neruda Railway Museum. The building and the locomotives it contains are declared a National Monument, beginning a long period of repairs. The last earthquake that struck Chile in 2010 left the building uninhabitable, fracturing the old concrete structure, already weakened by humidity. A complete project to value the heritage begins, but with the challenge of giving the building a new use, housing not only the museum but also other cultural functions such as music, dance or theater festivals.
The Machine House is a circular building 100 meters in diameter, with a capacity to house 34 locomotives inside. It has a rotating turntable 27 meters in diameter that allows the machines to be accommodated. The challenge was to restore the old structure and also cover the huge central void to avoid the weather and transform the place into a true cultural center for the region.