The is a
railway museum
A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives ( steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic e ...
in
Saitama, Saitama
is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. Being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lying 1 ...
, Japan, which opened on 14 October 2007. It was built and is operated by the East Japan Railway Culture Foundation, a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
affiliate of the
East Japan Railway Company
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
(JR East). It consists of a 19,800 m² building on a site covering 42,500 m², with a display area 9,500 m² in size.
The museum features about 30 railway cars, train cab simulators, railway model
diorama
A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...
s, mini trains, storage for artifacts and books, video booths, a multi-purpose hall, a gallery balcony, a cafeteria, a museum shop, and a research room.
Facility
![Main hall of the Railway Museum in Saitama January 2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Main_hall_of_the_Railway_Museum_in_Saitama_January_2019.jpg)
The museum places emphasis on learning through interactive experiences and is mainly divided into two zones: the history zone and the learning zone. The history zone recounts the history of railway technology with the help of trains that were in service in the past. In the learning zone, visitors can gain knowledge of the principles and mechanisms of railway with the use of actual parts and models. The tour of the museum takes roughly two hours with extra time for interactive exhibits.
A library room, known as the "Teppaku Reading Room" opened on 21 July 2012 in the remodelled North Wing of the museum.
History
![Kotsu hakubutsukan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Kotsu_hakubutsukan.jpg)
The present Railway Museum is the successor to the in
. This museum also opened as the Railway Museum under the elevated railway track near
Tokyo Station
Tokyo Station ( ja, 東京駅, ) is a railway station in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The original station is located in Chiyoda's Marunouchi business district near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Imperial Palace grounds. The newer Eastern extension is ...
celebrating the beginning of the 50th year of the railways in Japan on 14 October 1921. In 1936, the Railway Museum was relocated to the new facility built in the place of former building of
Manseibashi Station
can refer to two closed railway stations all in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. One was a railway station on the Japanese Government Railways Chūō Main Line and the other was a subway station in the Tokyo Subway network.
Both stations were closed by ...
, which station continued to operate until 1943 as an accessory of the museum. The museum was renamed the Transportation Museum in 1948 to cover various means of transportation. On 14 May 2006, the museum was closed pending a move to the new Railway Museum in Saitama.
In November 2012, it was announced that the Railway Museum would form a sister-museum alliance with the
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...
in York, UK.
Driving simulators
The museum features driving simulators that allow visitors to experience being drivers of a D51 steam locomotive, a
Shinkansen
The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...
train, and trains on the
Tokaido Line, the
Keihin Tohoku Line
Keihin may refer to:
* Keihin region, Japan
* Keihin Corporation
The is a Japanese automotive and motorcycle parts company headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. The company is a major supplier to Honda, who owns nearly half of Keihin ...
, and the
Yamanote Line
The Yamanote Line ( ja, 山手線, Yamanote-sen) is a loop service in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It is one of Tokyo's busiest and most important lines, connecting most of Tokyo's major stations and urban ...
. Simulators require a reservation obtained via reservation terminals installed in the museum and cost 500 yen. The D51 simulator is appropriate for junior high school students and older, the other simulators allow elementary school students as well.
Exhibits
The following full-size vehicles are on display.
Locomotives
![Model D51 in Railway Museum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Model_D51_in_Railway_Museum.jpg)
*
Class 150 steam locomotive – No. 1, the first locomotive to operate in Japan
*Class 1290 steam locomotive – No. 1292 ''Zenko''
*
JNR Class 7100 steam locomotive – No. 7101 ''Benkei''
*JNR Class 9850
Mallet
A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...
steam locomotive – No. 9856, cut away to show internal workings
*
JNR Class C51
The is a type of 4-6-2 steam locomotive built by Kisha Seizo Mitsubishi and Japanese National Railways (JNR) Hamamatsu Works . The C classification indicates three sets of driving wheels. The C51 introduced diameter driving wheels to Japan. C51s ...
steam locomotive – No. C51 5
*
JNR Class C57
The is a type of 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in Japan from 1937 to 1947. A total of 201 Class C57 locomotives were built and designed by Hideo Shima . Another 14 Class C57 locomotives were built for export to Taiwan in 1942 and 1953.
The clas ...
steam locomotive – No. C57 135, the locomotive that hauled the last scheduled steam service in 1975
*Class DD13 diesel locomotive – No. DD13 1
* electric locomotive – No. ED17 1
*Class ED40 electric locomotive – No. ED40 10
*Class EF55 electric locomotive – No. EF55 1 (since 12 April 2015)
*
Class EF58
The is a class of Japanese 2-C+C-2 wheel arrangement DC electric locomotives. 172 locomotives were built between 1946 and 1958.
