Brief History of the Taiwan Railroad
In 1884 Taiwan defeated the French during the Sino-French War, Taiwan became one of Qing Dynasty's provinces in 1885. The first governor of Taiwan, Liu Ming Chuan, took the railroad tracks which were being used to build their railroad system in China, but were being destroyed by the Chinese people because of superstitious reasons to Taiwan for defensive and economic developments. In 1887, he hired engineers of British H. C. Matheson and German John Bireh to construct the first railroad, 28.6 km long from Taipei to Keelung. The first running train was in 1891 with a speed of 20 km per hour. In 1888, the railroad extent from Taipei to Sinchu a total of 78 km.
After the first Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was given to Japan in 1895. The Japanese government in Taiwan was aggressive in rebuilding and construct new railway systems for transporting natural resources and also setting up a colonial model for its colonized counties in Southeast Asia. In 1908 it finished the most difficult segment of the railway system from Sanyi to Taian with an elevation topping of at 402.326 meter. Taiwan west railway system from Keelung to Kaohsiung was completed.
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| This map covering the entire mountain railroad segment was a self guide system in Chinese only. Click Photo Source: http://lib.mlc.gov.tw/webmlr/Remembrance2.asp |
The only possible time for taking the famous historical train ride was in Summers. We didn't have a chance to take the ride. So my husband and I decided to take our friend there by car. Looking at all the pictures that I took during the trip, I forgot to take the old street of Sanyi and the old train station. It was a big mistake for blogging this article. Anyways, it was worth while to visit the old Sanyi street with massive and famous wood sculptures in Taiwan. Take Sanyi exit on freeway 1 and follow the signs.
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| The red line led us to the famous tourist spots. |
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| This was a cute sign. Jiu Shan Xian means the old mountain line which refers to the old railroad line. |
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| As we paralleled with the old railroad, two workers were repainting and restoring the sign. It looked too new to adapt in an old environment. |
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| I was curios about this small Earth God temple. So here I was. |
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| No all the earth god temples have dragon pillars. This was a special one. It was first build in the Qing dynasty and was rebuilt during times of destruction. |
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| Weeds overgrew on the railroad and we were going to trace down its route. |
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| No far from the small temple by car, we saw people walking out from the tunnel. I decided to walking through this tunnel to see what it was like. |
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| My husband had to drive to the other unknown end to pick us up. While walking in the tunnel, I had to comfort my girlfriend because she was afraid of walking in the dark. |
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| Walking on the old railroad had a special feeling. I was tracing its history and appreciating its forms coordinated with the natural environment. What would it be at the end of the curve? I asked myself. |
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| After going through the tunnel I realized that my husband probably couldn't find us because the end was different than I thought. That became my problem. I better behave for the next few minutes after I saw him again. Ha-ha! Well, this building in the picture was a watch tower during the martial law period. |
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| I had no idea about this piece metal and its function but I knew it was very important to the track and also those railroad fans. My husband said it was a device for changing the train to a different track. (a track switch) Did it say "I am strong and still survive in this crucial environment?" |
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| We just followed the track and didn't know where we would end up with. It seemed like we would arrived at a station. |
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| We arrived at the highest point of the railway system which is called Sheng Xing Station. My mission at this point was to find my dear husband. |
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| The old wooden building during the Japanese period was still standing there. It gave this place a sense of antiquity. But the new sign which hung on the top of door just diminished the feeling. |
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| This cat sat there to take a winter sun bath. It was like a lazy and relaxing day. |
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| A stele was set up to commemorate the great achieve. The inscriptions on the front were: The highest point of Taiwan Railway System 403.326 meter above the sea level. The side was Sheng Xing Train Station. |
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| Coffee shops and restaurants were along the tracks. |
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| A couple came here to have their wedding pictures done before they got married. It is a custom in Taiwan. People pay certain money for certain sets of pictures, cosmetic make up for bride and groom, 3-4 set of dressed in different styles, etc. It was chilly and we were amazed by the future bride who wore little. |
