Train Station

Taiwan’s Remaining Japanese-era Train Stations (台鐵現存日治時期車站)

June 10, 2023 in Japanese Colonial Era, Travel

Over the past year or so, I’ve found myself spending a considerable amount of time researching the history of the railroad in Taiwan. Obviously, much of the rail network that we know and love today is primarily a result of the fifty-year Japanese Colonial Era, so as part of my evolving research and personal interest in that period of Taiwan’s history, I've been traveling around the country taking photos of a collection of century old stations.

That being said, over much of that time, I’ve been focused primarily on a specific group of stations known locally as the ‘Five Treasures of the Coastal Railway’ (海岸線五寶), with the lingering thought in the back of my mind that there are still dozens of others around the country that I’ll eventually have to visit.

When it comes to these things, I tend to be a pretty organized person, so while writing about the Five Treasures, I came to the conclusion (mostly for my own research purposes) that I should compile a list of all of those stations. In this way, I could better allocate my time and ensure that whenever I travel, I’m able to use my time more wisely.

While compiling the list however, I ended up discovering that there are very few authoritative resources that focus on these historic stations, or any that offer a complete list of what actually remains standing today.

To solve this problem, I dove deep into that rabbit hole and compiled a comprehensive list of over sixty historic Japanese-era stations that continue to exist in some form today. The final result is a list that is divided into various sections based on the branch of the railway where you’ll find them, including stations that belong to the historic sugar and forestry lines. Moreover it offers information as to their current operational status as well as their original Japanese-era names. I’ve also added a list of other railway-related sites, including the three former Railway Bureau Offices (鐵道部) in addition to any railway hospital, dormitory, tunnel or railway-related place of interest that has been restored in recent years.

That being said, I still consider these lists to be a work in progress, and I’m sure that despite my best efforts, I’ve missed something, which will have to be added in the future.

So, if you are aware of a station or important Japanese-era railway site that I’ve yet to add to the list, I’d be more than happy for your feedback as I hope to see the list continue to evolve over time.

Similarly, as I continue to write new articles about these historic stations, I’ll continue to update links.

You might ask why I feel that these stations are important - they’re just train stations, right?

Well, given Taiwan’s complicated history of colonial powers exerting control over the island, there has been an unfortunate erasure of history with each successive regime. Coupled with modern development having little-to-no regard for the nation’s history, a large percentage of what we could consider heritage sites across the country have been lost. Sure, we can easily find places of worship that are several hundred years old, but almost everything else has been torn down at some point in time.

As I’ve already mentioned, the list I’m providing below features some century-old stations that continue to remain in service today in addition to others that have become historic tourist attractions.

With a total of around two-hundred train stations across the country, many of the originals have already been replaced, making those that remain part of a special group of ‘living’ historic sites, worthy of cultural preservation.

Westerners might not consider a century-old building all that significant, but given Taiwan’s chaotic experience over the past two hundred years, any building that has been able to survive for so long deserves some respect. Likewise, it’s important to note that the introduction of an island-wide public transportation network was essentially a game changing moment in the development and industrialization of the island.

The railway not only brought modernity and economic opportunity, but also contributed to cultural and social change with railway stations acting as the beating heart of the modern Taiwanese town or city. Suffice to say, the ‘local railway station’ is often romanticized by many in Taiwan who have fond memories growing up with the trains becoming an essential part of their lives.

As I move on below, I’ll provide a brief introduction to the history of the Japanese-era railway, then I’ll present the lists as well as a map where you’ll find each of the stations.

I hope this list will be of some use to you, but given that I’ve spent a considerable amount of my free time putting it together, and translating all of the names, I hope it won’t just be copied and stolen without contacting me to ask for permission.

Taiwan’s Japanese-era Railway (臺灣日治時期鐵路)

The history of Taiwan’s railway network dates as far back as the late stages of the Qing Dynasty when a rudimentary railway was constructed between Keelung and Taipei in the 1890s, with plans to further expand the line all the way to the south. For many, one of the biggest misconceptions of ‘Chinese’ rule here in Taiwan is that they controlled the entire island. They didn’t, and had little aspiration to expand beyond the pockets of the western coast of the island that they did control.

So when the short-lived First Sino-Japanese War (日清戰爭) broke out in 1894, plans for further expansion of the railway were ultimately abandoned due to a lack of funds, and a lack of interest in the island’s development.

When the Japanese ultimately won that war, one of their demands was that the Qing cede the island of Taiwan (and the Pescadores) to the Japanese empire, which was quickly approved given that many back then considered the island a useless piece of untamed land, full of hostile indigenous peoples.

The Japanese on the other hand saw potential as the island was a massive cache of natural resources. So, in 1895 the Japanese showed up, and quickly got to work on plans to construct a railway network that would allow them to efficiently develop the island for the extraction of its precious natural resources.

Nearing the end of 1895 (明治28年), the colonial regime stationed a group of military engineers known as the ‘Temporary Taiwan Railway Team’ (臨時臺灣鐵道隊) in the northern port city of Keelung to carry out repairs on the existing railway, conduct surveys, and to come up with plans for improvements. Within a year proposals were drawn up to completely re-route the existing rail line from Keelung to Taipei in another direction for better efficiency, and a more ambitious plan known as the Jūkan Tetsudo Project (ゅうかんてつどう / 縱貫鐵道) was born.

Known in English as the ‘Taiwan Trunk Railway Project,’ the planning team sought to have the railroad pass through all of Taiwan’s already established settlements, including Kirin (基隆), Taihoku (臺北), Shinchiku (新竹), Taichu (臺中), Tainan (臺南) and Takao (高雄), a more than four-hundred kilometer railway.

Completed in 1908 (明治41), the railway connected the north to the south for the first time ever, and was all part of the colonial government’s master plan to ensure that natural resources would be able to flow smoothy out of the ports in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan.

Then, the Railway Department of the Governor General of Taiwan (台灣總督府交通局鐵道部) set its sights on constructing branch lines across the island in addition to expanding the railway along the eastern coast.

Looking at a map of the railway network today, one thing you’ll notice is that the lines appear to completely encircle the island. From the 1910s until 1945 (and in some cases longer), the network appeared more like an intricate spiderweb of lines with industrial branch lines scattered across the island.

As the railway continued to expand across the island, cities and economic opportunity followed, but with limited space, there is only so much that they could construct. Thus, the fifty year period of Japanese colonial rule is often split into two different periods by historians - The period between 1895 (明治31年) and 1926 (昭和元年) is referred to as the period of major railway construction while 1927 (昭和2年) to 1945 (昭和20年) is regarded as the period of railway improvement.

Link: Railway Station Name Change Chart (臺灣日治時期火車站新舊地名對照表)

The vast majority of the railway network’s stations were constructed during the Meiji Era (明治) from the time that Japan took control of Taiwan until 1911. The Taisho (大正) and Showa (昭和) eras then saw continued expansion of the railway, but for the most part many of the rudimentary stations constructed in the early years of the colonial era were replaced or reconstructed, with many of the stations that we can still see today (on the list below).

There are several factors as to why authorities at the time sought to improve the infrastructure network, but I suppose the most obvious was due to the wear and tear caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons, which so commonly take place here in Taiwan. The modern construction techniques and materials introduced during the Taisho era meant that instead of constructing buildings purely of timber, reinforced concrete could then be utilized to ensure a longer life for many of the island’s important buildings.

