Kyoto Railway Museum

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

Exhibition zones The museum is divided into the following exhibition areas, including the twenty-track roundhouse built in 1914.

Promenade Main hall Twilight Plaza Roundhouse Former Nijō Station

Main hall This is a three-storey building completed in April 2016; it is the main exhibit area.

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 the country.Official website of the museum . Retrieved on August 29, 2009.

Former Nijo Station

This two-storey structure was formerly part of Nijō Station in Kyoto until March 1996, and subsequently demolished and rebuilt at the Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum, where it formed the entrance building. From April 2016 onwards, it acts as the museum exit and hosts the museum shop.

Exhibits , a total of 54 rolling stock items are on display at the museum.

Steam locomotives

Type Number (and name if applicable) Manufacturer Year built Exhibition areaOperational JGR Class 7100 1/7105 Yoshitsune H.K. Porter (USA) 1880 Roundhouse* JGR Class 1800 40/1801 Kitson & Company (England) 1881 Main hall JGR Class 1070 1080 Dübs & Company (Scotland) 1901 Roundhouse JGR Class 230 233 Kisha Seizo 1903 Main hall JGR Class 8620 8630 Kisha Seizo 1914 Roundhouse* JNR Class 9600 9633 Kawasaki Dockyard 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 Sharyo 1935 Roundhouse JNR Class C55 C55 1 Kawasaki Sharyo 1935 Roundhouse JNR Class D51 D51 1 Kawasaki Sharyo 1936 Roundhouse JNR Class C57 C57 1 Kawasaki Sharyo 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 Sharyo 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 Sharyo 1948 Promenade

Diesel locomotives

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area Remarks Class DD54 DD54 33 Mitsubishi 1971 Promenade The sole survivor of the class. Class DD51 DD51 756 Hitachi 1972 Main hall

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 Sharyo/Kawasaki Denki Seizo 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 Remarks 80 series KuHa 86001 Hitachi 1950 Promenade Orange/green Shonan livery 80 series MoHa 80001 Hitachi 1950 Promenade Orange/green Shonan livery 103 series KuHa 103-1 Nippon Sharyo 1964 Promenade Vermillion orange livery 581 series KuHaNe 581-35 Hitachi 1968 Main hall JNR beige livery 489 series KuHa 489-1 Tokyu Car 1971 Main hall JNR beige livery

DMUs

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition areaRemarks KiHa 81 series KiHa 81-3 Kinki Sharyo 1960 Main hallJNR beige livery

Coaches

Type Number Manufacturer Year built Exhibition area Remarks SuShi 28 SuShi 28 301 Nippon Sharyo 1933 Promenade Brown livery MaRoNeFu 59 MaRoNeFu 59 1 Takatori Factory 1938 Promenade Brown livery OHa 46 OHa 46 13 Kisha Seizo 1955 Railway vehicle factory Brown livery 20 series NaShi 20 24 Nippon Sharyo 1970 Promenade Blue livery 24 series ORoNe 24 4 Nippon Sharyo 1973 Twilight Plaza Blue livery 50 series OHaFu 50 68 (also known as Niigata Tekko) 1977 Roundhouse Red livery, used as a resting spot 24 series SuShi 24-1 Kinki Sharyo 1972 Twilight Plaza Twilight Express livery 24 series SuRoNeFu 25-501 Fuji Heavy Industries 1975 Twilight Plaza Twilight Express livery 24 series OHa 25-551 Fuji Heavy Industries 1977 Railway vehicle factory Twilight Express livery SuHa 32 MaITe 49-2 Ministry of Railways Oi Factory 1938 Railway vehicle factory Brown livery

Freight wagons

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

History As early as 1967, plans were being made to turn 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 Opening-eve ceremony was held on October 9, 1972 from 1:00 p.m. At the beginning, JNR president Mr. Isozaki planted a memorial young black pine tree. The opening ceremony was conducted in front of the Symbol-Zone. The ceremony invited the Kyoto prefectural governor, Kyoto city mayor, and successive Umekoji depot directors, and one hundred and thirty other celebrities as well as eighty JNR members. After the JNR president's congratulatory speech, the naming ceremony was done. It was named "The Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum (Umekoji Jyoki Kikansha Kan)." The dedicated monument embodied the driving wheel from a C57 88 (Retired at 1 May 1972). There is an original English epitaph on the monument, as follows;

May the glory of steam locomotives over the past century be remembered and their gallant sight preserved here forever.10 October 1972 Japan National Railways.

At the end of the ceremony, a special ceremonial train was run by the C62 2. The museum was opened by Japanese National Railways (JNR) on October 10, 1972 commemorating the centennial of the railway in Japan.Japan Railfan Magazine October 1993 issue, p. 20 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 MTM 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.

Kyoto Railway Museum

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