Japanese required: Some (To get in takes some Japanese, but little to no Japanese is required while inside)
Cost: 1000 yen for adults, 500 for children (elementary school to high school), 200 yen for children (ages 3 and below), with separate, discounted rates for groups.
Good for: Everyone
The SCMaglev and Railway Park is more of a museum for trains than a park. The park is located a bit out of the way at Kinjō-futō station, roughly 25 minutes from Nagoya station by train. Despite it's location, the railway park is definitely worth visiting on a day when you feel like going out but don't have anywhere in mind to go. The place is mostly suited to people who like science museums and trains, since there are many similar displays.
I found the place very easily thanks to a bunch of signs at the station, and it's a very short walk. Even though I'm not particularly interested in trains, I had a lot of fun at different exhibits, and I even got to relax and sit inside some of the trains. There were a lot of different train models on display, including both very old and very new designs. There was also a children's play area and a place to buy Japanese food and snacks on the second floor. The food place had some uncomfortable plastic chairs to sit in, but there are several places to relax in soft, reclining train chairs on the second floor as well.While I walked around, I got to see even some trains that looked like they were old enough to be powered by boilers rather than electricity. I have always found the look of old trains to be very interesting, so these were my favorite displays. An interesting difference that can be seen when looking at modern and older designs is that older trains tend to be darker colors (black, usually) while trains are commonly white or other bright colors these days.
Although most of the trains were on display inside the building, there were two trains outside (one just the conductor's box, the other a full modern train). Although the older train couldn't be entered, there was a ramp leading inside the other. There were even several Japanese people sitting down in the train seats and resting or sleeping. I took some time inside the train to relax as well as soon as I found out that the train cars had working air conditioning! The museum's not hot, but having cool air blowing on top of me was still refreshing.I found the trip to the museum to also be very educational, since there were many electronic displays explaining how trains worked. Many of these displays were interactive, indicating in English and Japanese to push a button or pull a lever. Some of the exhibits even had English explanations of what was going on. The most interesting ones explained how the newest train design (SCMaglev) actually used magnetism to levitate the train and propel it forward rather than using traditional train tracks. There was a small portion of this exhibit where anyone could spin a lever and cause a model train to simulate the levitation of a real train. The concept of a train moving at super high speeds using only magnets to keep it going was both a scary and exciting one. It definitely made me want to try riding in a SCMaglev train at least once in my life.
In addition to all of this, there was a possibility for me to win a lottery and get to try a train driving simulator. I unfortunately didn't win the lottery, but you might be lucky if you go (keep in mind that doing this costs an extra 500 yen for 15 minutes). I did get to see the simulator, and it seemed to be pretty realistic, if a bit less dangerous. If you've ever wanted to try driving a train without having to go through all of the training, this is probably your best shot.
I had a really great time at the park and would definitely recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in looking at life-sized train models or finding out about some of the mechanical operations of trains.
