Even More Trains

What a nice array of noses

Can you believe it - we managed to see even more trains today! How I hear you say? Well a friend of Matt's told us about a Railway Museum in Nagoya. Nagoya is only 2 hours away so we thought we would go for a look round. Wow! This place blew away our expectations big time.

The first hall

The first hall had 3 trains: a steam train, a prototype bullet train and a maglev - they were impressive enough, but then we walked into the main hall - there were loads of trains: every type of bullet train there has ever been (except those currently in service) steam trains, local trains, a lovely wooden tram, a sleeper train, a dining car, AND an old Dr Yellow. How could a small train mad boy not enjoy himself here? Not only did they have loads of trains but they were all very well presented, there were English explanations for most of them and it was good English too.

DR YELLOW!

The star of the show for Tom was Dr Yellow of course and you could go inside it - they had a video presentation of what it does and how they maintain the Shinkansen track at night (Shinkansen don't run between midnight and 6am) with English subtitles which was really interesting - although of course all that Tom cared about was that it was Dr Yellow!

They also had a couple of hands on models so you could drive a Nozomi and try not to engage the ATC brakes, which prevent trains running into each other - Tom failed big time, but his hand signals were very impressive. They had a model showing you how they relay the message to the shinkansen to stop in the event of an earthquake (all done automatically so no risk of human error). Oh and dozens of other hands on displays which I didn't get a chance to explore because we had to see Dr Yellow. 'Come on mummy' was a phrase I heard again and again today along with a small boy tugging at my arms!

The most amazing model railway

Tom seemed to think we had limited time at the museum as he ran through each train (they had some cool dining cars from the 1980s, shinkansen no longer have dining cars - I guess they don't create as much profit as bums on seats).

Next on the tour was a HUGE model railway. Beautifully done - it was a representation of Tokyo to Osaka so lots of landmarks to find, plenty of trains going round, every 30 minutes represented a day - so it went light and dark. There was a rock concert going on, a baseball match, a building on fire which was attended to by fire engines and an ambulance, a fun fair. Under the sea we found fish, a ship wreck and a temple. The attention to detail was amazing - Tom sat on my shoulders watching it for a good 30 minutes - we only stopped because my back was getting compressed under his weight!

Making tracks in the playroom

Once we got to the end we looked upstairs - there was a play room there just for pre schoolers - wow (again)! Here they had lots of displays of toy trains going round and round toy tracks - but best of all they had big boxes of track, stations, tunnels and trains all with batteries working in them and plenty of space to build your own track. Well that kept Mummy, Daddy and Tom happily quiet for quite some time.

A grinning looney

Our friends caught up with us at 12.30 so we tore Tom away from the play area. You would have thought we had physically hurt him as he had a huge fit - so much so that he was literally shaking with rage. Partly our fault, we should have given him warning that we were going to leave. Once he had calmed down we met up with our friends for lunch - a bento box lunch of course. Our friends had their 3 year old with them as well, but unfortunately he wasn't playing ball so they had a rather interrupted lunch.

We then went back to play in the pre school room as we had promised Tom but then the lure of Dr Yellow had him running downstairs again. We had to go back to him countless times - Tom was just mega excited.

In the driving simulator

The museum has a number of simulators - one for the N700 - the current Nozomi, a number for local trains and one for a crew member. To get a go, a lottery takes place with your ticket - there is always more demand than availability. We put in for all 3 simulators - we wanted the N700, but were told that there were a lot more places available for the local train. Bingo, we won the N700! Matt was mega excited and went straight up to claim his prize. We were all allowed on. Matt sat in the driver's seat whilst Tom and I sat in the co-pilot's chair. It was pretty much the same simulator as they train drivers on - it certainly felt very realistic - the screen completely surrounded us and the graphics were fab (we had a great view of Fuji) and the simulator leaned when going round corners etc. Matt loved it and we didn't crash, although his lining up on the platform wasn't perfect!  The only complaint I have is that I think they should have provided a driver's cap and white gloves to make it completely realistic.

I then had a ride on a Maglev simulator - they can do 500kph - very interesting, but doubtful they will have anything running until 2027 - a long time to wait.

One last go on Dr Yellow!

We had one last look at Dr Yellow and then went to the shop where we spent a silly amount of money - Tom is sorted now for next Christmas and birthday. Then back home on the Shinkansen which included a sleep on me and another bento box for dinner.

Oh and we have other big news - he managed 4, yes 4, poos in the toilet today. One on the Shinkansen to Nagoya, 2 at the museum (they had a toddler's toilet there - with two sizes of toilet the smallest one was too small even for Tom, and one when we got back. He was decorated with lots of stickers, hugs and kisses.


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Location: Nagoya