Rails to the mines

RAILS'?,.MINES TAIWAN'S FORGOTTENRAILWAYS

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By CharlesS. Small

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RAILS'?,,MINES TAIWAN'S FORGOTTENRAILWAYS

C h a rl e sS . S ma l l

RAILROADMONOGRAPHS-

GREENWICHCT.

CONTENTS F O REW OR D

'1

CHI L UN GC OA L C OMPANY

8

Y U NA R A IL R OA D

14

T UNG S H A NC OA L M I NI NGCO MPANY

35

WU LAI

45

S HE NA O L I C OA L M I NERAI LRO AD

51

S HUIS H A NM IN IN GCO MPANY

57

EASTCHI NASEA N

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OCATIONS DESCRIBED o Lo IN TEXT

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KEELUNG RIVER

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Hsin Tien

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HrynriaoL I '. , T N[ COAL MINE BRANCHES

Wu Lai

Suan Ch'i

To Su Ao

LOC A TIO N

MAP

NO t r T H

E ND

OF

T A I \ N AN

FOREWORD

Decauville'scatalog No. 86 dated May 1894 under the heading "Harnessfor Men" states: "Dans certain cas, comme le traction des waggonets b bras sur les ramps,deux hommes em ploientle meux leur f orceen se mettant,u n par denier pour pousserle wagon,I'autrepar devant pour tirer au moyen d'un petitharnaisanalogueh ceux avec lesquels les marchandsdes rues, A Paris,tirent leur petite voitures."

By 1894 Decauvillehad sold 9,400 km of track to 8,900customersand lessthan 200 locomotives.lt is evidentthat most of Decauville'scustomersmoved their cars by people or horses.

Their 1916 catalog gives further data on human traction: "Un homme de force moyenne pousse sans peine a wagon Decauvillede 300 liters a une vitesse moyenne de 4 km h I'heure".lt goes on to calculate that a man, as stated above, of average strengthand without pain can movea loadof 480 kg a distance of 20 km and bring the empty car back within a 10 hour day.

One suspects in the dim dark past when, somewhere in Europe,the first wagons were equipped with some meansof guidance,eitherflangedwheels or flanged rails,that the motivepower was human.

Railroadsreachedthe Orientwell aftersteampower had been established.Commodore Perry of the United States Navy brought a 2'-0" gauge 4-4-0 to Japan in 1854. There is a published record of a steam operated line at Nagasakiin 1865 and old wood block printsshow a coal mine lineof uncertain date.The f irst railroadin Chinaopenedon February 14, 1876, four years after the first steam trains operated in Japan.

In Japan railroadspowered by people were being built as late as 1896and the longestwas the AtamiOdawara line, two foot gauge, 16 miles4 chains in length.This line offeredf irst,secondand third class passengerserviceand the humanlocomotiveswore colorful uniforms.Eight yearslaterit receiveda tiny Baldwin 0-4-0 steam engine.

Japan won its war with the decaying Manchu dynasty in 1895and as a prize of war took Taiwan f rom China.At that trme privatecapitalhad built the Taipei to Keelung (Chi Lung)* railroad and it had two German 0-4-00BTs and six British 2-6-2STs. At the conclusion of the war, the Japanese Government allowed another private company to take over the Chinese concessionand extend the line south along the west coast.They orderedfrom Baldwin 2-4-2fs in 1897 but were unable to raise enough money to extendthe linesand the Japanese Government assumed control of the railroad system.

The Japanese railroad fan magazines have extensivelyreportedon many of the minorforestlines, the sugar cane linesand the narrowergaugeportion of the government railroad but the forgotten railroadswere ignored.

The story of the push car linesof Taiwan reallystarts in France and with the French Army. The French Army adopted Decauville'sportable track using soldiersor horsesas motive powerto bring supplies to the front becauseit was a much better means of transport than horse drawn carts operating over muddy roads.lt was not until 1888that they applied steam traction and this was originallydesignedfor semi-permanentstrategicIi nes.

The scenenow shiftsto Japanwhere EmperorMeiji was trying to lift the country out of the f uedalage as rapidly as possible. Foreign advisors were employed in all sectors including the French to modernize the army. With the French military advisorscame Decauville'sportabletr ack and small hand pushed cars.

The JapaneseArmy which invaded and occupied Taiwan was equipped with Decauville's500mm gauge portable track and cars. Principallyon the west coast were the 3'-6" gauge railway had not yet been constructed numerous push car lines were built by the army. As the 3'-6" gauge line was extended south, these lines became obsoleteand were removed.This materialfound its way into push car lines for various civilian purposesand established Taiwan's push car gauge.

'The phonetic rendering of the Chinese characters-

pour honme. Dals cerIlarnais ;ains cae,commela tractiondeswagonlrets I bras gur les rampes,deux homrncsemploicnt le nrieuxleur fr-rrce en se mettant, 'dn par derridre pour pousserle wagorr, I'autre par devant pour tirer au nroycn d'un petit harnaisanaloguch ceux avcc icsquelsles marchandsdcs rucs, I Paris, :irent leur pctit,evoiture.

llarnaispour h0mm0pour la tractiondcs rvagor.l ncts dans l es rtmpes.

11

V6locipdde ir,{ rorrcs I,orrr urrc sculc persor}ll(,I nrouvenrerrts sinrrr[lantis dcs bras ct d,,sjanrbes; vitrrsso:lt) kilnurirt.rcs I l'hcure..... rlorttii srlr un essicu pour ajouter dt'rriire Sidge suppldmentaire

11

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- l ' our l cs ttrarrtl uvrcs dc l ' orcc art,c lcs car r onsot r C o rd a g e s d e manceuvre. g ro s o b j rrts ,n o u $ l i vrorrs dr:s cordagt:s drl dcux l rroddl r:s: d e 15 mC tres err cl ranvrt: de prcrni crc.qual i td L quatre br ins, a) 'ant u Pro l o n g e mc [re d e If i r:l l i rrri l ti rrrerrr:s,cl tarl utl cxl ri rrti tc tcrrtri tti c l )ar ul )t] l i gat ur e r lui ont o b o rrt, l a p i d c c . ort cl tanvrc dc l l ronti i tru qual i td t\tl uatt'r : br ir r s, aylnt l; d e 4 m} tres J a rre ti $ re extri nri to tcrttti rtde ptr tl tt{) l i gatttre ( lui cnt our t l lr ' m g tre tl c l l rn i l l i ntcl rcs, r' ,l rar1ur: lit

1liegt t . .

From Decauville's1894 catalog.

Coasting downgrade on the Mu Tan line.

3;',':':;

This is today's scene on Taiwan's2'-6" gauge Ali Shan Forest Railway.

There was a transition period when the Shays and diesels *oiXLO together to bring the logs out of the cedar forests'

4

A few sleam enginesslill exist on the sugar cane lines.

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Chin Shan 1

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K EEL UNGKEITE TS U K .K .

KI NZANONSENL]NE 20 km -

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500mm GA.

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K E E L UNGK E I T E T S U K.K. K I NK A S E KLI I N E 1 7 . 6k m - 5 0 0 mmG A .

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YOUNG SHIN MINING CO.

Y u Na Pa Tu

IN C LIN E

Shen Ao Li

Jui Fang

\'---/"--En,n Ku Fun BetweenPa Tu and Jui Fang there are five shortcoal mine push car lines.

Kuashi

Hou T'ung S U I S H A N MIN IN G C O. formerl y K E E LU N GTA N K O K .K .

508mm GA .

SEE DETAIL MA P S O F THIS A RE A Th e o r ig in a l coal mine l i n e s w er e :R OKURYOTANK O 7 km.

H OKU KO KO TA NK O 5 km.

- S TEAM - 2'- O ''GA .

S an Ti ao Li ng

$

Mu Tan

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Operating Abandoned Operating

p o we r e d

lo co m o tive Pu sh ca r p u sh ca r

T a i w a n G o ve r n m e n t

lin e s lin e s

Ra ilwa y

5 08mmGA lin e s so o m m GA ' so o m m GA 1 0 6 7 m mGA

To Su Ao

K E E LU N G

CO A L

A s oF 1941

6

BASIN

A chapter describing one of the coal mines, connectedto a push car line,is includedto demonstrate the ingeniouscombination of gravity,push, and cable operation over their internal surface trackage.

