The show began a few days before the inauguration of the actual exhibition when, on December 16, fortunate passers-by were amazed to see three locomotives entering the Nave of the Grand Palais via the old coachman's passage.
When the exhibition opened, four locomotives were the centrepiece of the exhibition, milestones through which the extent of the technical progress accomplished in the history of rail transport could be gauged. On show were the BB9004 steam locomotive, built in 1942, and which broke the speed record in 1955, the 1981 TGV high-speed train, whose sleek orange silhouette symbolised the start of a new era in rail transport, and finally the new Transilien multiple unit, due to enter service at the end of 2009. To mark the occasion, visitors were invited on board the four locomotives to live out the childhood dream of being a train driver!
The exhibition set out to tell the amazing story of the SNCF through art. The railway has, from its very beginnings, been a constant source of inspiration for cinema, photography, posters, fashion, literature, architecture, contemporary art and design. Visitors were able to rediscover posters vaunting the attractions of new holiday resorts, the uniforms and caps of railway employees, and books and films made by just some of the many authors and directors to have been inspired by rail travel. A special children's area was a massive success: how many children never played with toy trains or dreamed of one day driving a locomotive? L'art entre en gare drew nearly 124,000 visitors.
