Mr. Masaki Ooshida, Director of The Railway Museum signs the affiliation agreement with Mr. Satoshi Seino, CEO of JR East looking on.

Mr. Kanji Yamanouchi, Minister of Economic Affairs, Embassy of Japan; Mayor of Baltimore, the Honorable Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; Mr. Courtney B. Wilson, Executive Director of the B&O Railroad Museum; Mr. Masaki Ooshida, Director of The Railway Museum; Mr. Satoshi Seino, CEO of JR East and Mr. Francis X. Smyth, Chairman B&O Railroad Museum Board of Directors.

On Friday September 5, 2014 the B&O Railroad Museum signed a formal affiliations agreement with The Railway Museum in Saitama City, Japan just North of Tokyo. A press conference was held in the B&O’s historic Roundhouse and was attended by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Director of Smithsonian Affiliations Harold Closter, B&O Board members, Executive Director Courtney Wilson and 12 delegates from Japan including the Minister for Economic Affairs and the Counselor of Transportation from the Embassy of Japan. Our Japanese guests also included the Director of The Railway Museum, the CEO of the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and other representatives from the Museum and JR East. A celebratory luncheon was held following the ceremony where Maryland Secretary of State John McDonough presented a Governor’s Citation to Mr. Satoshi Seino, Chairman of JR East and Chairman of the East Japan Railway Culture Foundation commemorating the new relationship.

The sisterhood agreement will enable the two museums to exchange collections, expertise, technology, personnel, education programs and best practices. In addition both museums will launch a marketing campaign to draw visitors East to West and West to East.

A plaque commemorating the affiliation was unveiled at the ceremony. B&O Board Chair Francis Smyth and Executive Director Courtney Wilson will visit The Railway Museum in Saitama City in the Fall of 2015 to officially unveil a similar plaque in the Japanese museum.

The event was covered widely by the media in both the United States and Japan.

Time Fischer’s work Trains Unlimited in the 21^st Century recognized both the B&O and The Railway Museum in the Top Ten Railroad Museums in the world.

Please visit The Railway Museum’s website for further information:

http://www.railway-museum.jp/en/