The search was not without its price. I shed my blood at Wu Tu in the 2'-0" gauge wreck and in addition smashed a Rolleiflex cam era. On the happierside I saw Taiwan away from the citiesand saw the mines being worked by prehistoric methods.

Nostalgiais big businesstoday in a world surfeited with the ills of the present.Peoplepay to collectold artifacts,ride old trains,visit restorationsof ancient towns, all in an attempt to create a past which probably was not so good to those who lived in it.

This volume presentsa return to the past but one which exists in the real world of today and one which earns its daily rice.While it may be a pieceof living history, it's peopled with contemporary human beings and the coal they extractand transport is a vital part of the economy of Taiwan.

ln the Keelung area, the two longest lines have vanished.The line from Keelungto Chin Shan,built to reach a hot springs at that locality,was 20km in length. A coal carrying line ran south east from Keelungto Chin Kua Shi and this one which had to cross mountainousterrain was 18.6km in length.

Vertical ascents and descents were made by i nclines.lt servedthe minesin the Jui Fang,Ku Fun and Chin Kua Shi areas.

When later steam locomotives were applied to mining lines of the Keelung Tanko K.K. at Ssu Chiao T'ing Pu and Hou T'ung,the gaugewas set at 508mm since this was 20 inches. The Rokuryo Tanko and Hokukoko Tanko at Wu Tu, the predecessors of the Chi Lung Coal Company, built their steam operated lines to 610mm - 24 inch gauge.As a result,the 500mmgauge in Taiwanhas never felt the weight of locomotiveson its rails.

I set myself the task of seekingout thesesurvivorsof the prehistoricpast for their type were our first rail transportation.This might seem to be an easytask but this was not the case. Mapsare not easyto get in Taiwan and when you do find one, it is seldom accurate.After a long search I found maps in the United Stateswhich showedthe little linesand then there started the long process of getting to the remote valleysin the Keelungcoal fields.

The results could have easily been predicted. Most had vanished.Hereand thereI found short piecesof an older extensivesystem,isolatedvery short lines and former steam operated lines now converted to diesel traction.

The f irst line which I found, and certainlyone of the oldest, is the only line left offering a full range of services.Since it is typical will be describedin full detail.Also includedare aforestline.nowconverted to a tourist attraction, one of the very short mining lines and a glimpse of a former steam operation.

The contrastis accentuatedbecauseTaiwan has its own airline, complex and sophisticatedindustrial plants and all of the paraphernaliaof today'sworld.

These co-exist with the primitive railroads,never mentioned, and seen by few. This led to the selectionof the title whose phonetic renditionis E WEI HWAN TZU TAI TE LU. I make no claim that there could not be some even more fantasticsurvivorhidden in some green clad valley. lf so, I would hope that it be reportedfor certainlytime is running out for the forgottenlines.

Ch a rle sS . Sm a l l Greenwich, Connecticut May 1978

7

CH I L UN G C O A L C OMP A N Y Chapter1

The Chi Lung coal cars are hauled across the Keelung River by cable attended by a brakewoman. This stretch of track is the worst on the line.

The Chi Lung Coal Company'shome is acrossthe riverfrom Wu Tu- In the foreground is the trench through which the bridge cable reachesthe winding engine. On the left are the passenger cars. Behind the 5 ton locomotivesis the repairshop. Far in the backgroundare the buildings of the Yu Na coal mine.

TAIWAN'S FORGOTTENRAILWAY None of the cars had any brakeswhich was all right going up hill, but coming back from the mine, especiallyover one high bridge where the speed picked up when the twenty loaded cars started to push the engine along, one had doubts. However, when one lives in the Orient long enough you become a fatalistor suffer a nervousbreakdown.I selectedthe former.

During my trips to Tai wanto seetheShaysoftheAli Shan ForestRailway-,I had heardrumorsof a small steam operatedcoal mine line near Taipei.When I saw the picturesol the enginesin a Japaneserailfan magazine,I knew I would haveto visitthe linemyself.

