October 2024 issue Yokohama streetcar preservation hall where you can immerse yourself in retro mood-New model diorama "Hama diorama" is born

As for the publication contents of "public information Yokohama" October, 2024 issue "Yokohama Aya discovery", please see link.

Takao Muto, Director of the Yokohama Tram Preservation Museum

　The tram in Japan began in Kyoto in 1895 (Meiji 28). In Yokohama, it was opened on July 15, 1904 (Meiji 37) between Kanagawa and Oebashi Bridge (2.6 km). Even though it is a big city, it opened nine years after Kyoto, because the application for the opening of a railway was contested by multiple operators, and the rickshaw car husbands who were the main means of transportation in the city at that time Was the factor.
　After that, the route of the tram will be extended with the expansion of Yokohama City, but the management of the Yokohama Electric Railway deteriorated due to the recession, and the tram, which has already become an important transportation infrastructure in the city, will be municipalized. It becomes. In 1921 (Daisho 10), it was the birth of Yokohama streetcars.
　The Yokohama tram is nicknamed the "Chinchin Train" and is active as a citizen's foot, overcame the earthquake and war. In the 1950s, the total distance of the route was 51.79 km, 300,000 passengers a day, It is at its peak.
　However, when the number of cars increases rapidly due to high growth, and when cars can enter the track of the streetcar, the streetcar running at low speeds causes traffic congestion. Also, when the Japanese National Railways (now JR) Negishi Line was opened in 1964 (Showa 39), the number of streetcar users decreased significantly. As a high-speed train runs to the suburbs and residential areas spread throughout the city area of Yokohama, the streetcar network will be limited. In this way, the streetcar, which played an active role as the center of urban transportation, ended its role and switched to subways and buses. Starting with the abolition of the Namamugi Line in 1966 (Showa 41), all streetcars were abolished on March 31, 1972 (Showa 47).

After the abolition of the streetcar, many of the streetcar's driving systems were taken over by the municipal bus system.

　In the hall, streetcars are preserved and displayed as they were at the time, so you can actually ride them. It's a very recommended place where you can immerse yourself in a nostalgic retro feeling when sitting in a seat or standing on the cabin.
　Of the seven streetcars on display, the streetcar type 500 and the streetcar type 1000 are vehicles that were produced in 1928 (Showa 3) by the earthquake reconstruction plan and were about 100 years ago. Other rare vehicles include transportation of materials such as rails and uncovered wagons that carried beer from Kirin Brewery Factory in Naka Ward during the Taisho era.

　Last year, in July 2023 (Reiwa 5), a 9.5m-long model diorama "Hama diorama" was opened to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the streetcar preservation hall.
　In diorama models of major spots in Yokohama such as Minato Mirai 21 district, Sakuragicho Station, Yokohama Station, Shin-Yokohama Station, Yamate Hill, subways, trains such as subways, streetcars, Shinkansen, Negishi Line, Bayside Blue, Akai shoes, etc. Municipal buses run. There are three types of driving shows that make full use of video, lighting, and sound: "History of Yokohama Municipal Transportation", "One Day and Municipal Transportation of a certain family", and "Railways and Buses running in Yokohama". It has been held seven times (as of October 2024). We hope you will feel that trains and buses that run through the elaborate streets of Yokohama are linked to your lives.
　In addition, on the wall, a chronology that expresses illustrations and texts from the era of streetcars to the era of buses and subways is displayed.
　Please come to the streetcar preservation hall where you can rediscover the news of Yokohama.