Taipei Railway Workshop

Taiwan Railway Museum (臺灣總督府鐵道部)

I’m a big fan of museums - and I think you should be too. 

Whenever I travel to a new country, I always make sure to reserve a bit of my time to check out a museum (or three), especially if it relates to the history of the place I’m visiting. 

That being said, you might have noticed that I don’t post much on here about museums. 

Why? Well, even though there are often some really cool displays, I don’t really see much value in taking photos in museums, at least for the purpose of this blog. This is also why you haven’t seen me write anything about (and probably never will) Taipei’s famed National Palace Museum.

Admittedly, I’ve likewise never really been all that impressed with Taiwan’s museums.

Most of the time I feel like museums here are a bit of a missed opportunity - It’s almost as if museum staff have some great ideas, but when they request funding, they only end up being allocated about a tenth of what they were asking for and then have to make due - which is sad to say, half-assed.

So, when I heard that the former Taihoku Railway Bureau was being reopened as the “Taiwan Railway Museum,” I wasn’t feeling all that optimistic.

But even if what was prepared for display in the museum wasn’t that impressive, I was still highly anticipating a visit as I’d finally get the chance to enter the beautiful Japanese-era building that I’ve passed by several times a week for well over a decade.

Fortunately for me, while the museum was still going through its soft-opening, I was invited to come check it out and get some photos. I don’t know how I get so lucky sometimes, but just like the Taipei Railway Workshop, I was honoured to be part of the first group of people who got to visit. 

And I’m pleased to say, my initial pessimism about the museum was way off. 

I might even go as far to say that this museum is probably one of the best in Taiwan. 

Not only are all of the displays well-researched, well-designed and offer multi-lingual explanations, they’re set up in a way that nothing is out of place.

The whole thing is a well-rounded and obviously a well-thought up exhibition about the nations railway history, which if you weren’t already aware was instrumental in developing Taiwan into the beautiful country that we enjoy today.

Oh, and if you’ve got a camera, the museum is housed within one of the capital’s most iconic buildings, and is great for photography!

The Taihoku Railway Bureau (鐵道部) 

Before we talk about the museum, it’s important to talk about the iconic building that houses it.

The “Railway Department of the Governor General of Taiwan” (台灣總督府交通局鐵道部), a National Historic Site, which is better known as the “Taihoku Railway Bureau” (鐵道部), was an administration centre for the management and operation of Taiwan’s railways during the Japanese Colonial Era and for several decades after.

Located a short distance from Taipei Station and the North Gate (北門), the Railway Bureau dates back well over a century and the buildings within the complex occupy a piece of land that has considerable historic significance. 

It probably goes without saying that the Taipei of a century ago was considerably different than what we’re used to today - The narrow stretch of land between the Keelung River and where Taipei Station is located today has been an important location for the development of Taiwan’s railroad since the late 1800s.

The first iteration of the ‘Taipei Station’ opened in 1891 in ‘Twatutia’ (大稻埕), which we refer to as Dadaocheng today, when the rudimentary railway between Keelung and Taipei opened for service.

Prior to the Japanese takeover of Taiwan, the Qing constructed a rudimentary railway factory just west of where the Railway Bureau stands today, which was used to do maintenance on the track constructed between the port of Keelung and Taipei in addition to taking care of the trains.

When the Japanese took control of Taiwan a few short years later, the site was utilized by the army for a short time as a munitions depot before it was handed over to the railway department. 

When the Japanese arrived in Taiwan, not much time was wasted on getting to work on the development of an island-wide network of railways. So when construction was nearing completion on the northern Taipei-Tamsui line, the workshop had to be expanded and modernized.

So, in 1909, the factory was relocated to a new building nearby and renamed the “Taipei Railway Factory.” 

The original buildings at the Qing factory were later torn down and the land was converted into a community of dormitories for civil servants - some of which still exist today! 

As progress on the construction of a a network of railways around the island continued, it also became necessary for the colonial government to relocate the administrative section of the railway bureau to a new headquarters in order to manage the day-to-day operations of the railway as well as ensuring that construction on the various rail lines went smoothly.

Given the importance of the railway for Japan’s ambitions for Taiwan, the office that was constructed for the Railway Bureau would have to be something grand.

Thus, the responsibility for its design was given to Moriyama Matsunosuke (森山松之助), the architectural genius who was responsible for many of Taiwan’s most famous buildings, including the the Taipei Prefectural Office (台北州廳), Taichung Prefectural Office (台中州廳), Tainan Prefectural Office (台南州廳), the Monopoly Bureau (專賣局) and the Government-General of Taiwan (台灣總督府), which is currently known as the Presidential Office Building (總統府). 

Link: The helmsmen who shaped the style of Taipei City (Taipei Times) 

Coincidentally, the Taiwan Railway Bureau and the Government-General of Taiwan building just so happened to be inaugurated on the same day (March 31st, 1919) and afterwards Moriyama commented: “My work here is done!” (台灣已經沒有什麼可做的了) and he left Taiwan a year later with a long list of accomplishments.

I thought it was a bit strange that both the Railway Bureau and the Government-General of Taiwan building (currently Presidential Building) opened on the same day, so I decided to do some research on the subject.

The Japanese never really do anything at random, so there had to be a reason - whether it was a holiday or an anniversary - that they inaugurated both of these important buildings on the same day. 

Unfortunately after several hours of digging, the only thing I could find that related to “March 31st” was the end of the so-called military government (軍政) and the start of civil governance almost two decades prior. The thing is that the final day was “3/31” and the first day was “4/1”, which probably meant that I hadn’t found the right answer. 

So, I enlisted the help of a local history guru who I’m happy to call a friend who did some searching for me.

After a few hours he got back to me and said he was having difficultly, so he left a message with one of the research heads at the National Taiwan Museum who got back to him and answered: It’s because March 31st marked the traditional end of the fiscal year in Japan.