The line was built about the time of the outbreakof World War llto bring coal to a steelplant.The iron ore was to come from Hainan lsland,off the south China coast,where improbablyenoughtherewas a 3'-6" gauge railroadto the mines operatedby the JapaneseNavy.

Ten locomotiveswere obtainedsecond hand from the airfield construction job at Kaohsung. They were Japanesebuilt copiesof the Decauvilledesign.

They were all 0-4-0Ts,some 3 ton and others5 ton.

The gauge was 2'-0".

At the end of the war the mines and railroadwere taken over by a Taiwanesecompany. When I first visitedthe line,one half of it had beenclosed.There were five serviceableengines,three repairableand the other two in little pieces.

The opportunitiesto ride on a two foot gauge line behind a smoky steam engine are not too great thesedays and thus on everyvisitto Taiwan,I would visit the coal company.Thus, one beautifulfall day during 1972,I presentedmyself to the boss of the railroad for a trip to the mine. The available passengercar had one axle seizedbut they repaired that very quickly and the passenger car was attachedto the rear of twenty empties.The engine was No. 5, one of the five ton 0-4-0Ts. We started out of the yard in fine style with No. 5 shooting out clouds of dense black smoke thoroughly mixed with sulphur dioxide. We whipped around the "S" curve under the KeelungTaipei expressway and accelerated down the straight track until we were making about 25 kph.

Each rail joint delivereda spine jarring jolt as we rattledalong. Then it happened.

Looking ahead and holding on for dear life, I saw No. 5 rear up and tilt over on her side. I saw it but for a few seconds did not really realize what had happened.

The personnelof this industrialrailroadwere very hospitable.They were alwayswilling to attach one of their four passengercars to the end of a train of emptiesgoing back to the mine.The passengercars were four wheel unsprung coal car frames upon which a longitudinalseat coveredby a corrugated iron roof had been erected.Needlesstosayoverthe undermaintainedtrack you got a very rough ride. .See RAILSTO THE SETTINGSUN

The interior ol the repair shop.

Wtf

10

q\S;"--

On a cloudy day one of the 3 ton engines smokes its way back to the mine with twenty empties.

11

No. 5 being prepared for lhe run which ended as shown below.

,i ],1

When the connecting rod snapped the left crankpin sheared,the main rod dropped, and the engine was lifted off the track.

12

When disasterstrikes,people seem to materialize out of thin air. Soon therewasa crowdall shoutingat once with the train crew trying to get them to leave for fear the boiler would blow up (it did not). My concern was to get back without the long hot walk down the track.FinallyI saw an old man who looked reasonablycalm and asked him the best way back.

Finally the realizationthat No. 5 was lying half on her side and had stopped, hit home. There was about 10 cm of slack in each chain coupling and thus, inevitably,the passengercar had two meters to go before it would abruptly stop.

The f irst impulsewas to jump. AheadI could seethe On one littleempty coal cars piling up h6lterskelter. side was a steep bank up and on the other side a steep bank down. Jumping was abandoned.

Nothing to do now but to brace for the shock.

He led me around the wreck on a concretebicycle track where,after climbing a bank,there was a two track narrow gauge line and I saw coal cars going by gravity.Then suddenlya tiny passengercar stopped and the old gentlemenboardedwith me. We were pushed up a hill, went through a tunnel,flew downgrade and arrived at the street which led to the suspensionbridge over the KeelungRiver.

Therewas blood but the cuts weresuperficial.There were no broken bones. The hood of the Rolleiflex was smashed,mangled is a betterword, for it had collidedwith one of the pipestantionswhich held up the passengercar's roof.

InstinctivelyI ran up tothe headendto geta picture.

The engineerhad a few cuts and the fireman had a nasty burn on his right arm. No. 5 rested at a 45" angle with the empty coal cars in disarraybehind her. She had broken her connectingrod and like a pole vaulter'spole, as it dug into the ground,it had lifted her clear off the track and tipped her over againstthe bank.

I was afraid that No. 7 would come flying around the curve with twenty loads and with no brakes on the train would pile into the wreck but the bamboo telegraph worked and she stayedin the siding at Yu Na.

