The place of railways in collective memory: The case of Sivas rai̇lway campus

The development of railways accelerated with the industrial revolution; transportation networks and urban stops that ensured the mobility of manufactured products and people formed the physical structure of cities while also shaping their socio-cultural and economic structures. In the early years of the Republic of Turkey, the scattered railway lines inherited from the Ottoman Empire were combined and nationalized, and importance was given to the construction of new lines. The expanded railway network and the established industrial facilities played an important role in the modernization and urbanization processes of the Republic of Turkey. Railway settlements, which are the most important complements of the industrial revolution, provide an important source for understanding the architectural style, construction techniques and socio-cultural structure of the society. Railway structures, which have shaped the physical structure and growth of cities since the period they were built, have become symbolic structures that hold an important place in urbanmemory. Railways, which constitute an important symbol of social memory, are of great importance in terms of preserving transportation-related structures, furniture, tools and equipment, documents, etc. and passing them on to future generations. In order to see how important the railways are in the city's memory and to make it sustainable, the Sivas railway campus and Cer Atölye, one of the important industrial establishments of the country with strong traces of the Early Republican Period, were selected as an example in order to determine the current situation in the collective memory of the city dwellers. This study aims to question the impact of railways on the social and physical structures of cities and their place in the collective memory from the past to the present. First of all, a literature review was conducted on the subject, and using the Sivas railway campus and Cer Atölye (TÜRASAŞ) as examples, the physical relationship with the city through Kevin Lynch's readability/imageability analysis was explored. Surveys were then conducted to investigate the place of the railway campus in collective memory. As a final product, a sustainable digital memory archive was prepared with railway memory elements and survey participant comments.