Second best railway museum In Japan?

[bikkuri bahn]

I visited the new museum JR Tokai Railway Museum in Nagoya today, the proper name is the SC Maglev and Railway Park.  I would say it is about 1/3 to 1/4 the size of JR East's museum in Omiya.  While that museum is more of a general railway museum covering many aspects of railways, the Nagoya museum is more focused on the Maglev, Shinkansen, and older rolling stock of JR Tokai and predecessor JNR.  No freight.  The rolling stock collection is quite good, thanks to many of the pieces coming from the now closed Sakuma Rail Park.  Crowds on the weekday were rather big if not unmanageable (I reckon spring holidays for children), but I think the weekends would be (temper tantrum) mayhem, and best avoided.  I didn't do the train simulators (reservations required, and I'm not particularly interested) and the model railway exhibit was a 30 minute wait, so I passed.  I'll report more later, or if anybody has any questions.

[Tenorikuma]

Too bad you had to miss the model exhibit. I did have to wait around for a while before I could get close enough to see it, but it was worth it.

 

I imagine it'll be a few weeks before the crowds die down, even on weekdays. The museum is being heavily promoted in the model train magazines I bought the other day (April issues).