is a railway museum

Railway museum

A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives , railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment.See List of railway museums...

 located in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto

Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto

is one of the eleven wards in the city of Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. First established in 1879, it has been merged and split, and took on its present boundaries in 1955, with the establishment of a separate Minami-ku....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Opened in 1972, the locomotive depot preserves 19 steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s.

The museum is owned by West Japan Railway Company

West Japan Railway Company

, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group companies and operates in western Honshū. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka.-History:...

 (JR West) and is operated by Transportation Culture Promotion Foundation.

Facility

At the center of the museum is a 20-track roundhouse

Roundhouse

A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...

 built in 1914. It was built surrounding a turntable and houses and exhibits the preserved locomotives. The roundhouse is an Important Cultural Property

Important Cultural Properties of Japan

The term is often shortened into just are items officially already classified as Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and judged to be of particular importance to the Japanese people....

 designated by the government of Japan as the oldest reinforced concrete-made car shed extant in Japan.

Exhibition of other historical materials is in a two-story wooden building adjacent to the roundhouse. This is the former station building of Nijō Station

Nijo Station (Kyoto)

is a train station in Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan.-Lines:* West Japan Railway Company * Sagano Line * Kyoto Municipal Subway* Tōzai Line -JR West:...

 in Kyoto. The building was built in 1904 and was moved to the museum ground in 1997.

There is also a short "exhibition operation" track to operate trains. Steam train hauled by either C62, C61, D51 or 8620 class locomotive operates three times a day and makes a round trip on the track in about 10 minutes. Visitors can ride the train for 200 yen (adult) charge.

History

The museum was opened by Japanese National Railways

Japanese National Railways

, abbreviated or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.-History:The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization...

 (JNR) on October 10, 1972 commemorating the centennial of the railway in Japan. When JNR was divided into regional companies in 1987, the museum was inherited by JR West.

Exhibits

The following 19 locomotives are on display.

• JNR Class 1070 – No. 1080
• JNR Class 8620 – No. 8630
• JNR Class 9600 – No. 9633
• JNR Class B20
  JNR Class B20
  The Class B20 is a type of 0-4-0T steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways and the Japanese National Railways from 1944 to 1947. A total of 15 Class B20 locomotives were built.-Preserved examples:* B20 1 - Iwamizawa, Hokkaidō...
  
   – No. B20 10
• JNR Class C11 – No. C11 64
• JNR Class C51 – No. C51 239
• JNR Class C53 – No. C53 45
• JNR Class C55 – No. C55 1
• JNR Class C56
  JNR Class C56
  The Class C56 is a type of 2-6-0 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways from 1935 to 1942. A total of 165 Class C56 locomotives were built.-Preserved examples:...
  
   – No. C56 160
• JNR Class C57
  JNR Class C57
  The Class C57 is a type of 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in Japan from 1937 to 1953. A total of 215 Class C57 locomotives were built.-Preserved examples:...
  
   – No. C57 1
• JNR Class C58
  JNR Class C58
  The Class C58 is a type of 2-6-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways and the Japanese National Railways from 1938 to 1947. A total of 431 Class C58 locomotives were built.-Preserved examples:...
  
   – No. C58 1
• JNR Class C59 – No. C59 164
• JNR Class C61
  JNR Class C61
  The JNR Class C61 is a former class of steam locomotives operated in Japan. The class was the first type in Japan to use the 4-6-4 "Hudson" wheel arrangement. A total of 33 locomotives were built between 1947 and 1949,...
  
   – No. C61 2
• JNR Class C62 – Nos. C62 1 and C62 2
• JNR Class D50
  JNR Class D50
  D50 is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways, the Japanese National Railways and various manufacturers from 1923 to 1931...
  
   – No. D50 140
• JNR Class D51 – Nos. D51 1 and D51 200
• JNR Class D52
  JNR Class D52
  The Class D52 is a type of 2-8-2 steam locomotive built by the Japanese Government Railways and various manufacturers from 1943 to 1946. The name consists of a "D" for the four sets of driving wheels and the class number 52 for tender locomotives that the numbers 50 through 99 were assigned to...
  
   – No. D52 468

Among these locomotives, No. 1080 of Class 1070 was added to the exhibits in 2009 accepting donation by Nittetsu Mining.

C56 160 and C57 1 are occasionally operated out of the museum, especially on the semi-regular service on the Yamaguchi Line

Yamaguchi Line

The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company in western Japan connecting Shin-Yamaguchi Station in Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Prefecture and Masuda Station in Masuda, Shimane Prefecture.-Basic data:*Operator:*Gauge: 1,067 mm...

.

Access

Umekōji-kōen-mae bus stop is located adjacent to the museum and served by frequent city bus routes (Routes 205, 208, 33) from Kyoto Station

Kyoto Station

is the most important transportation hub in Kyoto, Japan. It has Japan's second-largest train station building and is one of the country's largest buildings, incorporating a shopping mall, hotel, movie theater, Isetan department store, and several local government facilities under one 15-story roof...

.

The nearest railway station is Tambaguchi Station

Tambaguchi Station

is a train station in Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.-Layout:The elevated station has an island platform with two tracks. Track No. 1 is for trains bound for and Track No. 2 is for trains bound for and .-Adjacent stations:...

 on the Sagano Line

Sagano Line

The is the popular name for a portion of the Sanin Main Line in the suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. The electrified and double-tracked railway is a commuter rail line in the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto Metropolitan Area, owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company . The line starts at Kyoto Station and ends at...

 (San'in Main Line

San'in Main Line

The is a railway line in western Japan that runs from Kyoto to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, operated by West Japan Railway Company . It is the major railway line of the San'in region, running along the Japan Sea, crossing Kyoto, Hyōgo, Tottori, Shimane and Yamaguchi prefectures...

), about 15 minutes walk from the museum.