Modern Transportation Museum, Railway museum in Namiyoke, Japan
The Modern Transportation Museum was a railway museum in Namiyoke, Japan, that displayed locomotives such as steam engines, electric trains, and a magnetic levitation train prototype. The exhibition halls stood directly next to Bentencho Station and traced the development of rail vehicles from the late 1900s to the present.
The institution opened its doors in 1962 near Bentencho Station on the Osaka Loop Line and served as an exhibition venue for rail vehicles for over five decades. The collection moved to Kyoto in 2014, where it now forms part of the Kyoto Railway Museum.
Originally conceived as a space where commuters and families could stop by after work or on weekends, the institution drew generations of railway enthusiasts. School groups regularly visited the exhibition halls to trace technical progress through models and real vehicles.
Since the facility no longer operates, visitors can now view the collection at the Kyoto Railway Museum, reachable by Shinkansen or local train. Those interested in railway history will find the exhibits formerly shown in Namiyoke displayed there in a larger context.
Alongside the railway vehicles, the collection also housed the original engine of a Messerschmitt Me 163, a rocket-powered fighter from World War II. This addition pointed to the close links between aviation and railway engineering in the mid-20th century.
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