The museum was established in 1927 and was initially located in one of the main buildings of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch National Railway) in Utrecht.

In this location there was far more room to exhibit the entire collection to the public, including historical rail equipment.

Until 2003, a long line of historic steam locomotives on track one of the station was one of the most distinctive aspects of the exhibit.

Over the years, more rail vehicles and trams were added to the museum, and in the 1960s the plaza in front of the building was filled with rolling stock, which suffered much from the weather.

In 1977 the museum was expanded with a pedestrian bridge, allowing access to an exhibit area on the other side of the freight rail tracks behind the main building.

Additional buildings were added, such as the signal box from Hoogezand-Sappemeer, and a crossing guard house from Elst (in the province of Gelderland).

Later additions, in the 1990s, were two warehouses, one of which now houses a restaurant, and a new building on the back lot with a large model railway.

The growing collection of rolling stock was largely restored, and partly returned to operating condition.

Some of the trains had suffered due to being stored out in the open, so there has been an ongoing effort to have the entire exhibit area roofed over.

A large new museum building was constructed, which now contains four "worlds": The presentation was redesigned to appeal much more to the general public, especially visitors with children, and to be interesting for corporate events and the like.