This is what I get for overthinking things. 

When the Railway Bureau opened for operations in 1919, construction on the building was only completed the north wing and the front facade of the building when they started to move in.

It would take another year until the south wing was completed and over the next few decades, several additional buildings constructed on the site, which eventually totalled around forty.

You might be wondering how this was possible given the lack of space on the site.

It was all thanks to the relocation of the Taipei Railway Workshop (which is also now a protected property) to a new location, freeing up quite a bit of space. The railway workshop at one time featured prominently on the site of the Railway Bureau, but as the decades passed and the railway network continued to expand, it became apparent that the workshop was far too small to perform all of the duties required to maintain the trains.

So, a much larger one had to be constructed and was officially opened in 1935 on the fortieth anniversary of Japanese Colonial Rule in Taiwan, which also coincided with the opening of the Taiwan Exposition, which was a huge year in Taiwan in terms of events.

Unfortunately, in the midst of all the development that was taking place here in Taiwan, the Japanese Empire found itself involved in a little something called the Second World War as one of the major instigators.

And we all know how that went for them.

When the Japanese surrendered to the allies at the conclusion of the war, they were forced to relinquish control over the territories that they had conquered, including Taiwan. This left the question as to what would happen to the island and who would control it. 

Ambiguously, the allies decided that control of Taiwan would be offered up to yet another foreign power, the Republic of China, which itself was in the midst of a bitter civil war against the communists. 

In 1945, when the Chinese Nationalists formally took control of Taiwan, the Railway Bureau became the new headquarters for the Taiwan Railways Administration (臺灣鐵路管理局), which quickly got to work repairing the parts of the track that were destroyed during the war. This helped to ensure that the government could maintain control of the island as well as taking advantage of the economy that the Japanese developed. 

The Taipei Railway Bureau continued to serve as the headquarters of the Taiwan Railways Administration from the late 1940s until 1990, when it moved to its new home within the upper floors of the newly constructed Taipei Railway Station.

In the 90s, the Taiwanese government wasn’t as keen on historical preservation as it is these days, so when the TRA moved out, it was left abandoned for quite some time.

Soon after the move, the interior became a setting in renowned Taiwanese director Edward Yang’s (楊德昌) film, “A Brighter Summer Day” (牯嶺街少年殺人事件).

After that though, not much happened at the Railway Bureau until construction on the Beimen MRT Station project started and a large portion of the forty buildings on site started disappearing. 

As a result, in 2009, the Railway Bureau was certified as a National Historical Monument (國定古蹟) by the Ministry of Culture (文化部) and plans were made to restore the remaining ten buildings into a public space.

The restoration project on the buildings started in 2014 and would take several years to complete with the Taiwan Railway Museum officially opening to the public to much fanfare in 2020, during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic.   

Timeline of Important Dates for the Railway Bureau

  • 1887 - Plans for the first railroad in Taiwan are started by governor Liu Mingchuan (劉銘傳). 

  • 1891 - Construction on the railway between Keelung and Taipei is completed. 

  • 1893 - Construction on the railway between Taipei and Hsinchu is completed. 

  • 1895 - The Japanese take control of Taiwan. 

  • 1901 - The Railway Bureau, a sub-department of the Governor Generals office is formed.

  • 1901 - The first branch line (Taipei - Tamsui) of the railroad is completed. 

  • 1908 - A proposal is made to relocate the original workshop and the railway bureau to a new site nearby. 

  • 1909 - The Taipei Railway Workshop is relocated east of its original location. 

  • 1918 - Construction on the new headquarters for the Railway Bureau starts. 

  • 1919.3.31 - Phase one of construction is completed on the facade and north wing. 

  • 1919.5.28 - Railway Bureau employees start to move into the offices. 

  • 1920 - The south wing of the building is completed. 

  • 1933 - Construction of the cafeteria attachment to the Administration building is completed. 

  • 1934 - The Engineering Buildings are added to the site.

  • 1935 - The Taipei Railway Workshop (台北機廠) is relocated to its current location.

  • 1940-1945 - The railways are repeatedly bombed by the Allies.

  • 1945 - Taiwan is ceded to the Republic of China (中華民國).

  • 1948 - The Taiwan Railways Administration (台灣鐵路管理局) is established with the Railway Bureau as its headquarters. 

  • 1979 - The West Coast Rail is fully electrified. 

  • 1989 - Rail lines in Taipei are moved underground in preparation for the new Taipei Railway Station. 

  • 1990 - The new Taipei Train Station opens and the Railway Bureau building is left abandoned.

  • 2000 - The Yilan line is fully electrified. 

  • 2006 - Construction on the Beimen MRT station takes place and several buildings are demolished and the former Taipei Workshop building was temporarily relocated. 

  • 2009 - The site of the Railway Bureau becomes a protected property with plans to restore it.

  • 2014 - The restoration project on the site commences with ten of the original forty buildings being restored after the rest were demolished during the construction of the MRT. 

  • 2020 - The Railway Bureau opens to the public as the Taiwan Railway Museum. 

Now that we have a lot of that history stuff out of the way, let’s talk a bit about each of the individual buildings that still exist today as part of the National Taiwan Museum Taipei Railway Bureau.

Administration Headquarters (廳舍)

While there are several historic buildings on site, let’s face it, the Administration Building (廳舍) is always going to be the one that attracts the most attention.

Not only is it the largest and most important building with regard to the history of the Railway Bureau, it was masterfully designed and is one of those iconic Taipei buildings that people have enjoyed for generations. 

Now that it has reopened to the public as a National Museum, it has attracted quite a bit of attention as people are finally able to enjoy the interior as much as they’ve enjoyed the exterior. 

The arc-shaped Administration building sits directly across from Taipei’s North Gate on the corner of Chung-Hsiao West Road (忠孝西路) and Yanping North Road (延平北路) with the front door facing another one of Taipei’s historic buildings, the Beimen Post Office (北門郵局). 

As mentioned above, the building was designed by famed architect Moriyama Matsunosuke (森山松之助), and construction was completed in two phases with the first phase completed on March 31st, 1919 and the second phase a year later. 

The two storey building consists of a beautiful front hall with a north and south wing running parallel to each other on either side.

Taking inspiration from English baroque, better known as Queen Anne style architecture (安妮女王復興樣式), the building is strongly characterized by its bilateral symmetry.

The lower half of the building was constructed using red bricks as a foundation, while the upper half was constructed with Alishan Cypress (阿里山檜木) in a style known as “half-timber framing” (半木構造), inspired by European architectural design, but with Japanese characteristics, of course.

Something you’ll want to take note of before entering the building is how the building curves from the front hall that faces the road.

The two towers that connect the north and south wings to the front hall were constructed at an angle, a classic baroque architectural trick that allows the building to take its arc shape.

Where the Japanese architects of that time excelled (with regard to baroque-style architecture) is easily noticeable with the of the roof, which is also a mixture of Western and Japanese-design characteristics.

In baroque design, a sense of ‘flowing movement’ is important and when it comes to this roof, it is expertly arched over both the south and north wings which meets with the front hall, which has its own arched roof facing the road, giving off somewhat of a 3D motion effect. Some might argue that the design here is ostentatious, but that was the point of baroque.

Adding to the design on the exterior, the roof is also home to ox-tail windows on both the front and back side of the building. While these windows perform their role of allowing natural light into the building quite well, the key thing to note here that the shape of windows on the front and back are shaped differently, with those on the backside being much more impressive.

That being said, credit needs to be given to the architect and the construction teams as construction of ox-tail windows like these is quite difficult, so even though they might just seem like windows protruding from the roof, you should take some time to check them out. 

The main office on the second floor of the Main Hall features a beautiful veranda, while both of the wings have long two-meter wide passageways at the front and back of the the first and second floors, where people could get of the office for some fresh air.

However, as the ground level of the building was constructed with brick and the top level with cypress, there are some practical differences between the two. The veranda on the ground level features beautiful brick arches which help to support the floor above while the second level has pillars which in turn assist in supporting the weight of the roof.

As you enter the foyer of the building you are met with a large open greeting space and a beautiful set of stairs that reaches around on the left and right side, a classic European-style design that is almost unheard of in Taiwan today.

There are halls both to the left and the right of the stairs that take you to where the various offices of the railway bureau once existed. 

When you reach the end of either of the hallways, you’ll find another large open stairwell on either end that bring you up to the second floor. The stairwell is spacious and there are large windows on both sides that allow for beautiful natural light to come in.

As you make your way to the second floor, you’re going to notice a noticeable difference in the design from the first floor.

The second floor was home to offices like the floor below, but the size of some of them is considerably larger. Likewise, there is much more attention to detail in the design as the ceilings and walls are decorated with plaster sculptures, which have been beautifully restored.

If you look closely at the designs on the sculptures, you’ll clearly notice Taiwan-related imagery inside.

The room you’ll want to pay most attention to however is the main office directly in the middle of the building, opposite the grand staircase.

This room is probably one of the single most beautiful spaces I’ve seen in Taiwan and the intricate ceiling and porcelain decorations are an amazing look into the past and the commitment to attention to detail that is a hallmark of Japanese design.

Amazingly, the total cost of construction for the Administration Building cost a mere 377,000 yen, which is about $3,500 USD!

Sounds like a steal, right?

Actually no, we have to consider several factors, including inflation and the decimation of the Japanese currency after the Second World War to figure out the real cost in todays dollars. 

Don’t worry, I’ve gone ahead and figured that out for you. 

The real cost to construct the building in today’s dollars would have been about $1,626,232 USD.

Still, not too bad all things considering. 

The Octagon (八角樓)

So there’s this beautiful concrete building on site, to the rear of the main building called “The Octagon” and that sounds pretty cool, right?

Kind of like the Pentagon in America. 

Well, actually, it’s just an ostentatiously-designed male washroom.  

But even though it’s just a washroom, you can be sure that almost every person who visits the Railway Museum is going to go check it out.

Why? Well, it was opened simultaneously with the main building, which means that it also dates back to 1919, making it one of the first washrooms in Taiwan with modern plumbing. 

Due to the fact that the staff at the Railway Bureau were predominately male, the washroom caters to their needs with an octagonal-shaped column of urinals in the centre of the building.

There are also four stalls set up with toilets and to the right and left of the front entrance with each of the other six sides of the octagon open to the elements for venting.

The building was constructed with reinforced concrete, has stone slabs for the roof and features modern style plumbing and septic tanks behind each toilet for cleanliness.

Constructed in a classical style, the design of the building imitates the stone masonry techniques of Europe and even though its just a staff washroom, it’s obvious that a lot of thought was put into making the experience of relieving yourself a grand occasion.

Today the urinals and toilets have been removed from the building and it has been cleaned up, with the walls given a fresh coat of paint.

You don’t have to worry about the stink of a men’s washroom when you walk into the building but you’ll definitely be able to appreciate the architectural design of the building. 

Canteen (食堂) 

The Canteen, or the Cafeteria building is connected directly to the Administration Hall and as you might very well have noticed from the photos here, is very much different than the rest of the building.

Constructed in 1932 as an addition to the main building, the cafeteria is a two-storey western-style building constructed of cypress and metal bracketing.

The strange thing is that while we know that architect Moriyama Matsunosuke (森山松之助) designed the Administration Building, no one really cared to take credit for the construction of the cafeteria.

Likewise, the materials used for the construction of the building were interestingly collected from scraps of wood used for other buildings around the capital.

An early attempt at recycling?

In actuality, this was very likely due to the fact that the colonial government was over-reaching with so many construction projects around Taiwan and was strapped for cash. 

Despite all of that, the interior of the building is beautiful and, like most buildings constructed with Taiwanese cypress, it shines in the sunlight.

Currently the ground level floor is used by the museum as a gift shop while the second floor is home to an exhibition space. 

Wartime Command Center (防空洞)

The Wartime Command Center is an underground bunker that was constructed during the latter stages of the war in 1943.

The Japanese constructed bunkers like these all over Taiwan in order to offer air-raid protection for civil-servants and the military. Considering the strategic importance of the railway with regard to Japan’s ambitions in Taiwan, having a bunker on-site only made sense. 

Constructed with reinforced concrete, there are two different sections to the bunker - the upper section is about seven meters above the ground and constructed in a cone shape.

The lower underground section is large enough to fit dozens of people and the interior has a large railway map of Taiwan on the wall which features the various rail lines, stations and bridges constructed by that time. 

Unfortunately the lower section of the bunker is still in the process of being restored, so its not open to the public as of yet.

I’ll update in the future when it becomes available and I can get in to get some photos. 

Electricity Building (電源室)

The Electricity Building, located to the rear of the Administration Building was originally constructed in 1925, but has been reconstructed and expanded on several occasions over the years. 

The building is a single-story brick structure with an arched wooden truss roof that was especially equipped to allow for the ventilation of heat to ensure safety.

When the building was later expanded, designers were forced to curve the new section due to a lack of space - The interesting thing about this is that the curve of the building somewhat mimics the shape of the Administration Building, which wasn’t entirely intentional, but cool nevertheless. 

The electricity generated in the building was used to assist in power generation and storage for the usage of the construction buildings nearby, which required more electricity than the grid at the time was able to provide. 

Today the building has been cleaned up, all of the equipment removed and is now a pretty cool place to sit down and enjoy one of the Taiwan Railway’s iconic Railway Lunchboxes (鐵路便當) in a cafeteria-like setting. 

Construction Buildings (工務室)

The two “construction” buildings were constructed to the rear of the Administration Building’s southern wing and are located directly next to Yanping North Road. 

Constructed in 1934 in the Japanese style, both of the buildings are about 44 meters in length with windows covering almost 80% of the walls, stressing an importance for natural interior light.

Constructed almost entirely of wood, the buildings were brilliantly elevated off of the ground with an ‘anti-termite foundation’ that helped to protect and preserve the buildings.

There is currently an interesting display in one of the buildings about how the Japanese had to quickly adapt to the problem of termites upon arrival in Taiwan and how the buildings on-site are a product of lessons learned.

The buildings were constructed just as the Taipei Railway Workshop was making its move to an off-site location (between Taipei and Songshan) and were used by the engineers employed at the Railway Bureau to coordinate the various construction projects that would take place around the island, as well as ensuring that operations at the nearby Taipei Railway Workshop went smoothly. 

Today the engineering buildings are used as exhibition spaces with one focusing on the restoration of the railway bureau while the other is a space where children can go to learn more about the railway in an interactive and fun way. 

There is also another set of green buildings that have yet to be fully restored, so in the future it’s likely that they’ll be open to the public in some capacity.

Railway Museum (鐵道部園區)

A replication of the interior of the historic Beimen Station (北門車站)

The Railway Bureau is currently open to the public and is under the ownership and control of the National Taiwan Museum (國立臺灣博物館), which has various exhibition spaces around Taipei. 

The interior of the building features exhibitions and displays historic objects and memorabilia related to the history of the railway in Taiwan.

The museum is pretty much a paradise for anyone who enjoys learning about Taiwan’s modern development - or those who just love trains. 

The former offices within the building are now home to exhibition spaces, which will continue to grow as the restoration process on some of the other buildings on the site is on-going. 

Historic train seats on the rear balcony of the building basking in the afternoon sun.

So, even though I was able to visit the museum during its soft-opening, it most certainly won’t be my last. 

Link: Railway Department Park (National Taiwan Museum)  

Currently the museum features a number of exhibits covering a wide variety of subjects and even though the majority of exhibition space covers the history of the railroad in Taiwan, there are also some other interesting exhibits deserving of your attention.

When you visit the museum, you’ll be treated with some of the following exhibits (in no specific order):

  • The history of the railway from 1887 - 2020.

  • A model of the historic Beimen Station.

  • A mockup of the inner office space and tools of a train station

  • Interactive maps of the development of the railway network.

  • Displays of the various types of trains used throughout history.

  • Displays of discontinued trains and the presidents former train.

  • Spaces for children to learn about the railway in a fun way.

  • The history of the Railway Bureau building.

  • Exhibitions about the Restoration of the Railway Bureau

  • A giant and extremely detailed model railroad of Taipei.

  • Exhibition about the 1935 Taiwan Exposition.

  • Exhibition about the Taiwan Railway Hotel.

Modern exhibit in a century-old building.

This obviously is an incomplete list as some of the exhibitions are permanent while others will constantly be changing in order to keep things fresh. My first visit during the soft-opening and my second visit several months later were quite different experiences with some of the exhibits becoming more refined while others had already been completely removed and replaced.

The great thing about this space is that there are a long list of possibilities when it comes to new and interesting exhibitions about Taiwan’s railway network and thus far they’ve only scratched the surface, which is what makes this museum an exciting one as it continues to grow into one of the most important places to learn about Taiwan’s modern history in Taipei.

One thing that most certainly won’t be replaced is the expertly detailed model railway of Taipei, which you should most definitely check out. The model train show takes place twice an hour and is one of the things that any visitor to the museum absolutely has to check out.

Hours

Tuesday - Sunday from 9:30 - 5:00.

