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 West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and is operated by Transportation Culture Promotion Foundation.

Exhibition zones

The museum is divided into the following exhibition areas, including the 20-track roundhouse built in 1914. * Promenade * Main Hall * Twilight Plaza * Roundhouse * Former Nijō Station File:Kyoto railway museum promenade rolling stock.JPG, The Promenade area in May 2016

Main Hall

This is a three-storey building completed in April 2016. File:KYOTO RAILWAY MUSEUM Main building Main Space 20160508.jpg, Exhibits in the main hall in May 2016 File:Kyoto railway museum main building 1F 20160508.jpg, The Main Hall viewed from the second floor in May 2016

Roundhouse

The 1914 roundhouse was built surrounding a turntable. It is an Important Cultural Property designated by the government of Japan as the oldest reinforced-concrete car shed extant in Japan. File:Kyoto railway museum Steam Locomotive depot.JPG, The roundhouse in May 2016

Former Nijo Station

This two-storey structure was formerly part of Nijō Station in Kyoto until March 1996, and was subsequently moved to the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum where if formed the entrance building, housing the museum shop. File:Umekoji SL museum 001 JPN.jpg, The former Nijo Station building in February 2006

Exhibits

a total of 53 rolling stock items are on display at the museum.

Steam locomotives

8620 steam locomotive 8630 on the Umekoji Locomotive Shop turntable 2016-09-19

Diesel locomotives

DE10 1156 Sagano Scenic Railway livery 2015-06-23

Electric locomotives

Shinkansen

100 series 122-5003 Kyoto Railway Museum 20161017

EMUs

DMUs

Coaches

Freight wagons

History

As early as 1967 plans were being made to make the round-house at Umekoji depot, Kyoto into a live museum where good-order examples of Japanese steam locomotives could be displayed and also steamed and run. The museum was opened by Japanese National Railways (JNR) on October 10, 1972 commemorating the centennial of the railway in Japan. When JNR was divided into regional companies in 1987, the museum was inherited by JR West.

Expansion plans

On 19 December 2012, JR West officially announced its plans to modernize and expand the Umekoji museum. It was announced on 18 December 2013 that the enlarged museum would be renamed the Kyoto Railway Museum. The construction cost was 7.0 billion yen. Once the expansion was complete, the new museum exhibit space covered 31,000 square meters, becoming the largest railway museum in Japan both in terms of floor space and the number of trains exhibited, and surpassing JR East's Railway Museum in Saitama and JR Central's SCMaglev and Railway Park in Nagoya. The expansion became necessary due to the aging facilities of the Modern Transportation Museum in Osaka. The Modern Transportation Museum closed on 6 April 2014, and the exhibits housed there were subsequently moved to the new railway museum in Kyoto.

Access

The museum is approximately 3 minutes on foot from

Umekōji-Kyōtonishi Station is a railway station located in Kankijichō, Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto. The station was opened on 16 March 2019, and operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West), with station number JR-E02. The station is served by the Sagano Line (Sanin Main ...

References

External links

* {{JR Museums established in 1972 Museums in Kyoto Railway museums in Japan West Japan Railway Company 1972 establishments in Japan Important Cultural Properties of Japan