The later years
In 1984, 64 out of 172 EF58 locos built were still in service or temporary storage. However, th ...
electric locomotive – No. EF58 89
*
Class EF66
The is a six-axle, three-bogied ( Bo′Bo′Bo′) DC electric locomotive designed for fast freight used by Japanese National Railways (JNR) and later operated by its descendants JR West and JR Freight. , 39 locomotives remained in service, all ...
electric locomotive – No. EF66 11
*
Class ED75
The is a Bo-Bo wheel arrangement AC electric locomotive type operated on passenger and freight services in Japan since 1963. A total of 302 locomotives were built by Hitachi, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba between 1963 and 1976. , just five locomo ...
electric locomotive – No. ED75 775
Electric railcars
*Hanifu1 passenger and luggage carriage (formerly car De963)
*Class Nade 6110 electric railcar – No. Nade 6141
*Class Kumoha 40 electric railcar – No. Kumoha 40074
*
101 series
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
electric multiple unit car – No. Kumoha 101-902
*
181 series electric multiple unit car – No. Kuha 181-45
*
455 series electric multiple unit car – No. Kumoha 455-1
*
485 series
The (and the earlier 481 and 483 series variants) is a Japanese limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) type introduced in 1964 by Japanese National Railways (JNR), and subsequently operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), ...
electric multiple unit car – No. Kuha 481-26
*
485 series
The (and the earlier 481 and 483 series variants) is a Japanese limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) type introduced in 1964 by Japanese National Railways (JNR), and subsequently operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), ...
electric multiple unit car – No. Moha 484-61
*
0 Series Shinkansen car – No. 21-2
Japan Railfan Magazine
is a Japanese-language monthly magazine for railfans covering the mainly Japanese railways published by Koyusha. It has been published in Japan since 1961. Issues go on sale on the 21st of each month, two months before the cover month (e.g. the Ma ...
"鉄道博物館 0系新幹線(21-2)の一般公開を開始" (21 October 2009)
Retrieved on 24 October 2009
*
0 Series Shinkansen car – No. 21-25 (cab section only)
*
200 Series Shinkansen
The was a Shinkansen high-speed train type introduced by Japanese National Railways (JNR) for the Tohoku Shinkansen and Joetsu Shinkansen high-speed rail lines in Japan, and operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) until 2013. They ac ...
car – No. 222-35
*
400 Series Shinkansen car – No. 411-3
*
E1 Series Shinkansen
The was a high-speed Shinkansen train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan from July 1994 until September 2012. They were the first double-deck trains built for Japan's Shinkansen. They were generally, along with thei ...
car – No. E153-104
Diesel railcars
![Model KIHA11 of JNR](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Model_KIHA11_of_JNR.jpg)
*Class KiHa 41300 railcar – No. KiHa 41056
*Class KiHa 11 railcar – No. KiHa 11 25
Passenger carriages
* Kotoku 5010 ''Kaitakushi'' passenger carriage
* 31 series passenger carriage – No. Oha 31026
* Maite 39 passenger carriage – No. Maite 39 11
* 20 series sleeping car – No. Nahanefu 22 1
Imperial carriages
*Imperial Carriage No. 1 – first one of the cars so numbered
*Imperial Carriage No. 2 – first one of the cars so numbered
*Imperial Carriage No. 7
*Imperial Carriage No. 9
*Imperial Carriage No. 10
*Imperial Carriage No. 12
Freight vehicles
* Remufu10000 refrigerator wagon – No. Remufu 10000
* Koki50000 container wagon – No. Koki 50000
The English class names of the cars and locomotives listed above are largely based on the English version of ''Floor Guide'' of the museum as of October 2007.
Access
The museum is located adjacent to
Tetsudō-Hakubutsukan Station on the
New Shuttle
The is a manually driven rubber-tyred people mover system in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, operated by .
The 12.7-kilometre that runs north from Ōmiya Station in Saitama, Saitama, alongside the Tohoku Shinkansen and Joetsu Shinkansen elevated ...
people mover, one stop from
Ōmiya Station, a hub station of the JR East system. The museum has a limited number of parking spaces.
Address
3-47 Ōnari-chō, Ōmiya-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama-ken 330-0852
Extension
A new four-storey extension south building opened in summer 2018.
Originally planned to be a five-storey structure opening in autumn 2017, the plans were revised and scaled down in 2016 to reduce excessive costs.
See also
*
Kyoto Railway Museum
The (formerly the until 2016) is a railway museum in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The original Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum opened in 1972, but was expanded and modernized in 2016, becoming the Kyoto Railway Museum.
The museum is owned by We ...
,
JR West
, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...
counterpart in
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
*
SCMaglev and Railway Park
The is a railway museum owned by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in Nagoya, Japan. The museum opened on 14 March 2011.
The museum features 39 full-size railway vehicles and one bus exhibit, train cab simulators, and railway model d ...
,
JR Central
is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...
counterpart in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
References
External links
Railway Museum
{{JR
Museums established in 2007
Buildings and structures in Saitama (city)
Museums in Saitama Prefecture
Railway museums in Japan
2007 establishments in Japan
East Japan Railway Company