Taiwan Today

Taiwan’s train enthusiasts are not only keen train hobbyists, but also pioneers in preserving Taiwan’s dwindling railway heritage.

On a warm, sunny morning in July 2009, scores of senior high school students stood out clearly on the platform of the Hsinchu Railway Station, not only because there was a large number of them, but also because of their “weird” behavior. Some were racing about with their cameras in order to snap the best shots of an oncoming train, while others were talking loudly about the role of railroads in Taiwan’s industrial development, as well as about their recent experiences with train travel. Although they may have been acting oddly, at least compared to typical teenagers, the students shared one thing in common: there was an excited and eager expression on their faces.

These students were attending a six-day “rail camp” organized by a student club at National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) called, somewhat officiously, the Rail Institute. The club’s primary activities include offering short railway trips to popular tourist attractions and introductory courses on managing clubs devoted to trains. Since 2001, the camp has been held annually in the summer to give senior high school students around Taiwan a chance to join in the fun. “By blending knowledge and travel together, our camp activities aim to translate childhood dreams into action,” says Tsai Yue-gao, one of the current leaders of the Rail Institute.

Although the fascination with trains has been around, at least for some, since the first railroads began to operate in England in the 1820s, the word “railfan” is a relatively new invention and does not show up in many printed dictionaries. In practice, the term is generally used to describe a person interested in rail transport. The hobby can extend to any aspect of the railway system, and various railfans have their own particular concentrations of interest. Therefore, hobbyists who ride, study, photograph and film trains can all be called “railfans.” Rail enthusiasts can be found all over the world, and many big bookstores in countries like the United States, Britain and Japan carry specialist magazines and books about their respective railway systems.

In Taiwan, NCTU’s Rail Institute was founded on June 9, 1988—a date chosen because June 9 is Taiwan’s official Railroad Day—becoming the island’s first college student rail club. The first leader of the club was Jen Heng-yi, who is now an assistant professor at Yuan Ze University’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management. Jen and other club members worked hard to release the first issue of what became Taiwan’s best-known railfan publication, Rail News, in 1989. Written in neat black script and containing only a few pages, it soon caught the eye of Taiwan’s railfans and became their most important source of railway information.

To continue its development, the club began reaching out to off-campus railfans, and soon began attracting people from all walks of life. In the years following the establishment of the institute, other rail-related groups were set up one by one, including those at National Taiwan University and Tamkang University in Taipei, as well as one at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, southern Taiwan. Later, as Jen and the founding members of the NCTU club left their student days behind, they established Taiwan’s first private rail association, the Railway Culture Society (RCS), in 1995.

Today, the NCTU club has around 20 members, all of whom share a passion for trains and the desire to introduce more people to their hobby. Although still in their early 20s, the knowledge possessed by these young railfans should not be underestimated, as they know Taiwan’s railway history by heart and are capable of reeling off all kinds of information and stories about trains. Some can even easily recite the names of all the railway stations along the western coast of Taiwan, from north to south or vice versa. More surprisingly, some can even draw, from memory, their own detailed graphs plotting the location and frequency of passenger train operations, covered in jagged data curves. Asked when trains are scheduled to pass through any given place, these members can quickly tell you the correct answers, counting the trains off on their fingers as they go.

Railway Memorabilia

Inside the club’s office at the university, items constituting a rich collection of railway memorabilia can be seen everywhere. Huge timetables and locomotive number boards lie on the floor; books, magazines, stamps and models are kept in the bookcase; and many old photographs and even a worker’s uniform hang on the walls. “These are all donations from our members,” explains Wang Shao-wei, another leader of the Rail Institute. “These treasures are here because we don’t have space for them in our homes.”

To an outsider, these fans’ infatuation with trains is incomprehensible. Club members say that they are sometimes asked how they became railfans or whether they were just born with the consuming passion. The questions do not seem to bother them much, however. “Railway mania is something that can’t be explained,” NCTU leader Tsai says. “I’ve loved all kinds of vehicles ever since I was a kid. But my affection for trains is the deepest, because they used to carry me back to my sweet hometown, Hualien.”

Wang, on the other hand, got started in the hobby because he was a big fan of Hung Chih-wen, an assistant professor at National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Geography who has written around a dozen books on railways. Hung’s first work, Taiwan Railway History, is esteemed as the “bible” of local railways by Wang and other club members. “My love of trains was inspired by Hung when I first read his books as a junior high school student. I soon grew into a railfan, with his books scattered all around my room,” Wang says. “Everyone has his own hobby, and this is ours.”

Liao Chen-fu, another member of the NCTU club, became a railfan somewhat accidentally. “I only really began getting into railways several years ago when I was planning a trip to Japan. Reading books and magazines about train travel there is what got me interested,” he says.

Railfans are not alone in their fondness for trains, as rail travel has also gradually gained in popularity among ordinary tourists. For those who just want to take a few days off from their busy schedule, family members looking for a way to spend some enjoyable time together and foreign visitors in search of a taste of Taiwan’s landscape, rail travel provides a good way to appreciate the island’s beauty. The enchanting scenery along branch lines such as the Pingxi, Neiwan and Jiji lines is a particularly big draw for tourists and railfans alike. “Our club members all like to admire the scenery of the railroad as it passes through various terrain and mountains,” Tsai says. “That was why we included train visits to Alishan and Neiwan into the itinerary of our rail camp in 2009.”

