The National railway museum of Pietrarsa is situated between the cities of Naples, Portici, and San Giorgio a Cremano. It lies just to the side of the Naples-Portici railway line, the first one in Italy. Pietrarsa is an area among these villages in the past known as “Pietra Bianca” (white stone) but it was renamed Pietrarsa (burnt stone) after the eruption of the Vesuvius in 1631.