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| Here was the old street with some souvenir stores and restaurants. It definitely became a popular tourist town in this mountain remote area. |
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| One of the souvenir stores still remained its old wiring system during the Japanese time. |
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| Most residents here were Hakka people who ancestors came to Taiwan later than the Holo people. So they settled down on the hill sides due to the scarce plain lands during the 17th and 18th centuries. |
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| Most Hakka people had a tough life in the early time. Therefore, Hakka people's frugal lifestyle and tough- life enduring spirits were well known in Taiwan. |
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| Our delicious and reasonable Hakka lunch |
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| After lunch we drove down to the south and arrived at the Yutengping Broken Bridge 魚藤坪斷橋 or 龍騰斷橋. It was built by the Japanese government and destroyed by the Guandaoshan Earthquake in 1935. Th Japanese govenment built another bridge across to replace this bridge. In 1999 it was also damaged by the 921 Earthquake. |
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| This bridge was the second bridge. It was also abandoned in 1998. Now both bridges have become popular scenic attraction spots. |
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| I looked up at the supporting pillars of the second bridge from the small trail below with its suspension bridge which crossed the riverbed. |
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| My good man already had parked our car and waited for us at the other end of the trail. |
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| The tree roots and vines already occupied the supporting pillars of the first bridge. It was amazing how nature worked with human made architecture. |
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| After lunch and taking a short walk, it was about time for a treat. The strawberry farm was not far away from the broken bridge. We were lucky to be there when it was in season. |
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| It was fun to pick fresh strawberries. |
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| Our journey for the day would end up at this train station which was called Taian. |
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| This monument was to commemorate more than 3,200 people who died in the earthquake of 1935. The inscription was in Japanese. After WWII, the Japanese left, the villagers sealed the inscription with concrete because they wanted to wipe out their tough colonized life inder the Japanese. It was rediscovered through weathering . |
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| The platform in Taian is higher than the station. The underground walkway served as a shelter during WWII. According to the local old folks, only Japanese could hide under the walkway and Taiwanese could only stand at the edge of the shelter. Taiwanese were used as a human shied. The metal supports were the old tracks which were damaged during the earthquake in 1935. |
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| We though the train was under maintenance for the summer of 2011. |
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| All metal supports were dated when it was made. This one was the oldest in 1905. |
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| Photographers hired a model to shoot their photos at the Western style station. The Japanese government applied the western architectural forms in all governmental offices and public buildings like museums and train stations. The train station was surrounded by old streets and houses. It was a very nice walk around this neighborhood. |
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| Before heading back to Taichung city, we stopped by the new Taian train station which was 5 floors high. |
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| No attendant served at this station after 4 or 5 pm . If you head to this area by train, you better check out its schedule. Elevator for handicap or old people would be closed also. It was not convenient for disable or people who carried a lot of stuffs. |
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| This was its platform. It was very windy. |
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| Rice paddies were in its neighborhood |
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| A commute train had just arrived as we left. |
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| One day I was alone and wondered this area while waiting for the train. I found a flower farm with its owner lived next to it. I walked in and started talking to the farmers. I had a great experience with them. This time I decided to introduce this flower farm to my husband and my friend. |
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| We did a lot of talking with the farmers and they told us about their business for exporting the flowers to other countries, etc. The farmer in this picture was sorting the seeds and preparing for next season. |
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| This is one of my favor flowers. I did pick some fresh flowers to take home. |
If you think about taking the train ride in Aug. You should act quickly because the ticket sells out soon.
Miaoli County Travel EBook: http://miaolitravel.net/files/quarterly/TWMiaoliAll.pdf
You can find transportation information here also.
Reference Source:
http://taipei.tzuchi.org.tw/rhythms/magazine/content/102/history.htm
http://lib.mlc.gov.tw/webmlr/Remembrance1.asp
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