The formidable Kyoto Railway Museum, an interactive paradise for railroad fans

@ElentirENG ES 1·16·2024 · 23:46 0

The train is a very widespread and very popular means of transport, and that is why it is not surprising that there are many railway museums in the world.

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In Japan there are 14 museums dedicated to trains, a figure that is explained by the great importance that the railway has historically had in that Asian country, which was a pioneer in high-speed trains. One such center dedicated to the history of trains is the Kyoto Railway Museum, in the Shimogyō-ku district of that great city. This museum was inaugurated in 1972 as the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum, but on April 29, 2016 it took its current name, after a remodeling to modernize and expand its facilities.

This museum has 53 railway vehicles and a roundhouse built in 1914, as well as scale models, simulators and spaces made especially for the little ones. The best thing about this center is its interactive nature. It is not a place where you can just watch trains, but you also have the opportunity to try how they are driven. You can see it inside in this fascinating video published by Choo-Choo Travel a few days ago. The video has subtitles in a multitude of languages, including English, which serve to tell you what you are seeing at all times (you can activate them in the bottom bar of the player):

It has been very difficult for me to select which captures to show as a preview, because it is a long video and it is full of interesting things. I'll take these five. We start with these three trains at the entrance to the museum. From left to right we see a JNR Class C62 4-6-4 steam locomotive from the late 1940s, a JNR 80 locomotive (a model operated by the Japanese National Railways between 1950 and 1983) and a Shinkansen 0 Series 21 Type 1 high-speed train (in service between 1964 and 2008).

A JNR Class EF66 electric locomotive, which will surely be familiar to many Spaniards, since Renfe, since its Series 251 was a variant of this Japanese locomotive that appeared in the 1960s.

The spectacular and enormous scale model that this museum has. It has its own control center and allows visitors to control each of its trains. A jewel.

The Loyal Engine C51 239 steam locomotive, which towed the Emperor of Japan's train on 104 occasions between 1927 and 1962. On the side of this locomotive we see the Suzaku, a mythological animal similar to the phoenix and which He considers himself protector of the city of Kyoto.

One of my favorite parts of the video: the museum's large roundhouse, with access to 20 locomotive garages. In the video we see her doing more laps than necessary, thinking especially of the museum visitors, to give them the opportunity to photograph and record her as they please.