It was also during this time that the railway network was improved with new bridges, tunnels and train engines all working together to improve the efficiency of the network.

Ultimately, the colonial era came to a conclusion at the end of the Second World War and in the seven decades since, Taiwan’s railway (and public transportation network) has continued to grow with the railway finally encircling the entire island. In recent decades we have also seen the widening of tracks and the electrification of the system. Today, the railway in Taiwan is a well-oiled and efficient machine that is of benefit to every one of the twenty-three million people living in the country and works seamlessly with the High Speed Rail as well as the underground subway networks in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung.

Some pretty horrific things took place during the Japanese era, but it goes without saying that this country wouldn’t be the amazing place it is today if it weren’t for the introduction of the railway.

Now that I’ve said my piece, let's move on to the list of remaining Japanese-era stations.

Taiwan’s Main Lines (營運路線)

Taiwan’s Main Branch Lines, namely those constructed for both passenger and freight services currently consist of three main sections: the Western Trunk Line (西部幹線), the Eastern Trunk Line (東部幹線) and the South-link Line (南迴線). All three of which were planned for construction during the colonial era, yet only the western and eastern lines were completed before the end of the Second World War.

It would take until 1991 for the South-Link Line to finally connect the eastern and western lines, allowing the railway to finally encircle the entire country.

There are of course a number of factors involved, but it’s important to note that the majority of stations on the list below are located primarily along Taiwan’s western coast. The Western Trunk Line running between Keelung and Kaohsiung was completed within a decade of the Japanese taking control of Taiwan, while the construction of the eastern coast railway took a little longer.

The eastern coast of the country is prone to earthquakes, and is affected much more by typhoons than the rest of Taiwan, so it’s understandable that many of those historic stations have been lost over time. It’s also important to keep in mind that the western side of the island has experienced considerably more development than the east, so the number of historic railway stations vastly outnumbers what you’ll find along the eastern coast.

The list of stations below is organized from north to south and ends on the east coast:

1. Qidu Station (七堵車站 / Shichito / しちとえき) - Still in operation (moved)
2. Huashan Station (華山貨運站 / Kabayama / かばやまえき) Not in operation
3. Shanjia Station (山佳車站 / Yamakogashi / さんかえき) - Still in operation (moved)
4. Hsinchu Station (新竹車站 / Shinchiku / しんちくえき) - Still in operation
5. Xiangshan Station (香山車站 / Kozan / こうざんえき) - Still in operation
6. Tanwen Station (談文車站 / Tanbunmizumi / だんぶんみずうみえき) - Still in operation
7. Dashan Station (大山車站/ Oyamagashi / おうやまあしえき) - Still in operation
8. Hsinpu Station (新埔車站 / Shin-ho / しんほえき) - Still in operation
9. Shenhsing Station (勝興車站 / Jurokufun / じゅうろくふんえき ) - Not in operation
10. Rinan Station (日南車站 / Oyamagashi / おうやまあしえき) - Still in operation
11. Qingshui Station (清水車站 / Kiyomizu / きよみずえき) - Still in operation
12. Chuifen Station (追分車站 / Oikawe / おいわけえき) - Still in operation
13. Zaoqiao Station (造橋車站 / Zokyo / ぞうきょうえき) - Still in operation
14. Tongluo Station (銅鑼車站 / Dora / どうらえき) - Still in operation
15. Tai-an Station (舊泰安車站 / Taian / たいあんえき) - Still in operation (moved)
16. Taichung Station (台中車站 / Taichu / たいちゆうえき) - Still in operation (moved)
17. Ershui Station (二水車站 / Nisui / にすいえき) - Still in operation
18. Dounan Station (斗南車站 / Tonan / となんえき) - Still in operation
19. Chiayi Station (嘉義車站 / Kagi / かぎえき) - Still in operation
20. Shiliu Station (石榴車站 / Sekiryu / せきりゅうえき) - Still in operation
21. Nanjing Station (南靖車站 / 水上駅 / Mizukami / みずかみえき) - Still in operation
22. Houbi Station (後壁車站 / Koheki / こうへきえき) - Still in operation
23. Linfengying Station (林鳳營車站 / Rinhoei / りんほうえいえき) - Still in operation
24. Tainan Station (台南車站 / Tainan / たいなんえき) - Still in operation
25. South Tainan Station (南台南車站 Shikenshozen / しげんしやうまへ) - Not in operation
26. Bao-an Station (保安車站 / 車路墘駅 / Sharoken / しゃろけんえき) - Still in operation
27. Luzhu Station (路竹車站 / Rochiku / ろちくえき) - Still in operation
28. Qiaotou Station (橋頭車站 / 橋子頭駅 / Hashikotou / はしことうえき) - Still in operation
29. Kaohsiung Station (舊高雄車站 / Takao / たかおえき) - Not in operation
30. Sankuaicuo Station (三塊厝車站 / Sankaiseki / さんかいせき) - Still in operation (moved)
31. Chutian Station (竹田車站 / Takeda / ちくでんえき) - Still in operation
32. Guanshan Station (關山車站 / Kanzan / かんざんえき) - Still in operation (moved)
33. Bin-lang Station (檳榔車站 / Hinashiki Teijajō / ひなしきていしゃじょう) - Not in operation

Branch Lines (產業鐵路)

Most are surprised to learn that the railway that we know today is actually exponentially smaller than the railway of the Japanese era, which was home to dozens of branches off of the main lines.

Connecting important industries to the main transportation network, today, only a few of these branches remain in service. Most notably, the Pingxi Line (平溪線), Neiwan Line (內灣線), Jiji Line (集集線), and the Alishan Line (阿里山線). For the most part, these branch lines weren’t originally constructed with passenger service in mind, they were primarily used for transporting freight and commodities from their point of origin to the main lines so that they could be brought to port.

The most prominent of these branch lines were the ‘Forestry Lines’ (林業鐵路) and the ‘Sugar Lines’ (糖業鐵路), which were constructed to haul sugarcane and timber, while also providing limited passenger services.

Today, a few of the original stations along those historic lines continue to exist, but for the most part service on these lines have been relegated as tourist attractions as the majority of those rail networks have been removed.

Of those branch lines that continue to provide (limited) service today you’ll find the following:

Sugar: the Magongcuo Line (馬公厝線), the Xihu Line (溪湖線), the Zhecheng Line (蔗埕線), the Baweng Line (八翁嫌), the Xingang East Line (新港東線) and the Qiaotou Line (橋頭線).
Forestry: the Alishan Forest Railway (阿里山森林鐵路), Taiping Mountain Forest Railway (太平山森林鐵道), the Luodong Forest Railway (羅東森林鐵路) and the Wulai Scenic Train (烏來台車).

To offer an idea of the scale of the Japanese-era railway, the network in Taiwan today is measured at 2,025 kilometers in length while the Japanese-era the branch railways would have tripled that total length with the Sugar Railways alone spanning 2,900km in central and southern Taiwan.

