The Railway Museum

Located near Ōmiya on the Ōmiya New Shuttle and opened in October 2007, it houses JR East's collection of historic stock.

On 14 October 2007, JR East opened their new Railway Museum as a much more professional and comprehensive version of their previous 'Transportation Museum' near Akihabara, which had closed in 2006. The museum has its own station named Tetsudō-Hakubutsukan, one stop after the Ōmiya terminus of the 'New Shuttle' and is easily accessable from Central Tōkyō. The museum itself is directly adjacent to the Takasaki Line which offers live action of stock currently in service with JR East although there are no platforms on this busy line that serve the museum. Cost of admission is currently \1330 and is payable using JR East's 'Suica' smart card or other compatible card such as 'Pasmo/Toica or Icoca'. Here is a selection of photographs of some of the exhibits at the museum. For full information, please see the JR East Museum Web Page.

All photo's below taken 16/11/2007 by Hiroshi Naito

Type TR 73 3-axle bogie used for superior passenger carriages such as first class observation cars, first class sleeping cars and dining cars.	The first-class observation car Maite 39 shows its corridor connecting end. This carriage was the most luxurious passenger car before the war being operated at the end of the supreme limited express train 'Fuji' between Tokyo and Shimonoseki.	Reproduced to the right of Maite 39 is a destination board for the limited express 'Fuji'.
Miniaturised Nagano Shinkansen E2 set serves as a shuttle train between the Museum Centre and Museum North.	An attraction of miniature trains. Guests can operate trains under automatic collision avoidance by means of signaling and automatic train stop systems that work in a similar way to the actual railways'.	The mock E253 Narita Express set takes a sharp curve following GO signals.
The rear end of the mock E253 Narira Express car.	An overview of the miniature train attraction.	The miniaturised E257 in use for the limited Express 'Azusa' for the Chuo Main Line.
The front view of the miniaturised E253 Narira Express car.	A view of the Museum North. The picture shows that the track to the museum is connected to the main lines track via a spur.	The Kiha 11 diesel hydraulic rail car exhibited at the Museum North. This type, developed in 1952, featured multiple unit control and was a pioneer for succeeding modern DMUs.
You can take a good view of the Tohoku Shinkansen track from the upstairs floor. Passing by is a 200 series bullet train that were withdrawn in March 2013.	The exhibition hall overviewed from the upstairs floor.	The Maite 39 observation car in a nostalgic ambience of old Tokyo station platform.
The rear end of the Maite 39 observation car with a signboard of the limited express 'Fuji'.	Steam locomotive C57, 4-6-2 Pacific, sits on the turn table at the centre of the exhibition hall.	Equipment is displayed on the track radiating from the turn table.
Some heavy electric locomotives are displayed.	To the left is the 451 series AC-powered EMU, which was mainly used for expresses in the AC electrified territory, while to the right is the 181 series DC-powered EMU, which was the main force of the limited expresses in DC electrified territory in the 1960s through 1980s.	ED171 box-cab electric, Bo-Bo 870 kW, which was built by English Electric & Co. in 1923. This type of electric locomotive had been used for a long period until the 1970s, with their final duties on freight haulage on the Chuo Main Line and Nambu line.
Diesel hydraulic railcar Type Kiha 41000, #41307. This car was originally a petrol railcar built in 1937, and upgraded to a DMU in 1952 with its engine having had been replaced along with a hydraulic control unit newly fitted.	Streamlined electric EF58, 2-Bo-Bo-2 1600 kW dedicated to passenger train haulage. This locomotive was the most common electric in DC electrified territory in the 1960s through 1970s before the EMU era.	Another view of the main exhibition hall.
Type Oha 31 third class passenger car, the first half-steel carriage built in 1927.	A cut-model of an old wooden EMU.	The first electric rail car employed by the governmental railway, built in 1907.
The first commuter EMU built by the governmental railway in 1914.	#8700, 2-6-0 Mogul, built by Porter in the US in 1880. This locomotive was used by the first railway in Hokkaido where railway technology was introduced from the US.	An interior example of passenger cars in the 1920s.
The interior of the Oha 31 passenger car.	The interior of the Oha 31 passenger car.	A typical example of the pre-war type EMU used for the Chuo commuter line, type Moha 40.
The interrior of the Moha 40 commuter EMU.	Concealded at the left-hand side is the driver's cabin, on the Moha 40 commuter EMU.	An interior view of the cab-end of the Moha 40 commuter EMU.
The cab interior of DMU #41307.	The interior of the passenger cabin of DMU #41307.	Another exterior view of DMU #41307.
A cut model of steam locomotive D51, 2-8-2, exhibited outside the museum entrance.

The museum also features an extensive range of other static exhibits and pay-per-turn railway simulators.