Submarine 'TCG Uluçalireis'

This vessel was originally built as the BALAO/TENCH-class US Navy Submarine USS THORNBACK (SS-418) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, USA in 1944: it is more than 93m long, and displaces more than 2,400 tons. The boat saw service in the Second World War against the Japanese before being decommissioned and placed in the US Navy Reserve fleet in 1946. In the early 1950s USS THORNBACK was modernised to GUPPY IIa specification and re-entered service in 1953. She was transferred to the Turkish Navy on 2nd July 1971, and immediately renamed TCG Uluçalireis with pennant number S-338. She then gave thirty years of valuable service to the Turkish Naval Forces before being finally transferred to the care of this Museum in 2001.

Hasköy-Sütlüce Railway

Take a trip on the Hasköy-Sütlüce Railway! Enjoy a short ride in one of our period carriages behind a 1960s Ruston and Hornsby diesel locomotive, or a 1970s Baguley-Drewry. The layout includes about 700m of track, six sets of points, two sidings, two run-around loops and headshunts, a platform and station building, a maintenance pit, coal bunkers, an ash pit, and a water tower. The train runs every hour, on the hour on Saturdays and Sundays, and tickets are free to paying Museum visitors.

1917 Albion X-Ray Ambulance

The famous Scottish firm of Albion, formed in 1899, is well known for its commercial vehicles, especially lorries and buses. The A10 was one of the most common chassis used by the British Army in the First World War, and gained a fine reputation for strength and reliability, with almost 8,800 produced in total. This particular vehicle, ordered in January 1917 (with the bodywork and X-ray equipment fitted later in England), presumably saw service in the conflict between the Allied forces and the Ottoman Empire. The vehicle operated in Turkey for some years after the war before going into storage and being restored by this Museum's Workshop in 2001.

1961 Amphicar


The amphibious Amphicar was designed in 1957-8 in Germany. It has a rear mounted Triumph Herald engine, driving the rear wheels or propellers, and is steered in water by turning the front wheels.

1898 Malden Steam Car

At the turn of the century there were three competing forms of motive power for cars: petrol, electricity and steam. Each offered similar performance, and steam cars were very successful. This particular model was built in Malden, Massachusetts, USA in 1898 and gives a clear idea of how much the design of early cars owed to the horse carriage.

Olive Oil Factory

A lovingly recreated and authentic industrial scene, incorporating all the elements of an actual olive oil factory from Bademli on the Aegean Coast. See the original steam engine turning and operating the drive belts and millstones. Other items include the original crushed olive presses and boiler front, plus many other historical details..

Tugboat "Liman II"

The Liman 2 was built in Holland in 1935, and served the Port of Istanbul continuously until 1990, when she was bought and restored for the museum in 1991. Measuring almost 19m in length and weighing more than 50 tons gross, she is powered by a triple expansion steam engine of some 170 hp. Liman 2 is in fully working condition and can still occasionally be seen in steam.

Traditional Shops

This picturesque street of recreated shops is one of the most popular exhibits in the museum. Newly built in order to show off the many smaller, yet nonetheless fascinating exhibits in the collection, it contains a clockmaker, scientific instrument shop, cobbler and blacksmith, ship's chandlers, chemist, and of course a toyshop!

Sultan's Carriage

This beautifully restored coach was built in 1866 at Saltley, Birmingham by the Metropolitan Carriage & Wagon Company for Sultan Abdul Aziz and presented to him as a gift from the Ottoman Railway company, which operated the Izmir-Aydin route. The Sultan used the carriage during his tour of Europe in 1867. It was restored at the Museum's workshops in 1998.

Locomotive G10

The Prussian G10 design has an unusual 0-10-0 wheel layout. This example was manufactured by Borsig in 1912 or 1913 and after service with the KPEV (Royal Prussian Railways) arrived in Turkey as one of an eventual total of 49 'Class 55' locomotives: it is now numbered 55022. This impressive steam engine is 18.9 metres long and weighs 76 tonnes.

Riva Aquarama

Surely one of the most beautiful and glamorous motorboats ever designed, the Riva Aquarama is one of the last wooden vessels from the famous Riva Shipyard in Italy. It is powered by twin Chris-Craft V8 engines of 230 hp each.

Thomas Edison Patent Model

One of the most significant items in the collection is this 1876 patent model by Thomas Edison, describing a method of improving the telegraph system so that it could send alphabetic letters instead of symbols. Edison was one of the most prolific and significant inventors of all time, and his patent models are much sought after by museums and collectors alike.

Douglas DC-3 'Dakota'

The most successful and well-loved airliner ever built, the DC-3 first flew in 1935, and became the mainstay of world civil aviation in the forties and fifties. Sixty years later, more than 400 remained in service. This particular aircraft was a corporate transport for both Ford and General Motors before arriving in Turkey, where it performed charter work until being laid up in 1986.

Steam Engine from "SS Kalendar"

A fine triple-expansion steam engine from the Bosphorus ferry boat Kalender, manufactured in 1911 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, by the Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Company.The Kalender had two main engines, and this was the starboard one. It was in use from 1911 until the mid-1980s.

B-24 Liberator "Hadley's Harem"

One of 177 Liberators from Benghazi that bombed oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania on August 1st, 1943 - "Black Sunday". After bombing the target, and crippled by a German fighter, the B-24 tried to fly to the British Base at Cyprus but ended up ditching near Antalya. Much of the airframe was salvaged in 1995 and the cockpit section, partly restored, was put on display with the help of Mr. Roy Newton, one of seven survivors of the crash. The remainder of the aircraft was preserved with the help of the Turkish Air Force, and now the entire remains have been placed under a tent structure in our outdoor display area. The missing sections have been replaced by a new aluminium framework, and it is now possible to imagine the aircraft as it might have been more than 60 years ago.