The Railway Museum (Dutch: Het Spoorwegmuseum) in Utrecht is the Dutch National Railway Museum.
It was established in 1927 and since 1954 has been housed in the former Maliebaan station. The museum currently owns a large and varied collection of rolling stock.

Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) NS 373 of the type Mat '46, ElD2 serie 221 - 299, built in 1952 preserved at the Het Spoorwegmuseum / Railway Museum in Utecht Maliebaan former Station. July 15th, 2022.

The Electric Equipment type 1946 was mainly purchased to replenish the losses of equipment caused by the war as quickly as possible. The design was created in 1946 at a time when there was no money to proceed with an order. This was only possible in 1947. Funding took place from 1948 on from four annual investment plans, referred to as plan A (1948), plan B (1949), plan AB (1950) and plan C (1951). This equipment consisted of four-car trainsets and two-car trains. A trainset is a fixed assembly of carriages that can only be split into separate carriages in a maintenance workshop. That cannot be otherwise, because two carriages are placed on three bogies: the center bogie therefore carries two bodies that cannot be uncoupled. The head shape is based on the streamlined shape of the 1936 and 1940 equipment types, but the front windows are larger and have a modified layout due to the application of reinforcement struts behind those windows.
From 1948 to 1952, 66 four-car multiple units of the series 641 - 706 and 79 two-car sets 221 - 299 were put into service. The trainsets were used in both stop and express train services. All trainsets were in 2nd and 3rd class and had a spacious baggage area. The four-carriages also had a small restoration department.
In 1956 the 1st class also expired in international trains, after which the decision was made to change the 2nd class to 1st class, and the old 3rd class to new style 2nd class. At that time, the dark green color of the electric trains was painted in the lighter grass green.
At the end of the seventies of the last century, the trainsets went out of service. The last reason was still in 1983.

Only the two-car train set 273, built in 1952 by NV Werkspoor in Utrecht, of this material, has been preserved by the Stibans. It was not until 1987 that the train set was made available to the Railway Museum. It features 24 seats 2nd class and 80 seats 3rd class.
After restoration in the Wagenwerkplaats in Amersfoort, it was placed in service in the Railway Museum in 1996.
The 273 was repainted in 2007 in collaboration with the tROM employment project of the municipality of Tilburg.
In the spring of 2009 the 273 was hit by a Sprinter of the shuttle service Utrecht CS - Utrecht Maliebaan v.v. The 273 was pushed against a bumper, so that the noses at both ends were damaged. The train set has been repaired at the Revisiebedrijf in Tilburg.
In 2010, the exemption for driving without an ATB was withdrawn (ATB = Automatic Train Influence). A simplified ATB system (ATBe) and a public address system were installed by NV Strukton and completed in September 2010.
The 273 is fully operational again.

Photo by Guido Allieri (guido@allieri.com)