Created in 1989, Breil-sur-Roya’s Eco-museum is housed in the former locomotive warehouse at Breil station, built in 1927. It is dedicated to the memory of those who designed, built and operated the exceptional Franco-Italian railway line passing through the Roya-Vermenagna valleys.
The railway material is presented on a disused area of the station (still active). It shows SNCF (French National Railway Company) entrusted locomotives and trams, associations or individuals. On the occasion of special circulations organized in collaboration with the Eco-museum, French and Italian steam engines return to Breil-sur-Roya.
Its first rail vehicles were the 1267 locomotive of Marseille’s tramway, and the 141 R 1108.
Over the years, the eco-museum’s collections have developed around the local industrial heritage, with exhibitions on hydroelectricity, transport and an extensive network at the HO scale reproducing the characteristic sites of the Col de Tende line. The collection has been enriched by new parts: BB 8238 and CC 7140 locomotives, Y 2423 locomotives, X 2804, 2215 and 2217 railcars and the “Train des Merveilles” (Train of Wonders) trailer XR 6144, a CPC TB18 tramway car from Marseille, a berth wagon, two postal vans, as well as thirty road vehicles, trolleybuses and buses.
The Haut-Pays and Transports Eco-museum, fruit of a private initiative, is managed within the framework of a non-profit association.