This museum opened in 2016 on the former Umekoji Steam Locomotive Museum site, close to Kyoto station. It displays over 50 historic trains, from steam locomotives to the iconic 0-seires and 500-series Shinkansen, with many accessible up close and some even viewable from below.
The museum includes a huge 1/80 scale railway diorama, train-driving simulators, operating model signals and tracks, and a steam locomotive ride along a 1 km track (for a small fee). The adjacent 1914 roundhouse inglobes Japan's largest collection of steam locomotives, with live mainenance viewing through windows. Plus, the former Nijo station buildings marks the exit and an upper-level observation deck and cafè overlook passing JR and Shinkansen trains.