News travels rapidly on the bamboo telegraphand when I arrived at Wu Tu station. the news of the wreck had already arrived.When the train to Taipei arrived and the GM dieselwas blowing its horn for departure, I began to realize that, in somewhat battered condition, I had just ridden on a new railroad,one that had not been describedin any publication.I resolvedto come back on my nexttrip and explorethis line and not tempt fate anymoreon the coal company line.

One of the 3 ton engineswaits for its train.

13

YU NA RAIL R OAD Chapter2

After my first brief ride it was hard to realizethat a coal carrying railroadcould still exist with men and women as locomotives.When you inquire for the Chinese name for a push car, you will get one of three answers.TAI CHE written fi fi , ff SUt

CHEwrittenf,I. Ift I have fp or KtMpFk wJricn ttnever seen wntlen.

lf you look up the first one in a Chinesedictionary, you will f ind that the wordsapplyto any smalltype of narrow gauge car used in coal mines.Somehow in Taiwan it also meansa push car. The second one is simple for the literal translation,i.e., the intrinsic meaning of the characters,is hand push car. The third one comes from the local Chinese dialect

The Yu Na starts from this coal picking and transfershed at Wu Tu. The track gauge is a theorelical500mm.

A loaded coal car from the Tung Shan mine is pushed across the Yu Na bridgeto Wu Tu.

The passengerstation.

l.::

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MINE

Ro Lia o JUNCTI O N (5.9km ) Ro Liao PASSENGERSTATTON (5.7 km)

MINE

North Siding #3 (4.6 km)

+

MINE r I l I t

North Siding#2 (3.7trp;t

t rIO L IAO _ Y U N A PUSH CAF trAILtrOAD

o'",.b1tt.

. Distan ce s are a ppr ox im at e. . Statio n a nd ju nct ion nam es have been assigned by the author.

MINE

Y u NaJ UNCT T O N (2 . 3k m)

Yu Na Vittage STATION

HELPERSTATION NORTH PORTAL (1.3km)

ROCKDUMP

CREEK

SOUTH PORTAL (0.7 Km)

CHI LUNG COAL CO. 2'-O"GA. LINE

MINE -/l iunqsr'anJUNOTION i km)

(0.5

,----/'

Taiwan Govt. Railway 3'-6" GA Taipei-Keelung Main Line Wu Tu STATION

which originally came trom Fukien Province on mainland China. This is still the languageof the majority of the people althouglt the Mandarin or Peking version of Chinese has been taught exclusivelyin the schoolssincethe end of WorldWar ll. During the Japaneseoccupationonly Japanese was taught in school and most of the older people speak either Japanese or the Fukien dialect.

Fortunatelyall three languagesare writtenwith the same characters.

The area from Wu Tu to Keelungand to the south of Keelung contains Taiwan'scoal fields.Most of the mines were developedby the Japaneseand the area is servedby the 3'-6" gaugegovernmentrailwayline lineat Pa Tu. which branchesoff the Taipei-Keelung Incidentally,lVu Tu means FiveHillsorthe Fifth Hill and Pa Tu is Eight Hills or the EighthHill.

The line is owned by the coal companiesof which there are at least four and the pushersof the passenger cars pay toll for the use of the track.

Yu Na Junction.

Wu Tu is 17 km eastof Taipeion the Taipei-Keelung mainline.The railroadstationis not visiblefrom the highway becauseit is hidden by a row of the typical Taiwaneseshop/housecombinations.

A siding on the north side of the double track mainlineis wherethe coal is loaded.lf you crossthis siding, there is a rough foot path which going east passesthe suspensionbridge of the Chi Lung Coal Co. and terminatesat anothersimilarbridge.This is the accessto the north bank and the bridge sways and goes up and down in a mostalarmingfashionas you cross. The more affluent in the mining community own motorcycles and these roaring across the narrow foot bridge were certainly not contemplatedby the bridge builders.

Still further east is the Yu Na line's suspension bridge. Below and parallelto the 3'-6" gauge siding are the coal picking sheds mannedby women and girls. The slate is dumped into the riverand the big lumps are segregatedto be sold for stove fuel. Most of the coal is pea size and relativelywet. This is shoveled on to inclined conveyorswhich spout it into the 3'-6" gauge hopper cars.

To get the passengertrain after reaching the north bank you turn east on the only east-weststreetuntil you com e to the line.Herein aclearingin frontof the ubiquitousgeneralstore are the passengercars and their femalelocomotives.Pushinga passengercar is classedas light work and left to the women.

A passengerlocomotivepreparesher car for a prospectivepassenger.

There certainlyis a farestructure.You can ride from Taipei to Keelung, which is 28.6 km, for NT$8.00 which is approximatelyUS$0.23,sothe 6 km journey up the push car line cannot be very expensive.

However,I have always done the journey in grand style having time-charteredmy own train. lt stops where I want to stop and waits while I take photographs and thus I get chargedthe outrageousprice of the equivalentof US$2.50for my deluxe ride.

Where else can you charter a privatetrain for this sum?

17

To R o Li ao

Y u N a JU N C TION ( 2 ,3km )

Yu Na VillageSTATION

H E LP E R S TA TION

ur_ al <1 cl (t\ w\ o_l JI

trJ

C H I LU N G C OA L C O. 2'-0" GA . LIN E

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I . {\[ I I rl I lrllt ill ltll | | t,r I L

N OR TH P OR TA L (1.3 km)

RO CKD U M P

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CABLEOPERATED INCLINERAILWAY

T U N N E LS I D I N G

S OU TH P OR TA L (0.7 km)

SO UT HS I D I N G N

II

-r See detail drawings Tung Shan Coal Co.

U

4 )

o UI z Tung S han JU N C TION (0.5 km)

Tai pei -K eetungE X pR E S SW A y

PA S S E N GE R S TA TION

C H I LU N G C OA L C O 2'-O" GA . LIN E

K E E L U N GR I V E R

To K eel ung

Trt

Tai w an Govt. R arl w ay :: 3'-6" GA Tai pei -K eetungMai n Li ne

COAL T RANSFE R & P IC K IN G FA C ILITY

Wu Tu

\/--7-\ r- -

i

lf-_lf_li

18

TFACK

LAYOUT

SOUTHEF]N

SECTION

Having made the deal the car is taken acrossto the left hand track and railed.This is done by pullingup on the right hand pole and pivotingthe car with the left hand pole. Finallythe seat is installed.This is a box with a hingedlid.The pusher'spersonalbelongings are stowed inside the box and you are ready to go.

This section of the line operatesleft handedand the reasonwhy will be explainedlater.

You pass under the Taipei-KeelungExpressway where overheadenormous trucks rush by hauling containers and a short distancefarther on you go under the Chi Lung Coal Company's line. The aperture looks far too small but you get through without decapitation.

It must be notedherethat theserulesare not written, they are just understood by all of the pushers.In addition, from observationthe locomotivesare segregated by sex: MALE Coal cars (exceptTung Shan Mine) FEMALE Passengercars Regularfreight cars Helper service

Next comes the line's only double track Junctron.

The diverging route leads to a mining complex whose coal cars carrying the Chinese characters r 'ldt f, which, when read right to left, mean East Mountainand whoseChinesepronunciationis Tung Shan. ln additionto a mine,thereare rock dumping facilitiesfar up on a mountainto the north and this dump is servedby a single track wire rope haulage incline.The Tung Shan coal cars,possiblybecause of the short run, are all pushed by women.

Past a few rice paddiesand the double track ends.

The line passesbetweenseveralbuildingsand then the double track begins again.This sectionis al so operated left handed.

Soon you arriveat the tunnel.The doubletrackends and there is a stub sidingwhich seemsto be usedto allow a passengertrain or an empty coal train to overtake a regular freight, which, being loaded makesslow work of the grade up to the middleof the tunnel. Just before the tunnel portal, the Tung Shan'shaulageinclinetrack passesoverhead.

The tunnel must be seento be believed.lt is straight and has a passingsidi ngin the middleatthe summit.

It is about 600 metersin length and the small push cars seemto f ill the bore and excludeall light for it is pitch black inside.There are no lights.About 500/o is timberedand the southernportion is extremelywet.

