RAS Korea offers visit to railway museum

Trains on display at the KORAIL Railroad Museum in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of KORAIL Railroad Museum

Trainspotters, rail fans and miscellaneous other history buffs in Korea should take notice of an event being offered this weekend by the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea at the KORAIL Railroad Museum.

The museum, located south of Seoul, presents a unique opportunity to dive into the country's impressive transport infrastructure development history.

"A railway map of Korea shows a surprisingly extensive system, from the KTX lines linking major cities to scenic local lines like the Yeongdong Line from Yeongju to Gangneung or the Donghae Line from Busan to Yeongdeok," said Michael Duffy, a British national who started working at the Korea National Railroad College in March 2004, only a few weeks before the launch of the KTX on April 1.

Rail infrastructure has been an important factor in the 35 years he's spent living here.

"These days, the Mugungwha is the slow train, but up to the 1990s, there was a much, much slower alternative, the Bidulgi (which means 'pigeon')," he said. "I only took it once, when I was heading home to Busan from Andong one afternoon, and hopped on the first southbound train, not realizing how painfully slow the journey was going to be. The train I took departed Cheongnyangni daily at about 6:30 a.m., and rolled into Bujeon station, some way north of the main Busan station, at 9:15 p.m., having called at every station along the way."

The railway museum, founded in 1988 near Uiwang Station on Seoul Metro Line 1, presents visitors with the opportunity to board a variety of trains that have been in use throughout Korea's history. There is also a building that provides more in-depth information on the nation's rail development.

"The first floor tells the history of the Korean railroad from the inauguration of the first line, running between Seoul and Incheon, in 1897 to the advent of the KTX and beyond," Duffy said in an online invitation. "We can see steam engines and rolling stock, reassembled stations and related paraphernalia, timetables and other documents, and lots of models. Also, there are stories from history, including from the Korean War. A star attraction is a magnificent diorama hall with operating miniature replicas of almost every kind of train that has run in Korea from the slowest to the swiftest."

The second floor offers a more technical side of the museum, showing signaling and communication equipment, different kinds of tracks, a level crossing, a KTX operating room and uniforms and tickets.

Possibly the most eye-catching part of the museum is the outdoor exhibition area, which features a collection of 26 train cars including steam, diesel and electric locomotives as well as coaches and construction vehicles, plus VIP trains used by presidents of both Korea and the U.S. as well as the head of the U.N. Command.

This weekend's tour presents a precious opportunity to tag along with Duffy, a long-term resident of Korea who arrived in Korea in 1988 during the Summer Olympics. He spent 16 years living in Busan, before moving to the railroad college.

"Since the museum is next door to the college where I was teaching, I used to drop in from time to time. There were always more things to see, and it was a good place to buy presents for children," he said.

"I've done quite a lot of train travel, starting with my first journey on a steam train in 1952 on the way from London to take the ferry to Ireland. Since then, I've made a few long-distance train trips: across Europe from Istanbul to London, the Trans-Siberian from Beijing to Moscow, circuits of India and Pakistan and China, and the U.S. coast to coast by Amtrak."

About Korea's rail infrastructure, he said it has plenty of potential to keep developing. "Although efforts to link the rail systems of South and North Korea, initiated a few years ago, have stalled, Korea has the potential to become a terminus of a Eurasian railway that will make it possible to board a train in Busan and get off in London," he said.

The tour starts at 12:30 p.m. this Saturday. Participation costs 30,000 won, or 25,000 won for RAS Korea members. Visit raskb.com for more information.