Below you’ll find some of those stations that continue to exist in some form:

1. Jing-tong Station (青銅車站 / 菁桐坑驛 / Seito / せいとうえき) - Still in operation
2. Xinbeitou Station (新北投車站 / Shinhokuto / しんほくとうえき) - Not in operation
3. Hexing Station (合興車站) - Still in operation (Completed in 1950)
4. Kanglang Station (槺榔驛 / Kanran / かんらんえき) - Not in operation
5. Xihu Station (溪湖車站 / Keiko / けいこえき) - Not in operation
6. Lukang Station (鹿港車站 / Rokko / ろっこうえき) - Not in operation
7. Jiji Station (集集車站 / Shushu / しゅうしゅうえき) - Still in operation
8. Checheng Station (車程車站 / 外車埕驛 / Gaishatei / がいしゃていえき) - Still in operation
9. Huwei Station (虎尾車站 / Kobi / こびえき) - Not in operation
10. Suantou Station (蒜頭車站 / Santo / さんとうえき) - Not in operation
11. Wushulin Station (烏樹林車站 / Ujiyurin / うじゅりんえき) - Not in operation
12. Yanshui Station (鹽水車站 / Ensui / えんすいえき) - Not in operation
13. Qishan Station (旗山車站 / Kisan / きさんえき) - Not in operation
14. Zhulin Station (竹林車站 / Chikurin / ちくりんえき) - Not in operation
15. Dazhou Station (大洲車站 / Daishu / だいしゅうえき) - Not in operation
16. Tiansongpi Station (天送埤車站 / Tensohi / てんそうひえき) - Not in operation
17. Historic Morisaka Station (萬榮工作站 / Morisaka / もりさかえき) - Not in operation

Alishan Forest Railway Branch Line (阿里山林業鐵路)

One of the Colonial Government’s most ambitious railway construction projects was the Alishan Forestry Branch line, which was constructed to more efficiently transport one of the era’s hottest commodities, Taiwanese cypress (hinoki / ひのき / 檜木).

The branch line has remained in operation for almost a century now, and despite a few setbacks, it remains a popular tourist excursion out of Chiayi. Below, I’m listing some of the Japanese-era stations that remain in operation along the line today.

I should note that there are several ‘stops’ along the way, such as the Sacred Tree Station (神木站), which some may consider to be a Japanese-era station when in fact it is really only just a platform, which is why I haven’t included it in the list.

1. Beimen Station (北門車站 / Hokumon / ほくもんえき) - Still in operation
2. Lumachan Station (鹿麻產車站 / Rokuma-san / ろくまさんえき) - Still in operation
3. Zhuqi station (竹崎車站 / Takezaki / ちくきえき) - Still in operation.
4. Mululiao Station (木履寮車站 / Mokuriryo / もくりりょうえき) - Still in operation
5. Jhangnaoliao Station (樟腦寮車站 / Shounoryo / しょうのうりょうえき) - Still in operation
6. Dulishan Station (獨立山車站 / Dokuritsu-san / どくりつさんえき) - Still in operation
7. Jiaoliping Station (交力坪車站 / Koriyokuhei / こうりょくへいえき) - Still in operation
8. Shueisheliao Station (水社寮車站 / Suisharyo / すいしゃりょうえき) - Still in operation
9. Fenchihu Station (奮起湖車站 / Funkiko / ふんきこ-えき) - Still in operation
10. Duolin Station (多林車站 / Tarin / たりんえき) - Still in operation
11. Shitzulu Station (十字路車站 / Jiyuujiro / じゅうじろえき) - Still in operation
12. Chaoping Station (沼平車站 / Shohei / しょうへいえき) - Reconstructed

Japanese-era railway-related places of interest

In addition to the Japanese-era railway stations that remain in Taiwan, there are also a large number of historically important buildings and places of interest with regard to the railway.

The most prominent of these being the three Railway Bureau Offices, which were the geographically strategic offices for the operation and maintenance of the railway.

There are also quite a few other places of interest, and this is where my list will ultimately continue to grow over time as there are a number of railway-related buildings currently in the process of being restored as well as a number of branch line-related sugar factories, which have been converted into culture parks.

1. Taipei Railway Bureau (台北鐵道部)
2. Hualien Railway Bureau (花蓮鐵道部)
3. Kaohsiung Railway Bureau (高雄鐵道部)
4. Taipei Railway Workshop (台北機廠)
5. Changhua Roundhouse (彰化扇形車庫)
6. Changhua Railway Hospital (彰化鐵路醫院)
7. Luodong Forestry Culture Park (羅東林業文化園區)
8. Taiping Mountain Forestry Railway (太平山森林鐵路)

Map of Japanese-era Railway Stations

Combining the three lists above, the map I’ve created below features all of the stations and Japanese-era railway-related places of interest in one convenient location. This should help you easily identify where you’ll be able to find these historic locations.

Each of spots on the map features basic information about the stations as well as links to articles about them, if available.

As you can see from the modest number of links I’ve provided, I still have quite a bit of work to do with regard to documenting the history of these stations - So, as I mentioned earlier, this article is very much a work in progress, and as I continue to work on a number of other ongoing projects, I’ll try to visit as many of these these historic stations as I can while traveling around the country.

That being said, I hope that this list and the map I’ve created for you are both interesting and helpful.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to get in touch!

Featured

Jiantian Historic Temple (劍潭古寺)

Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914文化創意產業園區)

Railway Station Name Change Chart (臺灣日治時期火車站新舊地名對照表)

Ogon Shrine (黃金神社)

Taiwan’s Remaining Japanese-era Train Stations (台鐵現存日治時期車站)

Erlin Martial Arts Hall (二林武德殿)

Abandoned Tea Factory

Tamsui Police Commissioners Residence (淡水日本警官宿舍)

Taipei Guest House (臺北賓館)

Taiwan New Cultural Movement Memorial Hall (臺灣新文化運動紀念館)

Shanjia Train Station (山佳車站)

April 30, 2022 in Japanese Colonial Era, New Taipei City, Photo Post, Travel

I’ve been criss-crossing the country over the past year in search of the sites related to the Japanese-era railway. As one the research projects I started this year, I’ve tried my best to visit as many of the historic railway factories, offices, dormitories, and historic stations as I could in order to document what many people believe to be one of the most important aspects of Taiwan’s modern development. Having authored close to a dozen articles this year, I’ve only covered a small percentage of what actually remains, so this is one of those projects that will continue for the foreseeable future.

The ironic thing is that while I’ve been traveling across the country in search of these historic buildings, the one that was actually the closest to me, a station that I must have passed by hundreds of times remained at the back of my long list of places to visit. Located just a few stops away from home, Shanjia Station in New Taipei’s Shulin District (樹林區) is one of those beautiful Japanese-era stations that has been recently restored and re-opened to the public as a cultural attraction, while the modern station to the rear continues service.

Every time I passed by the station on my way to Taipei, I’d say to myself “I should really stop by some day soon to get some photos” as I enjoyed the view of the station from the window of the train. It started to become a bit of a running joke that I would repeatedly say the same thing every time we passed by.

I realize this probably isn’t a huge selling point for anyone thinking of visiting, but one of the main reasons why I never actually got off the train to check out the station is that there isn’t very much else to see in the area.

For reasons I’ll get into later, the station was historically an important one, but the area around it doesn’t really offer much for tourists looking for something to do, unless you’re riding a bike along the river.

Fortunately I found myself on beautiful Autumn day with some extra time, and since I was already in the area, I decided to finally make an effort to stop by to check out this beautiful little station. That being said, unlike some of the Japanese-era stations along the Coastal Railway (海岸線) that I’ve already introduced, this one is similar to the historic Qidu Railway Station (七堵車站) in that it has been completely restored and reopened to the public, while a newly constructed modern station has taken over with regard to passenger services.

