Uncover the Secrets of La Plancha’s Rotating Table Museum

Trains were once the lifeblood of Yucatan, transporting not just goods but also memories, stories, and the hard work of those who kept them running. The railway was the heartbeat of daily life, and many families relied on it. Today, while the tracks may be silent, the history is still journeying – but now it travels through the digital world. The Rotating Table of La Plancha, a virtual museum developed by INAH Yucatan Center, provides a fresh perspective on this railway past.

By visiting this link, you can embark on a digital exploration of this historical structure, delve into 3D models, view high-resolution images, and follow a timeline that illustrates its evolution over the years.

What sets this platform apart is not just the technology, but the voices that animate it. On the website, you can find interviews with former railway workers who dedicated their lives to this profession. Their stories offer a glimpse into the everyday life in the workshops, the challenges they encountered, and the vital role the railway played in Yucatan's economy and social life. These firsthand accounts provide a personal and authentic connection to our collective memory.

The website does more than just present the rotating table as an architectural feature. It also displays original tools and parts used in railway maintenance. Large wrenches, robust screws, and precision equipment from the workshops are part of this digitized collection. Each object has a story and a purpose, and now they can be explored in detail thanks to the website's interactive visualization.

Creating this experience required a multidisciplinary team to digitize each piece using 3D modeling and high-resolution photography. The website was designed to be user-friendly, allowing anyone, regardless of their technical expertise, to navigate without difficulty. Interactive features were added to zoom in, zoom out, and apply augmented reality to each object, revealing its role within the railway system.

This digital museum is part of INAH Yucatan's commitment to finding innovative ways to preserve and share history. Digitizing heritage not only safeguards these elements from the ravages of time but also makes them accessible to a wider audience, no matter where they are. With this initiative, the history of the railway in Yucatan continues to journey, not on rails, but through technology. Because just like the trains of the past, memory never ceases to travel.