International Railroad Discussion > The Railway Museum in Omiya (Japan)

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the formation of JR East (East Japan Railway Company), the Railway Museum opened to the public on October 14th, 2007. FYI, October 14th is Railroad Day in Japan、celebrating the opening of the first railroad between Shinbashi and Yokohama in 1872.

It was also opened as a replacement (and an improvement) to the old Transportation Museum at Manseibashi in Tokyo, which closed in 2006. I'll probably post a separate report on that later, as I visited there 8 years ago.

The Railway Museum is located in Omiya, Saitama Prefecture, which is the next prefecture north of Tokyo. Omiya Station is about 30 km (18.6 miles) north of Tokyo Station, and the easiest (and slowest) way to get there is to take JR's Keihin-Tohoku local train. JR Rail Pass users can take the Shinkansen without additional cost, although Tokyo to Omiya is in an urban area, so the speed limit doesn't exceed 110 km/h. There are other ways to get there, but discussions on how to utilize Tokyo's extensive rail networks is a topic for a separate thread.

From Omiya, visitors can transfer to the "New Shuttle" which runs along side the Shinkansen ROW. It is possible to railfan the Shinkansen onboard the New Shuttle, and I plan to do that on my future visit to Japan. Back on topic, the first stop after Omiya on the New Shuttle is where the Railway Museum is located.

In the video I'm posting here, you get a quick look at the New Shuttle. First clip is at Omiya Station, where my ride to the museum shows up. Second clip is from the rooftop of the Railway Museum, where you can spend time foaming the New Shuttle AND the Shinkansens. Schedules of all Shinkansens are posted there, for the serious railfans. In the third clip, Shinkansen Hayabusa and Komachi #24 arrive as advertised, slowing down for their arrival into Omiya, with the E5 set leading the E6 set.

- The New Shuttle just departed the Railway Museum Station.

- Railfanning guide is posted above most entrance/exit doors inside the New Shuttle, in a typical Japanese cartoon style. The guide above shows which mountains can be seen. The guide below shows which stations and segments are good places to view Shinkansens, color coded in teal. Another proof that railfanning is considered a mainstream activity in Japan.

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After detraining the New Shuttle, signs should lead you to the Railway Museum. Before entering the museum, there are exhibits on display under the Shinkansen elevated structure, so don't forget to give yourself a little extra time.

- Japan's first revenue service steam locomotive is preserved here in the Railway Museum. It operated between Shinbashi (two stations south of Tokyo Station) and Yokomaha, where the first railroad line operated. I don't believe it is operable.

- Made in England by Vulcan Foundry.

- H.K. Porter 2-6-0, "Benkei" steam locomotive, sister to "Yoshitsune" which is being restored at Umekoji Museum in Kyoto. Formally categorized as 7100 series, this one like all her sisters were imported from the U.S. and began revenue service in Hokkaido.

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Railfans who prefer Japan's newer rail technologies on display can go to Nagoya and visit the SCMaglev and Railway Museum. For those who prefer older stuff like steam, they can go visit Kyoto and visit Umekoji Museum. The Railway Museum in Omiya appeals more to the general audience, and covers a wider spectrum of Japan's railroading, but some of their collection is unparalleled.

Foreign visitors who use JR Rail Pass like me can visit all three, and if time allows, all of them can be visited on a single vacation. Kyoto, of course, is a destination for ALL tourists who visit Japan, and car enthusiasts can visit the awesome Toyota-sponsored museums near Nagoya, where their HQ is. Race fans (and I KNOW there are quite a few here on TO) can also visit Suzuka Raceway near Nagoya and watch a Formula One race, usually held in October. So it's quite possible to combine non-railfanning activities along with the visits to these museums.

- 9856 is Japan's only remaining mallet, 0-6-6-0. It is a semi-interactive display, with cut-away views and operating pistons (but not under steam). No hopes of it ever operating again, but then, Japanese foamers can visit the U.S. to sample Niles Canyon's Clover Valley #4, if they must.

- C57 135, a good-looking 4-6-2, categorized as a light Pacific. A very popular passenger steamer during its heyday. Sisters #1 (JR West, SL Yamaguchi) and #180 (JR East, SL Banetsu Story, photo posted by Ardenwood in another thread) have been restored to operable condition, and run mainline steam excursions.

- ED17 1, originally type ED50 imported from England, manufactured by English Electric Co. between 1923-1925. Due to reliability problems, JNR (Japan National Railway) modified the ED50s in the 1930s and recategorized them as ED17s. The modifications must have been successful, as the ED17s remained in revenue service into the 1970s.