There are quite a few Japanese-era stations around the country that have been restored and continue to exist in conjunction with a modern station nearby - Shanjia Station however was the first to follow this model, so the others that we’ve seen reopening around the country as of late are simply following its excellent example.

As I move on below, I’ll introduce the history of this nearly 120 year old station, explain why it was so important for so long, and then go into detail about its architectural design, which is considerably different from many of the wooden Japanese-era stations that remain in Taiwan today.

Shanjia Train Station (山佳車站 / さんかえき)

Dating back to the early years of the Japanese Colonial Era, the station we refer to today as Shanjia Station (山佳車站) was constructed in 1903 (明治36年) as Yamakogashi Station (山仔脚駅 / やまごあしえき) along the Jukan Tetsudo (ゅうかんてつどう ), otherwise known either as the ‘Taiwan Trunk Railway’ (縱貫鐵道), or the West Coast Railway.

Within a few short years of Japanese control, railway stations started opening for service around the island thanks to the over four hundred kilometer railway constructed between Keelung and Kaohsiung. For the first time in the island’s history, population centers were connected to a modern form of transportation and Yamakogashi Station was one of them.

Over the years, the name of the station has changed on several occasions, but essentially it was named due to its proximity to the base of Datung Mountain (大棟山), a mountain that these days is split between Taoyuan and New Taipei City, and was important to the local community involved in the mining industry.

Interestingly, the name was changed once during the colonial era, but only with regard to the Kanji (Chinese Characters) in the name, and not the actual pronunciation of the station. Originally named “Yamakagashi” (Or Yamagoashi depending on your preferred romanization) with a “仔“ (zi/ zai), a commonly used character in Taiwanese/Hokkien (台語/閩南話), it was later renamed with the character “子” (zi), in a move that was likely made for the convenience of the technology at the time as the original character was less common in Japanese.

Like many of its contemporaries around Taiwan, Yamakagashi Station was originally constructed as a traditional wooden station house, but a few decades after its construction, it was torn down and replaced with the concrete building that we can see today. When you visit the station today you’ll find reference to it being a “century-old” (百年) station, but that’s not exactly true given that the building was we see today was constructed in the early years of the Showa era (昭和) when the usage of concrete was becoming more common around the island. Factually speaking, the beautiful station we can visit today is about ninety years old, but I suppose it sounds more impressive if you say it is almost 120 years old.

For a small station, in what is even much smaller community, especially since the much larger Shulin Station (樹林車站) is located nearby, the number of passengers that pass through the station on a daily basis remains quite impressive. The numbers have gone up and down over the years, but an average of half a million passengers make use of the station on an annual basis, making it a relatively busy station. That being said, historically Yamakagashi Station was known more for the important freight that was loaded at the station than the number of passengers that passed through the turnstiles.

Records from the Japanese era (1917 specifically) indicate that the area around the station accounted just around 300 households, or about 1700 people in total. The station today serves on average around 2000 passengers a day, but back then only around 5-6 people per day.

From this, I’m sure you can gather that the local community has grown quite a bit over the past century.

As mentioned above, the lack of passengers getting on the train at the station didn’t really matter all that much given that it was the loading point for an estimated 25,000 metric tons of coal on an annual basis during the heyday of the mining industry. Similarly, the station was also a focal point for the loading of sand and gravel excavated from the nearby Dahan River in addition to locally farmed white rice.

As one of Taihoku’s (current day ‘Greater Taipei’) six mining communities, Yamakagashi was the only one located on the western side of the Dahan River (大漢溪). The mining industry in the area flourished for quite some time, outlasting the Japanese-era, but at some point in the early 1980s, the area more or less dried up, and it became far too dangerous to continue mining, having a detrimental effect on the local community and the local economy.

Today, many of the old coal mine shafts remain open and a few of them have been restored to allow visitors to go check them out. If you’re so inclined, a visit to the station could also include a hike up the mountain nearby to see some of the mining-related sites. If you’re interested in that, I highly recommend checking out the link below where fellow blogger Tom Rook made the effort on a miserable day to go check out the old shafts.

Link: The Old Mining Village of Shanjia (Over The City)

A few years after the Japanese-era ended, the station was renamed Shanjia Station (山佳車站) and the community around the station grew and diversified around it. As the decades passed the number of passengers traveling through the station ultimately became far too many for the small station house to handle, so it was decided that a larger modern station would have to be constructed to better suit the needs of the local community.

Fortunately the Taiwan Railway Administration had the foresight not to knock the original station down to make way for the new one. So when the new iteration of the station, a gaudy structure devoid of any architectural style, opened to the public in 2011, it was made a bit more respectable by the fact that it had the original Japanese-era station in front.

Before I get into the architectural design of the station, I’ll provide a bit of a timeline of events that took place at the station over the past century.

Timeline

1903 (明治36年) - Yamakoashi Station (山仔脚駅) opens for service.
1920 (大正9年) - The station is renamed Yamakoashi Station (山子脚駅), a slight variation on the original Kanji characters given that the character “仔” is rarely used in Japanese.
1928 (昭和4年) - The original wooden station is demolished and construction on a new station begins.
1931 (昭和6年) - The new (current) cement station is completed and is reopened for service.
1962 (民國51年) - The station is renamed Shanjia Station (山佳車站).
2008 (民國97年) - The station switches primarily to the EasyCard swiping system rather than issuing tickets.
2009 (民國98年) - The original “S” shaped platform is demolished in order to allow express trains to pass through the station more easily.
2011 (民國100年) - The new cross-platform elevated Shanjia Station is opened to the public while the original station is covered in canvas and plans are drawn up to have it restored.
2014 (民國103年) - Typhoon Soudelor (強烈颱風蘇迪勒) causes a considerable amount of damage to the protective covering placed over the historic station. Afterwards, a new protective tent is installed to help preserve the station.
2015 (民國104年) - The restoration project on the original station is started, making it the first of several Japanese-era stations that is set to exist side-by-side with a modern station.
2017 (民國106年) - The restoration project on the station is completed and the historic Shanjia Station is reopened to the public with a railway culture park located along the platform, highlighting the history of the station and the mining activities that made it important.

Architectural Design

The modern Shanjia Station side by side with the historic station

These days, when you walk into the historic Shanjia Station, one of the first things you’ll notice is a very large model of its 1903 predecessor on display in one of the rooms. The original station appears to be quite similar to many of the other small railway stations constructed around Taiwan, but it only ended up lasting about twenty years before it was replaced.

The ‘newer’ historic station, which as mentioned above was completed in 1931 was constructed during a period of the Japanese-era that tends to stand out architecturally-speaking. Having taken control of Taiwan in 1895, the Japanese spent a considerable amount of time developing the island and its infrastructure. For the first couple of decades, many of the buildings constructed were somewhat rudimentary and were thought to be almost temporary as the idea was to first get everything running smoothly before refining things.

By the time the Showa Emperor (昭和皇帝), more commonly known in the west as Emperor Hirohito, took control in 1926 (昭和元年), it was generally thought that the situation in Taiwan had stabilized to the point that the Governor General’s Office was given the go-ahead to start tearing down some of the older buildings and replacing them with newer ones. Similarly this was also when the Japanese architects of the era had started to combine modern construction techniques with traditional Japanese design resulting in an architectural fusion, replacing many of the older wooden buildings with those constructed with reinforced concrete.

Note: Obviously another important factor for some of these rebuilds was due to a number of natural disasters (earthquakes and typhoons) that devastated the island on several occasions over the first few decades of colonial rule.

