Railway experts yesterday urged the government to seek world heritage status for the Alishan Forest Railway in Chiayi County, which is set to celebrate its centenary this year.
Su Chao-hsu (蘇昭旭), assistant professor at National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, recently published three books about the forest railway. He said that mountain railways designated as World Heritage sites were generally constructed using five main techniques to deal with mountainous terrains: building a horseshoe curve, a spiral railway route, a zig-zag and a cog rail as well as using special engines. The Alishan Forest Railway was constructed using all of those solutions except the cog rail.
Su said there are only three railways in the world which have both a spiral route and a zig-zag, and the Alishan Railway is one of them.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The Alishan Forest Railway’s US-made Shay locomotive makes it a unique cultural asset as well, Su said, adding that Taiwan is the only place outside North and South America where such a locomotive is used.
Su said the highest Alishan Forest Railway station, Jhushan (祝山) Station, is 2,451m above sea level, which is higher than any of those on the Word Heritage railways. The lowest station is Chiayi Station, which is 30m above sea level. The elevation difference between stations demonstrates the level of skill in volved in building the railway, he said.
Su added that the forest railway has helped improve Taiwan’s diplomatic relations with other countries. Su said that when he visited the Puffing Billy Steam Train Service in Australia, he found that the railway service preserved the Alishan Forest Railway locomotive No. 14, which was given to the Australian service 29 years ago.
Forestry Bureau director-general Lee Tao-sheng (李桃生) said Su’s research showed the Alishan Forest Railway could be the world’s No. 1 in several categories. First, it could be Asia’s highest narrow-gauge mountain railway. It might also be the world’s most complicated spiral route system.
The Alishan railway has probably the largest elevation difference among all other 762mm narrow gauge railway systems.
“The World Heritage bid may be difficult to accomplish given Taiwan’s status in the international community, but we’ll do our best to achieve our goal,” Lee said. “It is not only the hope of Taiwanese or Chinese people, but also that of all mountain railway enthusiasts. There is really no reason why the Alishan Railway should be excluded from the list of World Heritage sites.”
Adding that the forest railway is one of the nation’s tourism spots worth preserving, Lee said it gives tourists the rare experience of watching the scenery change from plains to tropical forests to warm temperate forest and cool temperate forest during one trip.
The forest railway opened in 1912 and is 71km long. It was used as a logging railway during the Japanese colonial era.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS