Kyoto Railway Museum

Kyoto Railway Museum
京都鉄道博物館

The museum entrance
Kyoto city
Former name Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum
Established
  • October 10, 1972 (1972-10-10) (as Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum)
  • April 29, 2016 (2016-04-29) (as Kyoto Railway Museum)
Location Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Coordinates 34°59′13.98″N 135°44′35.24″E / 34.9872167°N 135.7431222°E / 34.9872167; 135.7431222Coordinates: 34°59′13.98″N 135°44′35.24″E / 34.9872167°N 135.7431222°E / 34.9872167; 135.7431222
Type Railway museum
Owner JR West
Public transit access Tambaguchi Station, JR West Sagano Line
Nearest car park Umekoji Park
Website www.kyotorailwaymuseum.jp/en/

The Kyoto Railway Museum (京都鉄道博物館 Kyōto Tetsudō Hakubutsukan) (formerly the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum (梅小路蒸気機関車館 Umekōji Jōkikikansha-kan) 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.

Main Hall

This is a three-storey building completed in April 2016.[1]

Roundhouse

The 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.[2]

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.[1]

Exhibits

As of April 2016 a total of 53 rolling stock items are on display at the museum.[3][1]

Steam locomotives

B20 10 in February 2006
C61 2
Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area
JGR Class 7100 7105 H.K. Porter (USA) 1880 Roundhouse
JNR Class 1800 1801 Kitson (UK) 1881 Main hall
JNR Class 1070 1080 Dubs (UK) 1901 Roundhouse
JNR Class 230 233 Kisha Seizo 1903 Main hall
JNR Class 8620 8630 Kisha Seizo 1914 Roundhouse
JNR Class 9600 9633 Kawasaki 1914 Roundhouse
JNR Class D50 D50 140 Hitachi 1926 Roundhouse
JNR Class C51 C51 239 Kisha Seizo 1927 Roundhouse
JNR Class C53 C53 45 Kisha Seizo 1928 Roundhouse
JNR Class C11 C11 64 Kawasaki 1935 Roundhouse
JNR Class C55 C55 1 Kawasaki 1935 Roundhouse
JNR Class D51 D51 1 Kawasaki 1936 Roundhouse
JNR Class C57 C57 1 Kawasaki 1937 Roundhouse
JNR Class D51 D51 200 JNR Hamamatsu 1938 Roundhouse
JNR Class C58 C58 1 Kisha Seizo 1938 Roundhouse
JNR Class C56 C56 160 Kawasaki 1939 Roundhouse
JNR Class B20 B20 10 Tateyama 1946 Roundhouse
JNR Class D52 D52 468 Mitsubishi 1946 Roundhouse
JNR Class C59 C59 164 Hitachi 1946 Roundhouse
JNR Class C62 C62 1 Hitachi 1948 Roundhouse
JNR Class C62 C62 2 Hitachi 1948 Roundhouse
JNR Class C61 C61 2 Mitsubishi 1948 Roundhouse
JNR Class C62 C62 26 Kawasaki 1948 Promenade

Diesel locomotives

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area Remarks
Class DD54 DD54 33 Mitsubishi 1971 Promenade
Class DD51 DD51 756 Hitachi 1972 Main hall
Class 912 912-63 Main hall Front end only

Electric locomotives

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area Remarks
Class EF52 EF52 1 Hitachi 1928 Main Hall Brown livery
Class EF58 EF58 150 Tokyo Shibaura Denki 1958 Twilight Plaza Blue livery
Class EF65 EF65 1 Kawasaki 1965 Twilight Plaza Blue livery
Class EF81 EF81 103 Hitachi 1974 Twilight Plaza Twilight Express green livery
Class EF66 EF66 35 Toyo Denki/Kawasaki 1974 Main Hall Blue livery

Shinkansen

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area
0 series 21-1 Nippon Sharyo 1964 Promenade
0 series 16-1 Nippon Sharyo 1964 Promenade
0 series 35-1 Nippon Sharyo 1964 Promenade
0 series 22-1 Nippon Sharyo 1964 Promenade
100 series 122-5003 Hitachi 1989 Main Hall
500 series 521-1 Kawasaki Heavy Industries 1996 Main Hall

EMUs

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area
80 series MoHa 80-1 Hitachi 1950 Promenade
86 series KuHa 86-1 Hitachi 1950 Promenade
103 series KuHa 103-1 Nippon Sharyo 1963 Promenade
581 series KuHaNe 581-35 Hitachi 1968 Main Hall
489 series KuHa 489-1 Tokyu Car 1971 Main Hall

DMUs

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area
KiHa 81 series KiHa 81-3 Kinki Sharyo 1960 Main Hall

Coaches

Former Twilight Express generator van KaNi 24-12 and lounge car OHa 25-551 in the Main Hall in May 2016
Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area Remarks
SuShi 28 SuShi 28 301 Nippon Sharyo 1933 Promenade Brown livery
MaRoNeFu 59 MaRoNeFu 59 1 Kisha Seizo 1955 Main Hall Brown livery
OHa 46 OHa 46 13 Nippon Sharyo 1933 Promenade Brown livery
20 series Nashi 20 24 Nippon Sharyo 1970 Promenade Blue livery
24 series ORoNe 24 4 Hitachi 1972 Twilight Plaza Blue livery
50 series OHaFu 50 68 Niigata Tekko 1977 Roundhouse Red livery
24 series Sushi 24-1 1988 Twilight Plaza Twilight Express livery
24 series SuRoNeFu 25-501 1989 Twilight Plaza Twilight Express livery
24 series OHa 25-551 1989 Main Hall Twilight Express livery
24 series KaNi 24-12 1975 Main Hall Twilight Express livery

Freight wagons

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area Remarks
WaMu 3500 WaMu 7055 Nippon Sharyo 1917 Main Hall Black livery
Yo 5000 Yo 5008 Kawasaki Sharyo 1959 Main Hall Light green livery

History

The museum was opened by Japanese National Railways (JNR) on October 10, 1972 commemorating the centennial of the railway in Japan.[4] 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.[5] It was announced on 18 December 2013 that the enlarged museum would be renamed the Kyoto Railway Museum.[6] The construction cost was 7.0 billion yen.[7][5]

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.[8]

Access

The museum is approximately 20 minutes on foot from Kyoto Station.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 京都鉄道博物館 [Kyoto Railway Museum]. Japan Railfan Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 56 no. 662 (Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd.). June 2016. p. 26-77.
  2. ↑ Official website of the museum. Retrieved on August 29, 2009. (Japanese)
  3. 1 2 京都鉄道博物館の概要 [Overview of the Kyoto Railway Museum]. Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine (in Japanese). Vol. 45 no. 385 (Japan: Kōtsū Shimbun). May 2016. p. 12-34.
  4. ↑ Japan Railfan Magazine October 1993 issue, p. 20
  5. 1 2 2016年(平成28年)春、京都･梅小路エリアに新たな鉄道博物館が開業します [New railway museum to open in Kyoto/Umekoji area in spring 2016]. Press release (in Japanese). West Japan Railway Company. 19 December 2012. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  6. ↑ 鉄道博物館の名称が決まりました [Railway museum name fixed]. Press release (in Japanese). Japan: West Japan Railway Company. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  7. ↑ 京都・梅小路エリアに新たな鉄道博物館 [New railway museum for Umekoji, Kyoto]. Japan Railfan Magazine Online (in Japanese). Japan: Koyusha Co., Ltd. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  8. ↑ 52年分の感謝と共に、交通科学博物館の営業を終了します [Modern Transportation Museum to close after 52 years]. Press release (in Japanese). West Japan Railway Company. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.

Further reading

External links

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