Official government sources claim that one of the first railway stations to receive such treatment was Yamakoashi Station, and that its construction was something that was to be emulated in other areas around the island. Unfortunately, there is little information available with regard to the architectural design of the station, so I can’t actually confirm whether or not those claims are true, but given the period that it was constructed, its quite possible.

Regardless, there are two things we should keep in mind here - the first being that it is somewhat of a tradition that whenever a new emperor takes control in Japan, it is common to see ambitious construction projects taking place with the new ruler wanting to solidify his legacy, over those that came before. Secondly, those buildings constructed in Taiwan during the early years of the Showa era tend to stand out more because they took a modern approach to construction in that they combined western techniques with Japanese design.

Note: It is important to take note that even though the early years of a new emperor’s reign are known for construction and infrastructure projects, the Showa era (1926-1989) started out suffering from the devastating effects of the Great Kanto Earthquake (関東大地震) of 1923, and a number of other economic factors resulting in the Shōwa Financial Crisis (昭和金融恐慌) of 1927. The Governor Generals Office in Taiwan at the time would have been responsible for fund raising for any construction project, but growing militarism back in Japan and the Second World War ensured that money for development projects was modest from the 1940s onward.

Preceding Emperor Showa, the Taisho Era (大正), from 1912 until 1926, was known for the way Japanese architects fused traditional design with Western architectural design, especially when it came to Art-Deco and the usage of reinforced concrete to build larger structures. Thus, the early years of the Showa era continued along that path with the preferred method of construction involving concrete rather wood. That being said, it was during this period that fervent Japanese nationalism was promoted throughout the empire, resulting in military campaigns throughout Asia.

Note: It was during this period that the strict Kominka (皇民化運動 / こうみんかせいさく), or mandatory ‘Japanization’ policies came into effect in Taiwan, which included the “National Language Movement” (国語運動) requiring citizens of the empire to speak Japanese as well as taking Japanese names under the ‘kaiseimei’ policy (改姓名 / かいせいめい). The reason I mention this now is that this is the same time when the name of the station was slightly changed to remove a common character used in Taiwanese Hokkien.

Taking into consideration that the Showa era spanned six decades before, during, and after the war - when we talk about the architecture of the era with regard to Taiwan, we have to focus primarily on what was constructed from 1926 until the 1940s, which ultimately differs somewhat from what you would have seen back in Japan.

Yamakoashi Station was, as mentioned above, one of the first of Taiwan’s railway stations to receive funding for a complete rebuild and the building we can see today (albeit slightly altered from the original design) was meant to be a model for further construction projects around the country. The station maintained the traditional wooden walls within the interior, but were fortified with brick and reinforced concrete. Similarly, the traditional network of wooden beams and trusses within the building that assisted in supporting the roof were constructed of concrete rather than making use of wood, adding to the stability of the building.

Former ticket booth located directly to the right of the main entrance.

The building however does maintain a similar design to many of Taiwan’s other Japanese-era stations in that it is a one-story rectangular-shaped structure that was split in half. The western side of the building was used as the station hall while the slightly larger eastern side was used by the station master, and those in charge of maintaining the operations of the station.

Surrounding half of the building in a U-shape (to the left of the station hall, around the side and to the back) you’ll find a number of concrete pillars used to help distribute the weight of the roof which extends beyond the base as well as providing a covered walk way around the building.

More specifically, the station was constructed using the traditional kirizuma-zukuri (切妻造) architectural design, including a variation of a ‘hip-and-gable roof’ (歇山頂) that rises up to resemble a mountain-like structure. Likened to that of an ‘open book’, or the Chinese character “入,” the architectural layout is similar to what we saw previously at the Longtan Martial Arts Hall, there is an obvious east-west fusion (和洋混和風建築) in the design, most noticeably with regard to the windows as there are large beautiful sliding-glass windows that surround the building and are set within wooden frames. You’ll also find windows on both the eastern and western ends of the building located just under the apex of the roof that allow light in from above.

Note: If you’re feeling confused by the roof description, I recommend taking a look at the link below, which rather nicely (or kawaii, if you will) illustrates some of the various styles of traditional Japanese roofs in manga form!
Link: A Manga Guide to the Beautiful Roofs in Japanese Architecture (Tsunagu Japan)

Having the building split into two halves meant that the interior space was somewhat limited between the public section and the area where the station’s employees worked. When you walk in the front door of the station, you’re automatically met with the ticket window on your right while the left-hand side was reserved as a passenger waiting area. The actual space between the front door and the door to where the turnstiles were located is only a few meters, so the building wasn’t actually constructed to serve a large amount of passengers at once.

The opposite side of the station hall would have been reserved as office space for the employees of the station, but that space likewise included pantry space, washrooms and a tool shed, so the space there was likewise cramped as well.

Today, both the station hall and the employee section are open to the public and you’re free to move back and forth between them. Unfortunately one of the aspects that seems to have stuck with the station is that the area continues to feel quite cramped given that both sides are filled with exhibitions taking up most of the free space.

Personally, I feel like all of the clutter distracts visitors from being able to enjoy the historic architecture of the interior of the building but the exhibitions within tend to change quite often, so when you visit, you may find yourself a bit luckier than I was.

Link: Shanjia Railway Station (New Taipei City Travel)

Contrary to what you’ll find on the New Taipei City website (linked above) with regard to the opening hours of the station, it is not open from 06:00-24:00 everyday. If you’d like to visit the station, its free of charge, but it is only open from 10:00-17:00, and is closed during national holidays.

Oh, and one last thing, an aspect of Japanese design that stands out at this station isn’t what you could technically refer to as part of the ‘architecture’, but is one of the most significant additions of this historic building - The century-old red-cotton tree (木棉樹) planted next to the building continues to thrive to this day and over the years has grown to twice the height of the station itself. The tree adds a natural element to the station that cannot be understated, and the fact that it continues to exist today makes the station a lot more beautiful.

Getting There

Address: #108 Zhongshan Road, Section 3, Shulin District, New Taipei City (新北市樹林區中山里中山路3段108號)
GPS: 24.972222, 121.392778

As is the case with any of my articles about Taiwan’s historic railway stations, I’m going to say something that shouldn’t really surprise you - When you ask what is the best way to get to the train station, the answer should be pretty obvious: Take the train!

Shanjia Railway Station is located six stops south of Taipei Main Station (台北車站), and should only take you around twenty minutes to get there on one of the convenient Commuter Trains (區間車). Given that there isn’t really very much else in the area, you’ll also be able to hop on the train again and head back to wherever you came from, or on to your next destination.

That being said, when I say that there isn’t much else in the area, that isn’t exactly true - the next station south of Shanjia is Yingge Station (鶯歌車站), where you’ll find the popular Yingge Ceramics Old Street (鶯歌老街). Likewise, on the opposite side of the Dahan River (大漢溪) you’ll find the similarly popular Sanxia Old Street (三峽老街), both of which are really cool to visit.

One important thing to note about visiting Shanjia Station on the train is that it is classified as a ‘simple station’, which essentially means that express trains won’t stop there. If you’ve gotten on one of those by mistake, you should get off at either Shulin Station (樹林火車站) if you’re traveling south, or at Yingge Station (鶯歌火車站) if you’re traveling north, and then switch to a local commuter train (區間車).

There are of course other methods of getting to the train station if you’d like to stop by for a visit, including car, bus, scooter, and bicycle. You don’t have to take the train, but if you do plan on visiting, you’d probably be better off making use of Taiwan’s excellent railway network.

