The MILS is located in a historic industrial warehouse with its characteristic shed roof; it was made available by the Ferrovie Nord Milano, a regional railways company. The museum bears witness to some of the more prestigious histories of the Italian industry. The first sections of the museum were inaugurated on October 25th, 1998; over the years the space of the museum was extended up to the today’s structure of 2,200 sqm of which 800 sqm indoor and 1,400 sqm open-air. The central nucleus of the museum heritage is represented by a broad collection of train engines and other railways rolling stock (rail cars and passenger cars) of the Ferrovie Nord Milano (in the open air) together with a rich set of railway objects and instruments located in the indoor area. This interesting heritage can be considered a rare example of collection of historical materials related to regional railways in Italy.
The MILS covered area displays machinery, instruments, equipment, and documents of most important industrial enterprises operating in Saronno from the 1850s on and established at a national level; they are a precious testimony of the industrial civilization between 19th and 20th century.
The heritage includes:
The Museum represents an exceptional compendium of relevant industrial case histories and harmonizes them with the history of the local territory.
The Museum is a private, non-profit-making institution and lives thanks to the active contribution of its volunteers who are former employees of the represented companies and then as such capable to offer the visitors a direct witness of their past work.
The MILS is recognized as museum collection (decision of the Regional Council of November 5th, 2004) and in 2018 it was recognized as an entity carrying out activities of regional importance for education and cultural promotion (decree # 3740 dated March 16th, 2018 of the Lombardy Region).