Kyushu Railway History Museum, where you can see famous trains of the past and feel like a driver at the miniature railroad park.

The Kyushu Railway History Museum is a railway museum located in the birthplace of the Kyushu Railway in Moji-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The former Kyushu Railway was established in 1888 (Meiji 21), and the Kyushu Railway History Museum utilizes the headquarters building that was constructed in 1891 (Meiji 24). It consists of three areas: the main building, rolling stock exhibition space, and mini railway park. The late Leiji Matsumoto, a manga artist connected to Kitakyushu City, was the honorary director of the Kyushu Railway History Museum.

The main building of the Kyushu Railway History Museum is a large two-story brick building, 62 meters long from east to west and 12 meters from north to south. The roof is gabled, with a central gabled gable entrance on both the north and south sides. The brick walls are constructed using Flemish brickwork, in which long and short side of bricks are arranged alternately, and a series of semicircular arch windows are provided. In addition, there are elaborate designs such as the cornice between the first and second floors (a decorative strip wrapped around the wall of a Western-style building) and the pediment of a classical Western building on the gable side (equivalent to a “gable” in Japanese architecture). Since it is a valuable building that conveys the techniques and decorations of brick structures of the Meiji era (1868-1912), the interior has been renovated, but the exterior has been preserved as it was when it was built. It is a red brick building representing the Mojiko Retro District and is registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan.

The former Kyushu Railway Company was originally headquartered in Hakata, but in 1889 (Meiji 22) Moji Port was designated as the country’s special export port for coal, sulfur, rice, barley, and wheat. In 1891 (Meiji 24), with the opening of the former Moji Station (currently Mojiko Station), the company moved its head office to its current location. Near the central gate of the Kyushu Railway History Museum is the remain of the former Moji Station, which stood until 1914 (Taisho 3), and there is a monument to the former 0mile marker marking the starting point of the Kyushu Railway. The Kyushu Railway History Museum is located about 200 meters south of JR Mojiko Station.

The rolling stock exhibition space resembles a station platform, with nine trains that were used in Kyushu on display. Visitors can tour the inside of some of the trains and experience the size, power, and beauty of the actual trains. The front head of the train is also on display, and visitors can touch the operating equipment.

There are exhibits such as models and head marks of steam locomotives and popular trains, uniforms of past station employees, various tickets, and railroad tools.

There is an exhibition of a passenger car from the Meiji era (1909) with dolls of passengers and conductors of the time surrounding it. 1906 (Meiji 39), the former Kyushu Railway Company ordered a luxury passenger car from the Brill Company of the U.S., but it did not have a chance to be used because the former Kyushu Railway was nationalized in 1907. This passenger car is called “Brill passenger car” and are called “Aru Ressha (certain train)” by railroad fans, which seems to mean A(Amazing) R(Royal) U(Universal).

The Kyushu Railway Panorama is an HO scale (track width 16.5mm) railway diorama set in Kyushu. JR Kyushu’s representative trains depart one after another from Hakata Station and Mojiko Station. A large screen is installed behind the diorama, and live-action scenes of trains running are shown as the train diorama moves. Start time of the Kyushu railway panorama (approximately 10 minutes) Weekday start times 11:30, 13:00, 14:30, 16:00 / Weekends and holidays start times 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00

The driving simulator allows you to simulate driving on actual route scenery in the driver’s cab of the 811 series suburban train.

The “mini trains” of the “Mini Railroad Park” is a railway with a track width of 450 mm. Five trains, including “Tsubame” and “Kamome,” run on the track, which is about 130 meters long per lap. This is Japan’s first mini-railway where you can experience the same driving experience as a real train with full-fledged equipment including signals.

Access to Kyushu Railway History Museum

From Haneda Airport (Tokyo) to Kitakyushu Airport, it takes about 1 hour and 50 minutes. From Kitakyushu Airport, take a Nishitetsu bus to JR Kokura Station, it takes about 35 minutes.
From JR Shin-Osaka Station to JR Kokura Station, take the Sanyo Shinkansen, it takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes.
From JR Kokura Station to JR Mojiko Station, take the Kagoshima Main Line (bound for Mojiko Station), it takes about 15 minutes, get off at JR Mojiko Station. about 2 minute-walk from JR Mojiko Station.