If you are driving a car or a scooter, the station is a short drive from Taipei - Simply input the address or the GPS provided above into your Google Maps or your GPS and you’ll find yourself there in no time.

In front of the station you’ll find a bus stop that services buses #702, 802, 847, 852, 885, 889, and F611, most of which originate at Banqiao Bus Terminal (板橋轉運站), or across the river in Sanxia.

If you’re looking for a bit of exercise, you can easily follow the beautiful riverside bicycle paths south from Taipei or Banqiao all the way to the station, and beyond. Along the way, the paths pass through several wetland areas offering quite a bit of outdoor recreational activities for visitors to see and do. If you have a bike, or have rented a Youbike, you should have a pretty good time - and yes, there’s a YouBike Station in front of the train station, so if you’re feeling tired you’ll be able to park your bike there and hop on the train back home.

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)

References

Shanjia Railway Station | 山佳車站中文 | 山佳駅日文 (Wiki)
山佳車站 (新北市觀光旅遊網)
山佳車站．見證時代交替的百年老車站 (旅行圖中)
山佳車站 (國家文化資產網)
山佳駅 (れとろ駅舎)
百年歲月和風小站山佳車站 (史家周刊 Historian)
昔日採礦運煤的歷史痕跡，刻劃山佳的日式迷人 (微笑台灣)
Shanjia Station (iCulture)
Taisho Period Art & Architecture in Japan (study.com)
Roof Typology and Composition in Traditional Japanese Architecture

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Qidu Train Station (舊七堵車站)

June 26, 2021 in Photo Post, Keelung, Japanese Colonial Era, Travel

Amazingly, despite all of the high-tech industry and modern development in Taiwan, most people are relatively surprised when they discover that the country actually remains home to dozens of train stations that date back more than a century. Those living in Taipei have an especially difficult time believing this as their city is home to modern High Speed Rail, train and Metro Stations, all of which are less than a few decades old, sharing one common feature - they’re all underground.

The further you travel outside of the capital however, you’ll find that these historic train stations, often located in the downtown core, have been an important part of the community for a hundred years, and if its not broken, why fix it? Almost without exception, each of these century-year old stations dates back to the five-decade long Japanese Colonial Era from 1895 to 1945 and has been able to stand the test of time, enduring decades of earthquakes, typhoons, regime change, and of course the nationwide push for modern development.

There are probably few countries in the world where the railway is as relevant, popular, or as widely used as it is here in Taiwan - the perpetual march towards modernization however has left the status of quite a few of the nations historic stations in limbo, given that they are either too old or no longer fit the needs of the ever changing railway and a much larger population.

So even though the old adage about the railway station being the beating heart of many of Taiwan’s smaller communities remains true, the vast majority of smaller Japanese-era stations have already been replaced with modern buildings. Making matters worse, the handful that remain today are often in dire need of restoration, which can be as expensive as simply tearing it down and building a new one.

For example, it was recently announced that an NT$82,000,000 (3 million USD) restoration project will start in the near future to restore several stations along the Miaoli coast including Xinpu Station (新埔車站), Baishatun Station (白沙屯車站), Tongxiao Station (通宵車站) and Yuanli Station (苑裡車站)

Link: 8200萬元補助挹注苗栗縣推百年鐵道旅行 (UDN)

Fortunately, Taiwan is currently going through somewhat of a renaissance when it comes to the appreciation of buildings of historic and cultural value, and given the railway is something that near and dear to almost everyone’s heart, these older stations have started to receive a lot more appreciation for their historic and cultural value.

Hsinchu’s Xiangshan Station (香山車站) was recently restored to its original condition and was a project that likewise modernized the railway line and the platforms so that the station can remain in operation for the foreseeable future.

With Xiangshan Station, as well as the stations mentioned above, we have examples of those that are restored and remain in operation. What happens though when historic stations are preserved, but cease operations? Well, as in the case of larger stations like those in Kaohsiung and Taichung, we are still able to continue enjoying them in different ways with the creation of culture parks, which have become popular tourist attractions.

Where larger stations are being converted into popular tourist attractions, smaller stations like the Xinbeitou Station in Taipei and Qidu Railway Station near Keelung in Northern Taiwan have become mini railway culture parks, allowing people to enjoy the historic station while learning about the area at the same time.

Albeit in a much quieter setting than the two mentioned above.

One might argue that those larger stations in cities such as Kaohsiung are able to be easily converted into popular tourist attractions, but I’m sure that if you ask most people, the nostalgic feeling that you get when visit one of these smaller wooden stations brings you back to a time when Taiwan was much different than it is today.

For people in Taiwan today, looking back at this nation’s complicated history is an important step in retracing ones roots, and the existence of these buildings is one of the methods that is helping form a national identity, which is something that has been discouraged and violently suppressed for so long. Taiwan’s history over the past few centuries might be considered by some to be rather depressing, but there is ultimately a need to learn more about it and since train stations were the beating-heart of any community, they’re a pretty good place to start!

Today I’ll be introducing the historic Qidu Station as part of my on-going project covering Japanese-era stations, including those that are still in operation as well as those that have been converted into tourist attractions. While this one might be part of the latter, it has been beautifully restored and is geographically speaking one of the most important stations in northern Taiwan.

A quick note before I start - I had originally planned on publishing this article much sooner, but given the tragic railway disaster that took place during the annual Tomb Sweeping Festival long weekend, I held off.

Link: 2021 Hualien Train Derailment (Wiki)

Given that the tragic crash had affected so many families across the country, I felt like sharing an article celebrating the history of Taiwan’s Railway would have been in bad taste. That being said, Taiwan’s railways have been running since the late 1800s and the list of accidents throughout that period is a pretty short one. No matter what the local media might say in a fit of rage, Taiwan’s trains are still, and have always been the safest and most convenient way to travel around this beautiful country.

We mourn the loss of all the people who lost their lives or their loved ones, but we should also continue to show our appreciation for all the good people who work for the TRA!

Historic Qidu Train Station (舊七堵駅 / しちとえき)

Currently one of Northern Taiwan’s most important Railway Stations, the newly constructed Qidu Station (七賭火車站), located in Keelung’s Qidu District opened to the public in 2013 (民國102年).

Serving approximately four and a half million passengers each year, the station’s importance isn’t in the amount of people that pass through its gates, but due to the fact that it is the ‘origin’ station for the most of the trains that travel south along the West Coast Trunkline (西部幹線).

While the new station is large and modern, the history of “Qidu Station” goes all the way back to the early days of Taiwan’s railway network, when construction on a railway between Keelung and Taipei started in the late 1800s.

The original plan was to construct a railway between Keelung and Tainan, but due to the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing (who ruled parts of Taiwan at the time) quickly ran out of funds and lost interest in continuing its construction. In total, they completed around 106 kilometres of track between Keelung (基隆) and Hsinchu (新竹).

As I’ve mentioned numerous times already here on my blog, when the Japanese took control of Taiwan in 1895, things quickly changed and the railway became an extremely important tool for the colonial government’s desires for their newfound colony. The Japanese saw the construction of an island-wide railway network as instrumental in their plans for the development of the island, but more importantly for the extraction of its precious natural resources.

