UPDATE: – This museum permanently closed on the 31^st March 2020.

Apart from its numerous locomotives on plinths, Japan has a number of outdoor railway museums. Among them are Ome (West of Tokyo) and Sakuma Railpark (Iida Line – visited by the second JRS tour to Japan – NOW CLOSED). I recently had an opportunity to visit another, the ‘Kaya Steam Locomotive Square’, located in the north of Kyoto Prefecture.

The museum takes its name from a local private line (never electrified) which ran for sixty years until closure in 1985. In fact the museum was located at the line’s terminus from 1977 to 1996 and the previous site is passed by the bus which links the museum with the nearest railhead, Nodagawa (Tango-Yamada in JNR days) on the third-sector Kita Kinki Tango Railway. The route of the old line is easy to see, as it is now a cycleway.

Now, the museum is located further on inland and features a station, two shops (souvenirs and bakery) and a coffee shop in a former Tokyu EMU car. The latter is a good place to pass the time if you go on the first bus, which arrives before the museum’s opening at 10.00. Preeminent among the exhibits is Robert Stephenson built No.2 (2105), a 2-4-0 tank from 1873, which together with ‘Ha 4995’ (built at Shimbashi Workshops in 1893) stands at one face of the station platform. At the other face is Nippon Sharyo built 1261, an 0-6-0 tank from 1923. These, together with Kawasaki built No.4, another 0-6-0 from two years earlier and larger C57 189 and C58 390, are the steam line-up. No.4, like many of the other exhibits is placed around the museum’s turntable, over which a short children’s narrow gauge line runs.

Other exhibits include a line-up of four railcars and two small diesel locomotives (DB201/2), with the former ‘in use’ on the day I was there. 1202 is a Nankai EMU car from 1933. In Nankai’s smart former two-tone green livery, it makes a nice contrast to the black steam locomotives, brown wooden carriages and bright red and white liveried JNR era railcars. In fact, in spite of being exposed to the elements, as they were on the day of my visit, most exhibits are in good external condition. The C57 and C58 are in need of attention though. Photography is made easier by the greater space and background vista, compared for example with Sakuma Railpark.

I reached the museum via the Kita-Kinki Tango Railway from Toyooka (JR West’s San-In Main Line) but it could be reached in a day trip from either Osaka or Kyoto, changing at Fukuchiyama and again at Miyaji. As mentioned, buses link the museum with Nodagawa. However, they are not very frequent. Entrance is Ľ400, open daily from 10:00 – 17:00.