special feature overview of kyoto railway museum · special feature overview of kyoto railway...

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50 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 Oct 2016 Special Feature Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum Hideyuki Miura Museum that closed in April 2014 have also been moved to the new museum run by the Transportation Culture Promotion Foundation. A total of 111,500 people visited the museum in the 10 days from the 29-April grand opening through the long holiday period ending on 8 May with the highest daily attendance of 17,200 visitors on 4 May. Even after the initial rush, the museum continues to bustle with many visitors. Introduction Kyoto Railway Museum opened on 28 April 2016 in the international tourism city of Kyoto. The museum has been built by West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) in Umekoji Park as a facility adjoining the old Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum that closed in August 2015. Rolling stock as well as objects and documents from the Modern Transportation Entrance to Kyoto Railway Museum (Kyoto Railway Museum) Nara Line San’ in Main Line Tokaido Shinkansen Tokaido Main Line Kyoto Nijo Tambaguchi Nishioji Kyoto Railway Museum To Nagoya To Nara To Osaka

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Page 1: Special Feature Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum · Special Feature Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum Hideyuki Miura Museum that closed in April 2014 have also been moved to the new

50Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Special Feature

Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum

Hideyuki Miura

Museum that closed in April 2014 have also been moved

to the new museum run by the Transportation Culture

Promotion Foundation.

A total of 111,500 people visited the museum in the 10

days from the 29-April grand opening through the long

holiday period ending on 8 May with the highest daily

attendance of 17,200 visitors on 4 May. Even after the initial

rush, the museum continues to bustle with many visitors.

Introduction

Kyoto Railway Museum opened on 28 April 2016 in the

international tourism city of Kyoto. The museum has been

built by West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) in Umekoji Park

as a facility adjoining the old Umekoji Steam Locomotive

Museum that closed in August 2015. Rolling stock as well

as objects and documents from the Modern Transportation

Entrance to Kyoto Railway Museum (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Nara Line

San’ in Main Line

Tokaido Shinkansen

Tokaido Main Line

YamashinaKyoto

Nijo

Tambaguchi

Saga-Arashiyama

Nishioji

Kyoto Railway Museum

To Nagoya

To NaraTo Osaka

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51 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Special Feature

Sister Museum Partnership Flag (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Signing Sister Museum Partnership (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Continued Sister Museum Partnership with NRM

The now-closed Modern Transportation Museum and

Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum entered into a sister

museum partnership with the UK’s National Railway

Museum, York (NRM) in April 2000. Kyoto Railway

Museum has been founded as a fusion of the two closed

Japanese museums, and most of the rolling stock,

objects and documents have been transferred to the new

museum, so the sister museum partnership too has been

inherited by Kyoto Railway Museum. NRM Director Paul

Kirkman and I signed a memorandum on the continuance

of the sister museum partnership on 28 April ahead of the

opening ceremony.

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52Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Floor Map of Kyoto Railway Museum

Hall

Library archiveGallery

Sky Terrace

Main Building 3F

Main Building 2F

Main Building 1F

Connecting deck(connects to the Steam Locomotive No. 2 Service Shed)

Driving simulator

Special Exhibition Room

Restaurant/Break space

Promenade

Twilight Plaza

Steam Locomotive No. 2 Service Shed

Service line

Connecting deck

Turntable

Steam Locomotive Service Shed

Roundhouse platform

The former Nijo Station House

Entrance Hall

Entrance

Exit

Museum shop

Break space

Steam Locomotive Boarding

Series 100 122-5003 EF52-1

SL1800-1801Kiha 81-3

Kani 24-12Oha 25-551

Oha 46-13Wamu 3500-7055

Yo 5000-5008

Series 500 521-1

Kuha 489-1

Kuhane 581-35

DD51-756

EF66-35

SL230-233

Sushi 24-1

Orone 24-4

Suronefu 25-501 EF81-103

EF58-150EF65-1

(Oahu 50-68)

Kuha 103-1 Nashi 20-24

Sushi 28-301

Moha 80-1

Kuha 86-1

Maronefu 59-1

Series 0 22-1

Series 0 35-1

Series 0 16-1

Series 0 21-1

DD54-33

C62-26

8620

-863

0C6

2-2

C61-

2D5

1-20

0C57

-1

C56-160B20-10

1070-1080

9600-9633

C11-647100-7105

C62-1D51-1

C55-1C58-1D50-140

D52-468

C59-164

C53-45

C51-239

Railway diorama

Kid’s park

Operational Systems

Life and the Railway

Railway vehicle factory

Railway facilities

Vehicle Structure

Advances in the Railway

SteamLocomotive Plaza

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53 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Special Feature

Basic Museum Concept

The museum’s fundamental concept is to be a ‘hub of

railway culture that progresses with its community’. We

seek to unite ourselves with local communities by reflecting

the fundamental mission of the JR West group to ‘contribute

to the revitalization of local communities through business

activities centred on the railway’. Based on this concept,

we provide a lifelong learning venue that visitors of all ages

can enjoy. And we further work to partner with local schools

and other nearby facilities to contribute to revitalization of

the community.

53 Pieces of Rolling Stock

The museum exhibits 53 pieces of rolling stock including

20 steam locomotives exhibited previously at Umekoji

Steam Locomotive Museum including Japan’s oldest mass-

Main Building first floor with Series 500 EMU, Kuhane 581, and Kuha 489 (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Promenade with C62 steam locomotive, Kuha 86, and Series 0 Shinkansen (from left) (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Page 5: Special Feature Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum · Special Feature Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum Hideyuki Miura Museum that closed in April 2014 have also been moved to the new

54Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Class 230-233 built in 1903 by Kisha Seizo (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Twilight Plaza exhibits 6 railcars including EF 58 and EF81 electric locomotives (from left) (Kyoto Railway Museum)

first floor, Twilight Plaza, and Roundhouse built in 1914 and

designated an important cultural asset.

A major feature is the museum’s 8 steam locomotives

in operating condition. These include the Class 1070-1080

Yoshitsune imported from the USA in 1880 and the C62,

Japan’s largest steam locomotive.

produced steam locomotive, the Class 230-233 built in

1903; the No. 1 car of a Series 0 shinkansen from when the

high-speed train entered service; a Series 500 EMU that

achieved a commercial operating speed of 300 km/h; and

other rolling stock with high historic value. The rolling stock

is exhibited at four locations: the Promenade, Main Building

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55 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Special Feature

SL Steam Hands-on Exhibit

Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum had SL Steam, a steam

locomotive in operating condition hauling carriages and this

tradition continues at Kyoto Railway Museum. New carriages

have been built for the museum, increasing the passenger

Roundhouse exhibits 20 steam locomotives (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Museum visitors enjoying ride on C56-160 steam locomotive (Kyoto Railway Museum)

capacity to 208. Up to 19 runs a day give visitors a close-

up experience of the excitement of real steam locomotives

spouting steam and blowing their great whistles. With this

exhibit, older visitors can experience the nostalgia of days

past while younger visitors can wonder at such trains.

Page 7: Special Feature Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum · Special Feature Overview of Kyoto Railway Museum Hideyuki Miura Museum that closed in April 2014 have also been moved to the new

56Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Six driving simulators for narrow-gauge trains and two for shinkansen allow visitors to experience train driving (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Visitors can touch and manipulate things to gain better understanding of various railway mechanisms (Kyoto Railway Museum)

Exhibits to See, Touch, and Experience

The museum has many exhibits that can be touched and

experienced as well as seen. Having visitors touch and

manipulate things helps promote understanding of the

various railway mechanisms.

The hands-on exhibits include six driving simulators for

narrow-gauge trains and two for shinkansen where visitors

can experience train driving by wearing train drivers’

uniforms, receiving instructions, and simulating actual train

operation. This is one of the most popular attractions at the

museum, with many children as well as adults wanting to

try it out, so a lottery is held each day to select lucky new

train drivers.

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57 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Special Feature

Experiencing Railway Work

Railway operations are supported by people performing

a wide range of tasks, including station personnel,

conductors, drivers, dispatchers, as well as engineers

who maintain vehicles and facilities, such as tracks,

civil engineering structures like cuttings, embankments

and bridges, and overhead power lines and signals. At

weekends, holidays and during the summer break, staff

from JR West who actually work on railways explain their

duties using museum exhibits, and events are held for

visitors to experience that work.

By providing an opportunity for communication between

railway staff and visitors, we hope to be able to provide a

new level of discovery and amazement for visitors and to

heighten job satisfaction for JR West staff by making their

work more widely understood. This has proved to be well

accepted by adults as well as children.

Railway Diorama

The Railway Diorama on the second floor of the Main Building

is one of the largest in Japan at about 30 m x 10 m. All the

HO-scale model trains are operated manually with an eye

Young visitor getting hands-on experience of railway work (Kyoto Railway Museum)

30 m x 10 m Diorama with 1/80 HO-scale model trains (Kyoto Railway Museum)

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58Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

to portraying a day on the railway. Even though up to 250

people can see the diorama at once and there are four to

seven shows each day, it is almost always full, proving it is

one of the most popular attractions.

Sky Terrace

The Sky Terrace viewing deck on the third

floor of the Main Building offers spectacular

views of Kyoto Tower, Tofukuji Temple,

and the Higashiyama mountains with the

Tokaido Main Line, shinkansen, and San’in

Main Line trains running below. It makes a

great viewpoint that takes advantage of the

landscape of the old capital of Kyoto. An

operation information display system for the

Tokaido Line shows visitors the operations

status of trains running below. Railway fans

will forget the passage of time while they are

at this special spot.

Steam Locomotive No. 2 Service Shed

Next to the museum, JR West has set up a shed for

inspecting and servicing steam locomotives to preserve

them in operating condition into the future so they can run

on commercial lines. The shed is a JR West facility, but it

Steam Locomotive No. 2 Service Shed with ceiling crane lifting boiler of steam locomotive (Kyoto Railway Museum)

View over Kyoto from Sky Terrace (Kyoto Railway Museum)

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59 Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 68 • Oct 2016

Special Feature

Hideyuki MiuraMr Miura is a Director of Kyoto Railway Museum and a Vice President of the Transportation Culture Promotion Foundation. Prior to his current position, he served as CEO of JR West Financial Management Co.

is connected to the second floor of the museum, so visitors

can watch steam locomotives being inspected and repaired

through the windows. Views of large and small parts being

repaired and assembled and locomotives being hoisted by

a large ceiling crane captivate many visitors.

Former Nijo Station House

The former Nijo Station House, also used for the Umekoji

Steam Locomotive Museum, forms the museum exit. This

wooden station house was built in 1904 by Kyoto Railway

and was relocated to Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum in

1997. It is a tangible cultural asset of Kyoto City. Half of the

interior houses a steam locomotive exhibit, and the other half

is a museum shop.

Closing

We are continuing to take on the challenge of developing

new projects for the enjoyment and education of visitors

to the museum. At the same time, we are putting our full

effort into the collection and preservation of materials as well

as conducting investigations and research, which are all

the true essence of a museum. We also aim to be a lasting

museum that evolves under stable management to pass on

railway culture to future generations.

For directions to the museum, floor maps, and other information, visit the museum website at http://www.kyotorailwaymuseum.jp/en/

Former Nijo Station House (Kyoto Railway Museum)