Railway Links: Taipei Railway Bureau | Taipei Railway Workshop | Xinbeitou Historic Train Station

Upon their arrival in Taiwan, in order to slow the advance on Taipei, the Qing had portions of the railway between Keelung and Taipei sabotaged thinking that it would give them more time to escape. Ultimately though, it didn’t really have much effect as had made all the necessary repairs to the railway within two months of their arrival.

Bringing with them a team of military engineers, the emergency reparations put it the railway back in service and provided the military with the ability to quickly transport supplies from the port in Keelung to the capital.

Nearing the end of 1895 (明治28年), the Japanese stationed the Temporary Taiwan Railway Team (臨時臺灣鐵道隊) in Keelung to carry out repairs on the existing railway, conduct surveys of the railroad, and to come up with plans for improvements.

By 1896 (明治29年), proposals were drawn up to completely re-route the rail line in another direction for better efficiency, but in the meantime the railway was put back in business for passenger service between the cities.

Interestingly, by 1896 there were four round trips between Keelung and Hsinchu held each day. Today, there are at least fifty trains leaving Keelung for Hsinchu each day, and vice versa.

This is where the history becomes a little confusing.

In 1897 (明治30年), a “station” was constructed on the site of where the current station is located.

Its original name was Badu Station (八堵車站), but would be relocated in 1899 (明治32年) when another station was constructed in nearby Badu (八堵臨時車站), resulting in this station being renamed Qidu Station (七堵車站).

Admittedly, every time I’ve passed through this area on the train, I’ve wondered about the origin of the names “Qidu” (七堵) and “Badu” (八堵), but until now never really bothered to find out. So, if you’re like me and often wondered where the names came from, I did a little research for the benefit of all of us!

One of the meanings of the word “堵” (du) is “wall” or “barrier” and each of the areas that exist today “Wudu” (五堵), “Qidu” (七堵), “Badu” (八堵) derive their names from artificial ‘barriers’ that were set up along the Keelung River (基隆河).
This was part of an attempt to prevent the Pingpu (平埔族) and the Ketagalan (凱達格蘭族) Indigenous groups from being able to successfully conduct raids on Han Chinese communities, and then retreating into the mountains through the river valley.
So “Wudu”, “Qidu” and “Badu” quite literally translate to “Fifth Barrier”, “Seventh Barrier” and “Eighth Barrier”, although I’m not particularly sure they were ever very effective in preventing attacks.
Nevertheless, the communities that popped up around them as the Han Chinese ventured further out of the Taipei Basin in the mid to late 1800s retain their names today.

When I mentioned the history was a bit confusing above, what I meant was that the area where “Qidu Station” is located was originally the home of “Badu Station”, which is currently about two and a half kilometres away. The Japanese are renowned for their attention to detail, so its odd that the stations were mis-named like this.

Nevertheless, passenger service at the “Qidu Railway Station” officially started in 1899, even though the station itself dated back a couple of years prior to the name change.

The historic building that we’re taking a look at today however wasn’t constructed until years later.

In what became a pretty important year for construction projects around Taiwan, the first year of the Taisho Era (大正元年), more commonly known as 1912, became one where the colonial government invested heavily on refurbishing some of the buildings that were hastily constructed upon arrival on the island. Qidu Station was one of the buildings that was reconstructed during this important year, replacing the original station with a beautifully constructed Japanese-Western fusion building.

Over the next few decades, not much really changed at the station, but as control of Taiwan passed from one colonial power to another, the Taiwan Railways Administration (臺灣鐵路管理局) of the Republic of China started an expansion of the railway in the Qidu area creating the Qidu Marshaling Yard (七堵調車長) in 1968 (民國57年).

This project expanded the width of the railway track considerably and forced the railway authorities to construct a Rear Station (後站) on the other side of the tracks. This created a precarious situation for passengers wanting to get on the train at Qidu as the ‘Front’ and ‘Rear’ sections were separated by a long walk in addition to the trains that they serviced.

By 1972, the original Japanese-era station became known as the “Front Station” (前站) and only serviced those who were traveling northbound to Keelung (基隆), while the newly constructed “Rear Station” serviced those who were on express trains headed to the east coast.

The situation at the station became even stranger in the 1990s when the Rear Station was upgraded to a Class A Station (一等站), while the Front Section was classified as a Simple Platform Station (簡易站); Having a single Railway Station with two different classifications is a rather unique case here in Taiwan.

Then in 1995, the Taiwan Railway Administration renovated the historic station, similar to the renovations that took place on the Xiangshan Station (香山車站) in Hsinchu in that they more or less covered up the exterior design of the building which pretty much covered up the original design, making it like one of the ‘tin house’ (鐵皮屋) extensions you commonly find constructed on top of a building in Taiwan.

The Japanese-era “Front Station” ultimately remained in service until 2007, when after ninety-five years of use, it was finally ‘retired’ when the front and rear stations were combined into a much larger station a short distance away.

If you’ve been to the ‘modern’ Qidu Station, you’ll probably not really take too much away from your experience as it is lifeless in its architectural design. It is essentially a giant concrete box.

Finally in 2010, the building was classified by the Keelung City Government’s Cultural Affairs Bureau (基隆市文化局) as a historic building (歷史建築) and was given protected status. The station then underwent a period of restoration where it was restored to its original design, and was subsequently opened as a tourist attraction within the Qidu Railway Memorial Park (七堵鐵道公園).

Today the more than a century old Qidu railway station sits within the modest park and is open to the public.

Even though there’s not much else to see or do in Qidu, stopping by to check out the station doesn’t take a whole lot of time, especially if you’re on your way for a day-trip to Keelung.

Now, lets talk a bit about the design of the station, which is quite special given its architectural fusion.

Design (設計)

Having been recently restored to its original design, the historic Qidu Railway Station is now part of a railway park meant to help tell the story of one of northern Taiwan’s most significant stations. Given its history and its strategic location between Taipei and Keelung, it has acted as one of the gateways to the east coast and was home to a Marshaling Yard. So even though it is a small station by todays standards, it has still seen its fair share of activity over the last century!

Constructed primarily with Taiwanese cedar, the old station is an architectural fusion of a traditional Japanese-style building with western elements carefully mixed in. Differing slightly from many of its contemporaries, the construction of this building made use of not only locally sourced cedar, but also concrete and steel, using modern construction techniques to ensure a long life.

Official literature about the station states that the design imitates the architectural styles of “Ancient Greece and Rome” with elements of “Gothic Architecture” (模仿古希臘與古羅馬樣式，也模仿哥德式建築). While I don’t doubt that some of this may be true, the inclusion of anything appearing even remotely inspired by Gothic architecture doesn’t really pop out at you like it should. My best guess with what they were trying to say was that the design of the building takes inspiration from elements of Baroque-style design (巴洛克建築), a European architectural design that the Japanese architects of the era had become quite proficient in, especially when fusing it with their own traditional architectural design.

If thats the case, it is easy to see from the exterior that the almost 3D-like shapes and the sense of flowing movement creates the sense of drama that Bernini mastered back in Italy. That being said, the Japanese-style design elements are probably the most obvious to anyone looking at the station today.

Covered roof that extends beyond the building to shield passengers from the rain.

The station was constructed using Irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造 / いりもやづくり) style of design, most often referred to in English as the “East Asian hip-and-gable roof.”

The key thing to keep in mind about irimoya-style design is that it doesn’t necessarily dictate what kind of roof is constructed on any given building - Granted, buildings constructed in this style feature a hip-and-gable roof - but within traditional Japanese architecture, there are several different styles of roof design and while some of them go hand-in-hand with the irimoya design, its probably better to first take a look at the ‘moya’ (母屋) part of “irimoya”, which describes the core of the building, under the roof.

