Collectors of model trains can now add a mini version of the CK101 steam train to their collection, the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said yesterday.
The TRA said the locomotive was imported from Japan in 1917, and it was the first locomotive used for both passenger and cargo trains.
The locomotive was removed from active duty in 1978 and was restored to service in 1997, becoming the first steam train restored by the TRA.
Photo: CNA
Passengers can still take steam trains driven by the CK101 on special occasions, such as the resumed service on the TRA’s Jiji Branch Line (集集線) in July. When not in use, the locomotive is carefully preserved in a fan-shaped depot in Changhua County, the administration said.
The administration said the model train was made using a ratio of one-to-22.5. More than 400 parts were assembled to form the 5.1kg model, which is 48cm in length, 12cm in width and 16cm in height.
The TRA said the model train was special because it has gilded plates on four sides.
Each set will also include railway tracks and a speed-adjusting power system, as well as figurines of the driver and the boilerman. Collectors can see white water steam and listen to the sound of the steam while watching the model train run on the track.
The TRA said the model train set was being released in a limited edition, with 101 sets available for purchase. The first 50 sets can be bought at the TRA’s souvenir shop at the Taipei Railway Station at 10am on Sunday. Each set costs NT$98,000.
The TRA has generated additional revenue selling railway--related items.
Its bento lunchboxes are also in high demand. The popular lunchbox features a specially flavored deep-fried pork chop, vegetables, a Taiwanese stewed egg and a bed of fried rice.
The agency said it sells about 16,000 lunchboxes a month, but it still receives complaints from passengers that they cannot buy lunchboxes because they are quickly sold out.
Dennis Ju (朱來順), director of the TRA’s catering service department, said the administration was considering allowing passengers to pre-order lunchboxes when they pick up their tickets at the train stations.
The lunchboxes would be delivered to the passengers when they are onboard, he said.
In addition to stations in Taipei, Greater Taichung, Greater Kaohsiung and Hualien, Ju said that passengers could also purchase lunchboxes at Jhongli (中壢), Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Changhua and Chiayi.
Ju said that passengers do not know their seat numbers until they pick up their tickets at the train station, so some technical issues need to be resolved before they can order the tickets and lunchboxes online.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS