It's already September, but the maximum daytime temperature is still over 30 degrees Celsius. My shelters to evacuate from this heat wave are air-conditioned indoor railway museums. Following the Keikyu Museum, I recently visited the Subway Museum (Tokyo Metro Museum) for the first time in five years.
Let's quickly review the Subway Museum to start. It was opened by Metro Cultural Foundation (an affiliate of Tokyo Metro) in 1986 to focus exclusively on subways. The museum is located next to Kasai station on the Tokyo Metro-Tozai line. Exhibitions are replete including actual vehicles and related equipment such as driving simulators.
I was lucky to enter car 301 of the electric car 300 series. The 300 series had been operated on the Marunouchi line, which is Japan's second oldest subway route. Car 301 was launched in 1954, when the Marunouchi line was inaugurated. The reddish body with a wavy patterned white stripe seemed to have a strong impact at that time. The technical specifications were modeled after subway vehicles in New York City. 30 cars in total were built by Kisha Kaisha, Nippon Sharyo, Kinki Sharyo and Kawasaki Sharyo after paying patent fees for motors and brakes to New York City. Car 301 was retired from the track in 2002 after operating for 48 years. The interior of the 300 series is rose-colored. It's very nostalgic, as I often used this train to go to work. I got immersed in memories of my old days, when I started working. Where has the time gone?