In layman’s terms, the ‘moya’ is essentially the base of the building, and when the irimoya-style is used, the ‘moya’, (literally the “mother-house”) is almost always considerably smaller than the roof, which extends well beyond the base. When we talk about irimoya design, we should keep in mind that the base of the building has been especially constructed to ensure that the weight of (whatever style of) the roof above is going to be well-supported and that it will be evenly distributed to ensure that the building doesn’t collapse.

To put it simply, in buildings like this, the roof is always the main attraction. The base is just there to hold it up.

To achieve this even distribution of weight, Japanese design uses an expertly crafted network of roof trusses and pillars on the interior and exterior of the building that allow the roof to become the most important part of the building, which is something that they’ve perfected over a period of a thousand or so years.

So in this case, even though we have an ‘irimoya-zukuri-style’ building, the roof was designed using the kirizuma-zukuri (妻造的樣式) style, which is one of the oldest and most commonly used designs in Japan. Translated simply as a “cut-out gable” roof, the kirizuma-style is one of the simplest of Japan’s hip-and-gable roofs and is indicative of a roof with “two surfaces including from the ridge at the top, or having the shape of a book placed with its face on its lower side” - and is probably one of the main reasons why the roof on this building so so much different than what you’d expect from a temple or shrine.

Looking at the roof, you’ll notice that it is layered with the eaves on the lower layer extending beyond the building, supported by a network of pillars that surround it on three sides. The top layer is where you’ll find the ”cut-out gable” with the gable-section of the roof covering the eastern side of the building, while the longer hipped side cuts through it.

Both of the ends of the ‘hip’ section feature triangular-shaped “hafu” (破風板) bargeboards, while either side of the gable features “tsuma” (妻) or gable-ends, with windows placed in the middle that allow natural light into the interior of the building.

Even though the roof of this particular building appears rather simple compared to some of the other historic Japanese-era buildings in Taiwan, there is still actually quite a bit going on.

The first thing you’ll probably notice is that it is covered almost entirely with Japanese-style black tiles (日式黑瓦) with wooden rain-boards (雨淋板) on the lower areas.

Likewise you’ll find the following smaller parts working together to complete the roof:

Hiragawara (平瓦 /ひらがわら) - A type of arc-shaped clay roofing tile.
Munagawara (棟瓦 /むねがわら) - Ridge tiles used to cover the apex of the roof.
Onigawara (鬼瓦/おにがわら) - Decorative roof tiles found at the ends of a main ridge.
Nokigawara (軒瓦/のきがわら) - The roof tiles placed along the eaves lines.
Noshigawara (熨斗瓦/のしがわら) - Thick rectangular tiles located under ridge tiles.
Sodegawara (袖瓦/そでがわら) - Cylindrical sleeve tiles.
Tsuma (妻/つま) - The triangular shaped parts of the gable on the roof under the ridge.
Hafu (破風板/ はふいた) - Bargeboards that lay flat against the ridge ends to finish the gable.

The ‘moya’ or the base of the building is constructed in a cube-like shape that is split in two, one side for passengers who walk through the station hall and the other for the employees of the station.

Like the lower part of the roof, the exterior is covered in wooden rain-boards, but for the most part, the building is covered almost entirely on each of its sides with beautiful Japanese-style paneled sliding glass windows (日式橫拉窗), which provide a considerable amount of natural light into the interior.

The interior (which is currently only open to the public during the week) has been pretty much gutted, and for the most part doesn’t really have all that much for visitors to see.

The partition between the ‘Station Hall’ and the ‘Staff Section’ still exists, with the glass window ticket booth, but the door between them has been opened up and allows guests to easily pass through to the other side.

The great thing about the building being so empty is that (unlike many of the other Japanese era buildings that have been restored) you are able to better appreciate the architectural design of the interior without a bunch of pointless distractions getting in the way.

When you look up at the ceiling, you’re able to view an open space where you the network of beams and trusses that keep the roof in place. The recent restoration project made sure to leave a large space open that gives tourists the ability to appreciate the skills that went into constructing the building. The sad thing is that the restoration project added some steel beams for extra stability, which takes away from the original design.

As the historic railway station is currently part of a Railway Park, you’ll find an old platform placed to the rear of the building that features part of a railway track.

Initially, I thought these were just put there for the purpose of the park, but they are actually part of the original station. The reason I thought this was because the rear of the station has an embankment that you can climb up to where the Marshaling Yard, and where the current tracks are located.

Essentially, the track that you’ll see behind the station today is where the original track was once located, but as I mentioned above when the “front station” and the “rear station” were separated, the railway was as well.

Check out some of the historic photos in the link below that show the last day of operation at the historic station and how it looked back then.

Link: 七堵前站營業最終日追憶

What surprises me about the design of the station, the railway and its platform is that passengers would have actually had to cross the railway tracks to get to the train platform - This is something almost unheard of in Taiwan these days and was probably one of the reasons that a change ultimately had to be made!

Getting There

Address: No. 23, Guangming Road, Qidu District, Keelung City (基隆市七堵區光明路23號)
GPS: 25.093050 121.710920

It should go without saying that the Qidu Railway Memorial Park is a short distance from the current Qidu Station. If you’re planning on visiting the park, the best way to get there would be to simply take the train, get off at Qidu and then walk the short distance to the park.

Qidu Station is currently one of the largest ‘Class A’ stations in northern Taiwan featuring four platforms and services the slower local trains (區間車), as well as the Puyuma (普悠瑪號), Taroko (太魯閣號), Zi-Qiang (自強號) and Chu-Guang (莒光號) express trains.

Given its size and its location, it has become the origin station for most of the southern-bound trains on the West Coast Line (西部幹線).

If you are traveling northbound from Taipei, you can simply hop on any of the trains listed above and it will stop at Qidu Station. Likewise, if you’re traveling from Keelung or the East Coast, any train headed south or west respectively will get you to the station.

Car / Scooter

If you’re driving a car or a scooter, I recommend inputting the address or the GPS coordinates provided above into your preferred geolocation system, and it will map out your route.

If you’re riding a scooter, parking along the street near the park should be relatively easy. However if you’re driving a car, you’re going to be forced to park in one of the paid parking lots near the station.

Given the amount of parking lots in the area though, you shouldn’t have any problem finding a spot.

On either side of the memorial park you’ll find Guang-Ming Public Parking Lot 1 (光明一公停車場) and Guang Ming Public Parking Lot 2 (光明二公停車場), which are probably your best bet if you don’t feel like walking.

Bus

Bus service in the area is somewhat limited, but there is a bus stop located near the Qidu Administrative Building (七堵區行政大樓), where you can take Keelung Bus (基隆客運) #403.

I’m not sure if this bus will help you much though as it originates at Keelung Station (基隆車站南站) and slowly makes it way through Badu (八堵) and Qidu (七賭), which are both already serviced by the train.

A short walk away from the Memorial Park on Mingde First Road (明德一路) you’ll find the San Branch Office Bus Stop (三分局) which is serviced by Keelung Bus #402, 403, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 503, 510, 606, 1031, 1191, R82, R85 and R86.

Almost all of which originate in Keelung and not Taipei.

Since you’re visiting a historic train station, it’s probably best to just take the train, don’t you think?