We started our walk from Asakusa and traversed Mukojima, and last time we had just reached Hyakkaen garden.
Then, at the end of our walk, we headed home from Higashi Mukojima Station on the Tobu Line, but before that, we made one important stop.
This is a view on the platform as an express train passes through Higashi Mukojima St. Note the sign on the opposite platform.
This time, I, who have a slightly higher concentration of “iron” in my blood than usual, had a lot of fun at the Tobu Railway Museum. I have no idea who in the world would enjoy such a story, but I am 100% self-satisfied.
Here is the museum entrance.
I’ll post the pictures in the order I want to talk about them, but in no particular order.
First of all, here it is.
You see, this is the rail that was first ordered by Tobu in 1897 and built by Carnegie, with the dazzling TOBU lettering.
I know this may not be new information for serious “iron” people, but I learned a lot from the explanation of this kind of turnouts and I read it a lot.
I’m already breathing hard after having the names “main line” and “sub-line” and the control of the separate signals for each line explained to me like this.
The most exciting exhibit that I was most excited about was this one.
As if you were in the driver’s seat, you can control the raising and lowering of the pantograph and driving and stopping of the driving wheels by operating the switches and left and right handles as instructed. You can see the pantograph is raised in the overhead view in the photo below, can’t you?
I was a novice, so I got out of the driver’s seat after only one sequence because I was concerned about the eyes of those around me saying, “What are you doing, you old man?”
There are, of course, many more interesting exhibits that are more easily understood by visitors.
For example, this classical train exhibit…
What a nice black-lit wooden floor!
And here is an interior display of a Tobu Limited Express Romance Car.
This is the driver’s seat…
As you can see from the view out the window, this car itself is actually “outside” the museum, and you can photograph the outside like this from the street.
I mean, I had seen this car from the outside before entering the museum, but I was surprised because I never imagined that I would be able to go inside and see the interior….
And many more.
For example, the interior of the express train “Spacia” is displayed.
This is a basket of ropeways that actually operated in Nikko.
There is no end to the number of exhibits, but there are many other exhibits, many driving simulation stands (very popular with children), a huge railroad diorama, and so on… The Tobu Railway Group made a concerted effort to promote the appeal of railroads, and the railroad museum was enjoyable enough for adults as well.
Since there are many places indoors where it is difficult to get a good shot, the combination of the S5 + Lumix S20-60, which is full size and can cover a wide angle of 20mm, was very useful. However, I was not able to get a good shot of the SL exhibit because I could not capture the glossy black iron (not because of my equipment but because of my skill). If I ever come back again, I would like to take the time to plan what to photograph and how to photograph it in advance.
This is the end of my four-part series on Mukojima, including the special program on Higashimukojima and the Tobu Museum.
Thank you very much for watching until the end.