The Right Shot

Train photography is also a common interest among railfans. “I like to travel to different countries and cities to capture the right shot of moving trains and railway stations,” says Hung Chih-wen, who has taken a vast number of pictures for his rail-related publications. “I hope that someday these photos will rekindle long-buried memories for people, including those of the good old days of train transportation.”

Other railfans specialize in collecting train-related memorabilia and other items. For example, Wang Hua-nan, a retired bank manager, is a model railroad enthusiast who has been collecting model trains for more than 30 years, with his collection now numbering in the hundreds. “Growing up near a small railroad station in Taipei, I used to watch trains glide along the rails, and sometimes I’d chase after them,” he says. “Don’t you think it’s rather marvelous to see something that weighs hundreds of tons rumbling through towns and villages? This kind of sight made me become a train lover in my childhood.”

Wang is aware that not everyone shares his enthusiasm, however. “My wife says I’m a maniac and is always complaining I’m squandering money on these train models. But I’m a born railfan—it can’t be helped,” he says with a laugh. “How I wish I could collect full-size rolling stock, if I could afford the price and the space for storage!”

Some rail enthusiasts also indulge in collecting railroad phenomena of another sort—that of sound, claiming that sounds that others may perceive as a cacophony, such as the din made by a diesel locomotive’s engine, are in fact music to their ears. “One of our club members likes to record the sound of train whistles and listens to them over and over again, just like lullabies,” Wang Shao-wei says. “He even set up a website where various ‘train songs’ are available.”

In comparison to other railfan hotbeds around the world, the environment in Taiwan seems less conducive for enthusiasts. “In Taiwan, we railfans are certainly a pitiful minority, and our voices are seldom heard,” says Wang Hua-nan. “Besides, you need to have enough time, money and space to become a veteran railfan. That’s why people usually can’t sustain their interest for very long. Sometimes I feel so lonely as a railfan.” Plentiful evidence of the short-lived interest of some railfans can be found on the Internet, as many links on websites established by individual Taiwanese train enthusiasts no longer function.

With the paucity of widespread information and long-term interest, Taiwan’s railfans are often forced to find their own way, but this is also what has allowed youngsters such as those in the NCTU club to become railway experts. “For our favorite pursuit, we have to rely on ourselves,” the club’s Tsai Yue-gao says resolutely.

Although martial law was lifted in Taiwan in 1987, things were still difficult for Taiwan’s train enthusiasts back then. Jen Heng-yi, who founded the NCTU Rail Institute with two other railfans, recalls how hard it was when he was trying to start the club in the late 1980s. “In those days, there were no rail-related books published in Taiwan, except for some old textbooks on railroad engineering,” he says. “There was no Internet, either, to provide us railfans with a platform to collect detailed information on railways and get in touch with each other. Railway tunnels were guarded by soldiers back then, and photography was strictly forbidden near railway lines or stations. All we could do was to admire the trains from afar.”

Unlike many overseas rail clubs, which are mainly social in nature, RCS has also taken up the mission of preserving the cultural heritage of Taiwan’s railways. “Starting from the very beginning, we decided to concentrate our efforts on seeking opportunities to preserve Taiwan’s railway culture, rather than just organizing activities for our members or railfans,” says railway author Hung Chih-wen, who is also a founding member of the RCS and now serves as a standing director of the association.

The RCS’ preservation effort has not been easy, as over the past two decades, many branch lines in Taiwan have been closed down for lack of traffic, old stations have been torn down and rebuilt, and aging train cars have been broken up and sold for scrap. “We’ve been calling for the rail operators to preserve Taiwan’s rail culture and save our disappearing railway heritage,” Hung says with a sigh. “Don’t they know these old trains and stations symbolize the various stages of Taiwan’s economic development? We’re always racing against time.”

Recently, however, one RCS effort resulted in a positive outcome. In April 2009, upon hearing that demolition had been scheduled for Huashan Train Station, which was built in 1937 when Taiwan was under Japanese rule and is the oldest station in Taipei City, RCS members immediately started an emergency campaign to preserve the site. In July 2009, the group received a promise from authorities that the demolition of the station would be put off for at least three years, giving the group time to work with the Taipei City Government toward preserving the station as a historic site.

Structural Challenges

“Railways in other countries have also faced the same structural challenges as those in Taiwan,” says model railroad enthusiast Wang Hua-nan. “However, modernization and preservation should not be mutually exclusive. For example, Japan has launched the Shinkansen bullet trains to offer high-speed service, but its steam engines have also been restored to provide tourist services.”

In the past, railways were the midwives of Taiwan’s modernization, playing an important role in hauling coal, sugarcane, salt and timber, as well as carrying passengers to and from towns and cities, thereby serving as a major means of public transportation. But today, when speed and convenience mean everything, automobiles and aircraft have become the preferred modes of transportation. The tourism industry is an exception, however, as rail travel has shown great potential if the scenery along a route is sufficiently attractive.

The renovation of old trains for passenger use can also attract a huge number of tourists. “To me, the appeal of trains is nostalgia,” says Wang Hua-nan. Indeed, trains can help awaken distant memories for many travelers, who, when they find themselves inside the swaying train cars once again, recall the different dreams they had as children, students or young adults. For Taiwan’s railfans, train travel is much more than merely a means of transportation, as it also sends them on a rich historical, cultural and scenic journey. The railroad industry may have peaked many years ago, but the sounds, sights and emotions associated with train travel continue to linger in railfans’ minds.

Write to Dennis Chang at dennis0602@mail.gio.gov.tw