  1. Closed on Mondays

  2. Closed during the Lunar New Year holidays 

  3. Closed on National Holidays

Admission 

  • Railway Bureau: NT$100 (Adult) | NT$50 (Children/Seniors)

  • Museum Pass: NT$130 (Adult) | NT$65 (Children/Seniors) 

Notes about Admission Prices

  1. The price of admission for children is limited to those aged 6-12.

  2. Children under the age of six are free.  

  3. During the week, anyone over the age of 65 is free. On the weekends, tickets are half price. 

  4. The Museum Pass is a discounted ticket that gives access to the National Taiwan Museum, the Natural History Branch, Nansen Branch and the Railway Bureau.

  5. The ticket booth closes thirty minutes before the museum closes.

  6. The price of admission can be paid with cash, credit card and EasyCard (悠遊卡)

Waiting for the model train to arrive

Something that is important to remember about the Railway Bureau Museum is that restoration projects are still underway and there are still a few areas that are yet to be completed and opened to the public.

Over the next year or two, the museum will continue to expand with the original Taipei Railway Workshop slated to reopen relatively soon.

As the newer buildings open, I’ll make sure to update this article with more information. 

Getting There

 

So, how is one to get to the Taiwan Railway Museum? 

This is probably one of the easiest ‘Getting There’ sections I’ve ever written. 

The museum is located in the North Gate (Beimen) area of Taipei and is a short walk from either the Taipei Railway Station, Taoyuan Airport Metro Station, Beimen MRT Station or the Taipei Underground Mall (台北地下街). 

  • From Taipei Main Station: Exit the station from the “West Three” door (西三門) and walk west along the park or Chung-Hsiao West Road to arrive at the museum. 

  • From Beimen MRT Station: Exit 1, 2 or 3 more or less surround the back end of the museum. 

  • From Taipei Underground Mall: Exit Y24 or Y26, each of which are a two minute walk away. 

  • From Taoyuan Airport MRT: Exit 6 or 7, both of which are directly across the street. 

Exhibits on display from the Railway Bureau

The Taiwan Railway Museum kind of blew me away - Sure, you could argue that I’m an unbiased critic as I’m somewhat predisposed to enjoying any historic building from the Japanese era, but there’s much more going on here than just the historic building.

The museum and the exhibits on display are pretty much candy for any Taiwanese history buff and the well-thought out displays are easily enjoyed by people of all ages. 

As I’ve already mentioned, I’ve never really been this impressed by a museum in Taiwan before, and no, I’m not being paid to say that.

I think all of this is likely is a reflection of the fact that the National Taiwan Museum did an extremely professional job restoring the building while also collecting all of the historic objects that have been put on display. 

If you have a chance to visit, I highly recommend spending some time at this museum.

A view of the modern city from the perspective of one of its oldest residents.

Likewise, as I mentioned above, in the coming months I’ll be updating this space with photos from some of the areas that have yet to be opened to the public and I’ll also be adding more articles about the Railway Bureau in Hualien, which has also become a pretty cool spot to hang out and learn about the history of the Railway in Taiwan!

Footnotes

  1. Railway Division of Taiwan Governor-General’s Bureau of Transportation (Ministry of Culture)

  2. Railway Department Park (National Taiwan Museum)

  3. Ministry launches Railway Bureau (Taipei Times)

  4. Railway Park in Taipei Opens to Public (Taipei Times)

  5. A Living Museum of Trains (Taiwan Panorama)

  6. 台博鐵道部園區6日開幕 重現百年古蹟建築 (CNA)

  7. 臺灣總督府交通局鐵道部 (Wiki)

  8. 鐵道部之空間變遷與建築特色 (國立臺灣博物館)

  9. 臺博館鐵道部園區新揭幕!歷經16年修復,走入百年古蹟群,動態模型、鐵道文史展一次看 (Shopping Design)

  10. 抵達軌道運輸第一站,回味「鐵道部園區」百年歷史 (遠見)


Abandoned Railway Dorms (台鐵安東街宿舍案)

Urban Exploration? It’s been a while! Even though I continue to actively explore in my free time, I haven’t posted anything urbex-related in quite a while. There are actually a few reasons for this - The most obvious is that I’ve been way too busy with commercial work and have had a difficult time catching up with all of the personal photos and blogs that I haven’t had a chance to get to.

When it comes to urbex-related stuff, I’ll eventually get to it, but sometimes if the story behind a place that I’m exploring doesn’t really interest me that much, I won’t spend much time writing about it. There are of course also some more annoying reasons why I haven’t been willing to post much urbex-related stuff in recent months, but I’m not really going to get into that here.

All I’ll say about that is the reason you’re seeing this today is because the area I’m writing about is already gone.

With todays post, I had the luck to be able to combine my enjoyment of urban exploration with a bit of research about Taiwanese history dating back to the Japanese Colonial Era, something that interests me quite a bit.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you’ll probably have noticed that I’ve lamented ad nauseam about the fact that when the Japanese Colonial Era ended in Taiwan, most of what was constructed that had anything to do with Japanese culture or religion was torn down or repurposed. Suffice to say, even though a lot of buildings were destroyed by the Chinese Nationalists, they didn’t actually tear down everything that the Japanese constructed.

In fact, a lot of the infrastructure that was constructed by the Japanese (in addition to the efficient way that they did things) was successfully emulated by the incoming regime, proving tremendously helpful when it came to further developing the country.

One of the best examples of this was the way the Japanese provided dormitories for employees of the state - So if you were a civil servant, worked at a school, university, hospital, were a member of the police force or the railway, it was likely that you had a dormitory assigned for yourself and your family.

It goes without saying that the “dorms” provided are not likely the university-style dormitories that you’re thinking - They were often large Japanese-style homes that were provided based on the importance of the work that you were doing with higher ranking state employees receiving larger homes for themselves while others would have received shared accommodations.

The dorms were also almost always constructed very close to your place of work, so if for example you were a police officer, the housing you were provided with was likely very close to the precinct you worked at. Likewise if you were a teacher or a principal, your home was likely constructed on school grounds or next door to the campus.