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- JNR's Series 101 EMU was a symbol of Japan's passenger rail modernization, starting revenue service in 1957. While the Series 101 stopped running on the JR system in 2003, some of the train sets were sold to Chichibu Railway, and they ran until March of this year. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to foam Series 101's last runs during my March trip, but I did catch it running 8 years ago on Chichibu Railway near Kumagaya. The one in the Railway Museum came from JR East's Tokyo Maintenance Facility at Oi, and is currently painted in Chuo Line colors.

- End car of Shinkansen 200 series is displayed at the Railway Museum. Here, the crowd is watching the coupler demonstration. Shinkansens running on the Tohoku Line often run as coupled pairs, and they couple/uncouple at Fukushima and Morioka, so the "Mini Shinkansen" sets can travel separately on the Yamagata and Akita Lines.

- Visitors can walk underneath the 200 series. Here, I'm looking at one of the traction motors. 200 Series is the original sets used when the Tohoku and Joetsu Shinkansen Lines opened for revenue service in 1982.

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The Railway Museum already had a Shinkansen 50th Anniversary Exhibit in April, which is when I visited and took these images. The real celebrations began in October, since October 1, 1964 was the first day of revenue service for the first Shinkansen.

- The Railway Museum has a Series 0 car on display as well, in an area separate from the rest of the exhibit. Outside the window of that Series 0 are some photos of Shinkansen history like this one, where a Series 0 end car is being hauled without trucks on 1067 mm rails. End car of Sleeper Limited Express Sakura is next to it, with a pantograph for HEP.

- There's a brief explanation on 25,000 volt AC "compound catenary" as well as ribbon rail, expansion joints, and concrete ties used on the Shinkansen system. "1435" refers to the width of the rail at 1435 mm, which is 4' 8.5", standard gauge.

- Schedule of the Tokaido Shinkansen back in October of 1964 when service first began between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. 30 minute headway, and not mentioned here, but 12 car sets. JNR eventually had to run the trains more frequently and lengthened the train to 16 car sets to answer demand. This and other Shinkansen history were displayed in the Railway Museum inside the 50th Anniversary exhibit.

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- The Railway Museum in Omiya has an exhibit on freight trains also. Here's a typical freight car that carry containers, the green ones from the government-run JNR era. In the distance is the EF66 locomotive, designed to pull high speed freight trains, but later used to pull sleeper limited express trains, better known as "Blue Trains."

- Here's an N scale samples of questionable accuracy, of Chinese, American, and European freight trains. Note the scarlet and grey U boat pulling EMP containers! Perhaps, Southern Pacific bias is not limited to the Umekoji Museum in Kyoto!

- Elevated view of the Railway Museum exhibits. Turning the C57 135 on the turntable is one of the main events in the museum, which occurred while I took this photo.

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Besides the main exhibit floor with historic equipment, the Railway Museum also has a restaurant serving nostlagic menu based on what was served at train stations or onboard trains in the past. On the upper floors are educational exhibits, some with instructors, and some very interactive, which I highly recommend. There's of course an HO scale layout which I didn't cover in this report, as well as computer simulators which are very popular with kids. It's very likely I'll visit the museum again, as long as I'm not busy chasing real trains around using the JR Rail Pass.

- Another angle of the Railway Museum exhibits while the C57 135 is turning on the turntable.

- Here's one of the mini-trains you can drive by paying an additional 200 yen. While the layout has working signals, switches, and simplified ATC (Automatic Train Control), the train runs too slow and too far apart to be dangerous. This mini-train is a model of the Series 253 used on the original Narita Express.

- I ended up driving this train, a model of Series E257 used on the Limited Express Azusa which runs on the Chuo Line. I got all green signals, and I couldn't run fast enough to get a yellow until the end of the run where ATC takes over. Kinda boring, so I made simulated station stops along the way.

The drive-your-own mini-train concept didn't originate here at Omiya, but at the Kyushu Railway History Museum, which opened in 2003. I visited there more than 8 years ago, and not sure if I have enough materials to post a report. I highly recommend a visit there, too, if you need an excuse to go on a 1110 km (690 miles) Shinkansen joyride from Tokyo to Kokura. :-)

That's all folks.

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Man, this is amazing. Going to have to check it out next time I'm over. Thank you for posting.

Awesome examples of railroad preservation. Thanks for posting! The "drive a train" exhibit is something that would go over very well at US railroad museums.

Very nice and informative serioes, thanks for sharing.
Alan