(03-04-2016, 09:08 AM)chrisjo Wrote: That would be a chrysanthemum flower, a symbol of the Japanese Emperor and Imperial Family, so this C58 would have carried it when it was pulling an Imperial Train.
The symbol on the 'blinker' is a phoenix, also adopted as a symbol of the imperial household, particularly the Empress.
How cool is that. Very interesting information on the Emperor. Looking at your second picture I assume that the chrysanthemum and phoenix symbols would be shown on any train the Imperial Family rode in or is that a special modern train just for them? It looks pretty cool, do you know what series it is?. Thank you very much for all the information.
(03-04-2016, 10:09 AM)plarnold Wrote: The Kyoto Railway Museum will open in March 2016.
Originally called the "Umekouji Steam Locomotive Museum", it was closed down last year for renovations and is renamed the Kyoto Railway Museum.
JR West and JR East have this friendly competition on who can have the best railway museum in Japan. Meanwhile, there is JR Central with the Nagoya Linear Railway Museum with the high speed series train sets including prototype Linear Motor Cars (Maglev) train sets.
-plarnold
That is so cool having two companies vying for the best Railroad Museum. That can't be to cheap to create and the maintenance and the very size of the property involved would cost quite a lot. I would definitely add these Museums to any trip I would be lucky to take to Japan. Thank you Plarnold for the information.