Link: Zhongli Police Dormitories (中壢警察局日式宿舍群)
Link: Jhudong Dormitories (竹東林務宿舍)

When the Nationalists arrived in Taiwan though they brought with them a couple of million refugees from China which instantly created a housing crisis. To solve this problem they moved many of the higher ranking bureaucrats that came with them into the existing dormitories constructed by the Japanese while at the same time emulating the Japanese and created “Military Villages” (眷村) of their own to be used as “temporary” housing.

As I’ve mentioned a few times in previous posts, the Chinese Nationalists arrived in Taiwan with the mindset that they were only going to be here on a short term basis while the Japanese on the other hand developed the island with the mindset that they were never going to leave; This is why many of those “dorms” constructed by the Japanese are still standing today while the hastily constructed Military Villages built by the Nationalists are falling apart and being torn down.

It is unfortunate that most of the buildings of cultural and religious significance that were constructed by the Japanese have already been torn down, but we can at least take solace in the fact that the history of the colonial era hasn’t been completely erased as the continued existence of the “dorms” acts as a link to an important period of Taiwan’s history.

In recent years, the Taiwanese government has done an admirable job (and spent a considerable amount of money) restoring many of the remaining buildings constructed during the Colonial Era and has converted them into tourist destinations. This renaissance of sorts has helped to highlight the fact that Taiwan is in fact an interesting country with an interesting history, which is something that is often overlooked by the local people here.

​A few months back I was invited to take a tour of the recently restored Taipei Railway Workshop (台北機廠) - The workshop, which is now open to the public for tours is an important piece of Taiwan’s history that dates back almost a century and is an excellent place to learn about Taiwan’s amazing railway system and how the railway was instrumental in Taiwan’s development.

While touring the workshop, one of the questions that came to mind was whether or not there were dormitories on-site - It seemed probable that one of the buildings in the administrative section could have been used for shared accommodations, but I was never able to confirm that. So while doing research for the article I was writing about the workshop, I took a bit of time to search out where the railway dorms were located.

One of the ways that I typically do research on this kind of stuff is to first take a look at the satellite view on Google Maps. The problem however in this case is that the Railway Workshop was located directly next door to the Songshan Tobacco Factory (松山菸廠), which would have also had dorms of its own. So without a definitive answer, I started doing some research.

The layout of the Eastern Block of the Taipei Railway Dormitories

In no time I discovered that the Railway Bureau had a few separate communities of dorms available for employees at the workshop and beyond. The largest of which was the nearby “Eastern Block” (臺北機廠東宿舍) community in the Songshan Area which dates back to 1937 (昭和12年). Although that community no longer exists today (the dorms were later moved), the interesting thing is that the land they were constructed on is currently home to the popular Wufenpu Shopping District (五分埔商圈) near the Raohe Night Market (饒河夜市).

Link: 臺北機廠東宿舍 (臺北市信義區文史地圖)

Link: Songshan Railway Residences (Synapticism)

If you were wondering about the other large community of railway dorms, namely the “Western Block” (台北西區鐵道宿舍群) you don’t have to look much further than the area between Taipei Train Station (台北車站) and the North Gate (北門).

The area was once home to the historic Taiwan Railway Hotel (台灣鐵道飯店) as well as a large community of dorms, both of which are currently in the process of being restored and will be open to the public in the near future - Unfortunately though, most of the dorm section has already been torn down and converted into a public park.

While it was actually quite simple to research the history of the Japanese-style railway dorm communities, the situation with the modern “Eastern Block Railway Dorms” was a bit more difficult to understand. The majority of the information online is either from some local news sites or real estate sites that were looking to rent out some of the apartments within.

So here’s what I can tell you - The modern high-rise style Railway dorm community was constructed in Taipei’s Eastern District between Zhongxiao Fuxing (忠孝復興站) and Nanjing Fuxing (南京復興站) MRT Stations. Constructed in the 1970s, the Taiwan Railway Andong Street Dorms (台鐵安東街宿舍案) became the new home for most of those who were living in the original dorm community in Songshan.

The apartment block consisted of several buildings in a walled-community and at full occupancy had enough space for two hundred apartments. After several decades however many of the people who were living in the apartments started to move out due to rising rent prices and employee layoffs, leaving many of the apartments abandoned.

At the turn of the century, the abandoned apartments started to become a problem for the local community as they apparently started to attract homeless people and drug users. Likewise the parking lot for some reason became a local dumping ground for abandoned cars, which attracted garbage, mosquitos and other pests.

The local Village Representative (里長) complained to the Taipei City Government on several occasions about the situation but nothing could be done as the community wasn’t completely abandoned and those families still living inside were unwilling to relocate. The Taiwan Railway Administration likewise was losing an insane amount of money every year in property taxes on a plot of land that would otherwise be considered prime real estate and the central government was none-too-happy about the accumulating losses.

Link: 台鐵安東街宿舍荒廢淪車輛棄置廠 (民視新聞)

In 2015, the community made headlines across the Taipei culinary scene when the Railway Administration issued eviction notices to the occupants of the 3600 square meter area. This meant that all the occupants and businesses in the area would have to relocate as the community would eventually be torn down. The most famous occupant, Lin Dong-Fang Beef Noodles (林東芳牛肉麵), a staple of the local food scene, likewise would have to find a new place to operate their business - sending late night foodies into a frenzy. Where would one get their late night beef noodles fix if they closed?

Link: 台鐵局收回宿舍用地 林東芳牛肉麵年底前要搬家 (ET Today)

The good news is that they found a new place nearby to cook their noodles.

When I blogged about the Taipei Railway Workshop, I wanted to check out the dorms, but I found out that it would ultimately be a race against time as the buildings were about to be completely demolished. So, I found some time to get myself to the area, found a way in and explored a few of the abandoned apartment buildings. To tell the truth though, when I arrived, they had already started tearing down many of the buildings, so I was really limited as to what I could take photos of.

As you’re reading this now, the buildings are already completely demolished and the future of the land is yet to be decided. One would hope that the Taipei City Government in conjunction with the Central Government would follow through on their campaign promises and use the land to construct affordable public housing, but only time will tell.

Still, I’m glad that I was able to get into the apartments to check them out and document an interesting part of Taiwan’s history that is likely to be completely forgotten.


Taipei Railway Workshop (臺北機廠)

For a lot of children, trains are an exciting and mysterious sight to behold - I was no different.

One of the best things about visiting my grandparents house when I was young was being able to watch the trains pass by at the large train yard behind their home.

Taking trains in Canada however tends to be a rare experience and (at least where I come from) is not a very popular or convenient method of travel. In fact, in the two decades that I lived in Canada, I only took the train once. 

Here in Taiwan it is a completely different situation - The rail networks are not only a popular and convenient method of transportation but were also instrumental in Taiwan’s modern development.

Today Taiwan has over 1691.8 km of railway networks with a ridership surpassing well over a billion passengers a year. In addition to the railway network there is also an elevated High Speed Rail network as well as underground subway systems in Taipei and Kaohsiung with future networks planned for Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Tainan.

With the many different options available for transportation today, the railway has experienced slight declines in ridership over the past few years. The railway however holds a special cultural connection with the people of Taiwan - especially with the older generation who have fond memories growing up when the train was the primary means of transportation.

In recent years locally produced movies, television shows and commercials have highlighted that romantic connection with touching stories of people leaving the countryside for the city, for school or their compulsory military service.

Seeing a family member or a loved one off or having a reunion at the train station became a rite of passage for many in Taiwan and stories that highlight these kinds of memories brings out a bit of nostalgia in everyone.

The railway in Taiwan dates back to 1893 when the first iteration of the railroad was constructed between Keelung and Hsinchu. A few short years later, after the Japanese took control of Taiwan, work began on the construction of a modern rail network that would connect people from all over the island to an efficient mode of public transportation.

The colonial government of course was not entirely altruistic when it came to the construction of the railway network - To the Japanese, the railway was an instrumental tool in boosting Taiwan’s economy as well as allowing for important commodities such as coal, sugar, timber and gravel to be easily transported to ports and shipped off to Japan.

Consequently once the the rail network was completed and the economy was stabilized, urbanization and development soon followed. Many of Taiwan’s cities started to take form with the train station more often than not being the heartbeat of the modern Taiwanese city.

The importance of the railway in Taiwan’s modern history cannot be understated - Many factors contributed to what would become Taiwan’s economic miracle, but the existence of a fully functional railway system was instrumental in Taiwan’s path to becoming the developed country that it is today.

The Taipei Railway Workshop

One of the great things about writing a blog is that every time I write a new one I spend a considerable amount of time learning new things - One of the things I learned while researching for this one was that before the railway, people in Taiwan didn’t really have much of a concept of time or punctuality.

In the early days of the railway, missing your train meant that you’d likely have to wait a few hours for the next one - This forced the Taiwanese people to become much more aware of the time and in a few short years transformed the island into a place where punctuality and efficiency are paramount.

To ensure that the trains remained punctual, the colonial government constructed large maintenance depots in Taipei (台北機廠), Kaohsiung (高雄機廠) and Hualien (花蓮機廠) where the trains could be routinely cleaned, serviced and repaired.

The three depots were constructed in strategic locations around the country which allowed the network to be divided up into geographic service areas separating north, south and eastern Taiwan - something that continues to this day.
The Taipei Railway Workshop was constructed in an area that was (at the time) on the outskirts of the city situated between Taipei Main Station (台北車站) and Songshan Train Station (松山車站). Today though it sits in the middle of one of the busiest commercial areas of the city.
The seventeen-hectare site was initially constructed in 1899 but was later expanded upon, modernized and reopened in 1935 coinciding with the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Colonial Era.
The newly re-opened depot was a large complex consisting of several large workshops and departments where engines and carriages were constructed and maintained in addition to offices, dormitories and even a large Roman-style bathhouse.

Site Map

I won’t go into detail about every building on-site but I think its important to at least highlight a few of the most important areas:

  1. The largest single building is the Steam-Locomotive (later converted into an electric locomotive) Workshop (電力場區). It is 167 meters in length with a ceiling height of 20 meters. Considered to be the most important building on site, this is where steam locomotives were taken apart, repaired and re-assembled. The interior of the building is massive and was designed in a way that allows for beautiful natural light to constantly illuminate the building during the day.

  2. The adjacent Diesel-Electric Workshop (柴電場區) was almost as large and constructed in a similar fashion with beautiful glass windows on either side allowing for beautiful natural light. The building was where locomotives with diesel engines would be repaired and maintained.

  3. The third largest area of the workshop is the Vehicles Workshop Area (車輛場區) which was responsible for the maintenance and construction of passenger and freight cars. The interior of the building consisted of several sections where various tasks were completed and parts were manufactured.

If you’d like more in-depth information about each of the buildings that make up the workshop, I suggest checking out the Taipei Railway Workshop website which has dedicated pages to each section of the workshop.

Link: The Industrial Heritage Cluster along Taipei City Capital Rail - Taipei Railway Workshop

The Second World War came to an end when the Japanese were forced to surrender to the allies on August 15th, 1945. One of the requirements of their surrender was that they relinquish all of the territory they had conquered prior to and during the war.

In a controversial move that has had long-lasting reprocussions, it was decided that control over Taiwan and the Peng Hu islands (also known as the Pescadores) would be “returned” to the Republic of China (中華民國) -  Which ironically didn’t even exist before the Japanese takeover nor did it ever actually have any sovereign control over Taiwan.

Japanese control of Taiwan was ceded to ROC forces on October 25th 1945 on what has become (somewhat notoriously) known as “Retrocession Day” (臺灣光復節).

