We celebrated the 150th anniversary of Japanese railways on October 14th. Following the Old Shimbashi Station, I'm going to show you the other heritages of the early Japanese railways in this post.
I recently visited Kyuyoko Gallery near Sakuragicho station in Yokohama City. Japan's first railway was inaugurated on October 14th in 1872 between Shimbashi and Yokohama stations. Yokohama station at that time was located at the present Sakuragicho station on the JR East Keihin-Tohoku line. Kyuyoko gallery is a narrow space in a shopping mall, but anyone can observe precious railway heritages for free. The most important exhibition is a steam locomotive (SL) unit 10 of the Class 110. The Class 110 is one of Japan's first SLs imported from the UK in 1871. It's a 2-4-0 (Whyte notation) type tank locomotive built by Meadow Hall Works of Yorkshire Engine Company. After operating for 52 years, it was retired from the track in 1924. A large steam dome on the central part of the boiler catches visitors' eyes.
Another important exhibition is a second-class passenger car, which was originally built in the UK. Even though the exhibition is a replica, visitors can easily imagine the early time of railway travels. Its classical wooden shutters on the windows are nostalgic. The interior lighting equipment is also elegant as it's provided with oil-lamps. I found oil supply ports of the lamps on the roof. They're like ventilators.
I'm sure passengers at that time had a great time on the train.
