Things to Do in Trans Namib Transport Museum

Climb aboard the 1904 Jung locomotive

The restored German steam engine lets you squeeze into the cab where coal dust still blackens the firebox walls. You'll feel the heat radiating from the boiler and smell a faint whiff of old engine oil while running your hands along the riveted steel.

Walk through the 1950s sleeper carriage

Mint-green leather banquettes and fold-down bunks show how colonial officials traveled to South Africa, complete with original brass luggage racks and sepia portraits of unknown passengers wedged behind window frames.

Signal box with working levers

A retired stationmaster sometimes hangs around upstairs; he'll let you yank the heavy brass levers that once switched trains onto the Luderitz line, accompanied by the satisfying mechanical clank of steel on steel.

Model railway room

An entire HO-scale replica of the Windhoek-to-Swakopmund line fills a darkened side gallery where tiny headlights pierce the gloom and miniature acacia trees cast shadows across the track.

Platform café inside an old dining car

The 1953 blue-and-silver carriage still serves filter coffee in thick white crockery while you sit at original tables watching modern commuter trains hiss past on the adjacent track.

Windhoek Central: Victorian-era guesthouses converted from German officers' quarters, five minutes' walk from the station

Klein Windhoek: leafy suburb on the hill with guest lodges set in old citrus groves - quiet but a quick taxi ride down to the museum

Eros: mid-century apartment blocks now rented as Airbnbs. Great if you want a kitchen and sunset views over the rail yards

Auasblick: budget backpackers' hostels near the Trans Kalahari bus stop, popular with overlanders stocking up before Sossusvlei

Luxury Hill: upmarket lodges on the eastern ridge where peacocks roam gardens and morning coffee arrives with views of departing trains

Katutura: staying in the township gives evening shebeen culture. Morning minibus taxis run straight to the station for a pittance