When the Japanese left Taiwan, they did the incoming regime a huge favour by more or less handing over the keys to the infrastructure that they had spent the last half century developing.

Years of allied bombing however left areas of the railroad as well as parts of the workshop were heavily damaged. The income regime made it a priority to repair the railway as soon as possible as its control would help to ensure their own control over the island.

In 1948, the Taiwan Railway Administration (臺灣鐵路管理局) was established as a state-run enterprise and ownership over the workshop fell under its control - which is where it has stayed for the last sixty years.

In the six decades since the ROC takeover of Taiwan, the Taipei Workshop has been expanded upon several times and modifications were made reflecting the changes of modern railway technology.

The site also helped with the transition of Taipei’s above-ground railroad into an underground network.

In 2012, after over eighty years of operation, work at the Taipei Railway Workshop ended and production was shifted to the newly constructed Fugang Vehicle Depot (臺鐵富岡車輛基地) in Taoyuan.

The impending closure of the workshop brought with it a considerable amount of public discourse as to what the future would hold for the historic site.

Coincidentally when the workshop closed, the Songshan Tobacco Factory (松山煙廠) had already been restored and converted into the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區).

But when it came to the Railway Workshop it can’t be understated that Taipei’s overzealous developers were salivating at the possibility of such a large plot of land suddenly opening up for development in Taipei’s posh Xinyi District (信義區).

To prevent this from happening, local civic groups quickly mobilized and put pressure on the government to come up with a plan to preserve the workshop for the enjoyment of future generations.

In 2011, a year before the workshop was to close, a group of legislators and Taipei City councillors visited the site to discuss its preservation. The consensus was that the workshop should be converted into a railway museum and be opened to the public.

The problem however was that conditions at the workshop were much different than the Tobacco Factory and it opening it up for public use would require a lot more in terms of resources.

A final decision on the matter came in 2013 when the Taipei City Government designated the site as a municipal monument and later in 2015 as a National Historic Site.

Ownership of the workshop was then transferred to the Ministry of Culture (文化部) and after a period of restoration was reopened to the public for tours on July 19th, 2017.

Today the site is opened to public visitation on a limited basis (as restoration and reparation projects are still taking place) and in the future is sure to become a popular tourist attraction.

Especially for young children who will now be able to learn about history and see the trains up-close.  

Touring the Workshop

As it stands now, if you’d like to visit the Taipei Railway Workshop you are going to have to go through an online application process to reserve a spot on one of the four weekly tours offered to the public.

It isn’t as difficult as it sounds but you’ll have to plan your visit well in advance to ensure a spot.

If you show up without going through the application process, the guards at the gate won’t let you in.

Spaces are reserved on a monthly basis and fill up quickly, so if you’d like to visit, it’d be a good idea to keep track of the dates and spaces available on the site.

Its also important to remember that the tours are currently only available on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the latter being much more difficult to reserve.

Link: Application Site 

Admission is free, but you’ll need to bring an ID card to gain access.

For locals, your government issued ID card is acceptable.

For foreigners, either your passport or your Alien Resident Card is required.

The tour is a little over an hour long and when you enter the meeting area the attendants will request your ID, which you will exchange for an audio-guide system that will allow you to listen to the tour guide more clearly.

Before heading out, each participant will also be given a hard hat that you are required to wear at all times due to safety concerns.

The tour is both interesting and informative and guests are given the opportunity to look around the ‘designated areas’ and take photos while the tour guide gives their speech.

Personally, I enjoyed the usage of the headsets which allowed people in the group to look around on their own while the guide introduced each section of the workshop.

I did however find the tour to be unfortunately limiting.

The tour guide is always accompanied by a couple of attendants as well as a security guard.

No matter where any of the participants went there was always someone reminding us to stay close, keep up with the group and not to stray away from designated safe spaces.

Personally, I would have loved a bit more freedom to explore - The possibilities for a photographer interested in urban exploration in a place like this are almost endless.

I could have spent days exploring the workshop enjoying all of the small historic details.

Alas, I had to make do with what was permitted.

Something that you will also have to take into consideration is that the tour is currently only available in Chinese. They have English-language material available but the tour guide will only speak in Chinese.

If you don’t speak the language you are of course still invited to join the tour, you’re just going to miss out on some of the important information offered by the experienced guides.

Taking into consideration that the workshop is still under repair and the tour is currently in its initial stages there are obviously going to be areas where they are looking to improve and they welcome suggestions to make the experience a much better one. 

Offering English-language tours as well, opening up more buildings and giving more frequent tours is part of their larger plan and the future looks bright for this historic part of Taipei!   

Getting There

 

Getting to the Taipei Railway Workshop is quite easy - You can either walk a short distance from Taipei MRT’s Nanjing Sanmin Station (南京三民站) to the main entrance or take a bit of a longer walk from either Taipei City Hall Station (市政府站) or Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall Station (國父今年堂站) from the rear.

You may also want to consider taking Taipei City Bus #669 and getting off at the LivingMall (京華城). The workshop is across the street from the main entrance.

If you are driving a car just input “Taipei Railway Workshop” or “台北機廠“ into your GPS or Google Maps and you’ll find it. You’ll then spend three hours looking for a parking spot!

Address: No. 50, Section 5, Civic Blvd, Xinyi District, Taipei City (台北市信義區市民大道五段50號)

Visiting the Taipei Railway Workshop was a fascinating experience and I can only imagine that if you are one of those people who grew up loving trains that this tour would be a dream experience.

The Xinyi District of Taipei is one of the most expensive areas in town so the fact that this large space, could be preserved for the future enjoyment and education of the people of Taiwan is fantastic.

As time passes the tour offered at the workshop will be refined and improved upon and will also become more accessible to foreign tourists. If however you want to be one of the few people who have  gained access to this historic site you may want to sign up as soon as possible for a tour!