Return to the Steam Age: An outing to Ome Railway Park

Summary

**Has parking**Northeast Tokyo**For Elementary School Kids**Half day Activity**Admission 100yen for over 6 years**9:15-17:00**Closed Monday**

Website

Ome Railway Park

Location/Access


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By Train: From Tokyo, take the Chuo line from Tachikawa 立川 which connects with the Ome line 青梅線. Head for Ome Station. From the station, it is either a 15 minute walk or taxi to the park, as there is no bus.

By Car: There is free car parking available next to the park. We took the Chuo Road 中央道 from central Tokyo out the Hachioji Interchange 八王子 I.C. From there it was around 30-45 minutes to the park.

Activities



There are a number of real life trains in the park, ranging from old steam trains, all the way to a (relatively) modern Shinkansen. You are free to walk around the park, and you may climb up right into the driver's seat inside the trains. Here you can see the dials, levers, buttons etc. that were used to power these once mighty machines.



However, this gets old pretty fast, but fortunately there are a number of scaled down train models scattered around the park, allowing both children and adults to ride around their mini-tracks. These rides are priced at 100 or 200 JPY depending on the size.

In addition to the outdoor area, there is an indoor section with a shop, model railway, train simulator and some additional arcade games for children. There is also an observation area on top of the building, although quite what you are supposed to observe from there I found difficult to tell.

Food

Food in the park is almost non-existent, save for a vending machine selling French Fries and sushi(!).

Cost

The cost is extremely cheap as the entrance fee is only 100 yen for adults. The rides inside the park are very basic and therefore do not exceed 200 yen.


Rating

Overall, a fun way to spend a couple of hours, but not enough activities or variety for keep you busy for much longer than that. The area is quite scenic, and the number and range of engines on display is impressive, however, the lack of explanations as to what things are mean you end up leaving the park with more questions than answers. For example, they have a nice photo display documenting the transportion of the Shinkansen into the park. The photographs are beautiful black and white shots, and were a great find as the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw the Shinkansen was: "How on earth did they get that thing in here?". However, there were no dates on or near the photographs, leaving me frustrated.

Pros: Great experience for a young child who likes trains. Real-life engines including a Shinkansen. Inexpensive. A nice scenic park.

Cons: A little far from central Tokyo. Not many activities. Not many explanations given regarding the exhibits. No decent food on site.


Rating: 6/10 Worth a trip if you live nearby, or your child is mad about trains.