Antonin Dvořák - The Trainspotter


As a nine-year-old boy Antonin Dvořák became intoxicated with the sight, sound and smell of steam locomotives when a newly opened railway line from Prague to Kralupy passed through his hometown of Nelahozeves.

From then on he never lost an opportunity to visit a railway station whenever he was on tour to indulge in a bit of trainspotting and chat with the drivers and engineers. 

This life-long fascination reached its peak in the 1890s during his visits to America. Dvořák used to ride New York’s overhead railway and would watch passing trains from an embankment.


During his final years he visited Prague’s railway stations on an almost daily basis, and it was one final determined trip to Prague’s main station at Vinohrady in April 1904 that exacerbated his failing health. A few days later the great man passed away.