Before we enter the tunnel. let us describe the operating methods: 1. There is no visiblemanagementstructure.

2. There is no timetable.

3. There is no dispatcheror traffic controller.

4. There are rules of the road.

A. Left or right hand running is governed by loaded coal cars taking the straightroute.

B. Loadstake precedenceoveremptieson single track.

C. Downhilltrainssrgnalon singletrackto uphill trains.

D. Passengertrainstake precedenceoverf reight and coal trains when possibleby siding arrangements.

E. Downhill trains take precedenceover uphill trains.

F. Trains enter the tunnel in orderof arrival.The tunnel siding is operatedin accordancewith Rule C.

The south tunnel portal. The Tung Shan mine rock dump line crosses overhead.

North Tunnel Portal

10

When coastingdownhillthe locomotive hangson to the two rearpoles.The passengersclutch the two fonuardones in an effort to remain aboard.

This fastf reightto the minesis coasting with the locomotiveriding the car'send sill. This grade is not steepenough to requirethe use ol the brake.

20

\ -i .

-]

On the levelor uphill a passengercar is pushed lrom between the rails.

Loaded with air hose and mine props the last freight is being pushed from the side on a level stretch.On steepgrades the pushing is done from between the rails using the ties to prevent the pusher's feet lrom slipping.

21

The procedureupon arrivingat the tunnel mouth is for the bore to be inspectedfor occupancy.This is a delicateoperation.lf it is clearthereis no problem.lf on the other hand there is a car in the bore, a judgment has to be made whether it is past the summit siding.

My first northbound trip caused a few anxious moments. We entered with the tunnel clear and shortly afterwardthe pinpoint of light at the other end disappeared.I noticed that we had slowed down but still were proceedingupgradeat a steady pace with the cascadeof water f rom the roof to enliventhe occasion.You could see nothing.

Then there was a flicker of light ahead and we acceleratedand by some sixth senseshe knewwhen we had reachedthe sidingand slammedthe car over and we passed a loaded coal car waiting on the siding.In the tunnel,RuleC is observedwith wooden matches.

Once over the top, gravity goes to work and you shoot out of the tunnel mouth like a shell from a cannon. Probablythe speeddoes not reallyexceed 25 kph but on the rough track and with an unsprung vehicle,it seemsten times as fast.

Usually waiting at the north portal are severalcars and the loadedcoal cars have helperengines.Just outside the north portal there is the steepestgrade on the line. Southbound coal trains pick up their helper from the helper station about one half kilometer to the north. The helper station consistsof some wooden seats underneath an overhanging rock wherethe helpersrest betweentrips up the hill.

There is also a stub siding and if a passengertrain is followinga loadedcoal train,the coaltrainsetsback on to the sidingto let the passengergo by (RuleD).

But we are going north and now are making20 kph lurchingf rom sideto side at the out-of-linerailjoints and tak ing an unmercifulpounding in the rear end.

Down below us is the Chi Lung Coal Company's track. Before we reach Yu Na village,gravity has desertedus and we are again being pushed.

Pastthe villagethere is anotherbriefdowngradeand then the track goes under the Chi Lung line and across a ricketywooden bridgeto Yu Na Junction.

One singletrackrunseastto a mineand the main l ine turns north along the east bank of the creek. This long single track stretch has three passingsidings plus a numberof stub sidings.

On this sectionof the line you havetokeepyourears open. Rules B and E give the opposingtrains the right of way. Rule C is observedby the vigorous blowingof a whistleon blindcurves,which abound, and approachingthe sidings.

One might ask what happensif on the long downgrade part of the line just south/eastof Ro Liau Junction you hear a loadedcoal train whistlingfor the right of way.The solutionis simple.You stop,get off and the passengercar is quickly swung off the track and the coal car goes whistlingby.

22

The Yu Na Bridge.

At the far end of the bridge is Yu Na Junction.

The line which goes straight ahead leads to a mine. The Ro Liau line curves around to the north. The building at the iunction is a general store.

*.b \

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The open air tunnel.

23

The helper station.All coal trains pick up a helper here for the steep grade to the north portal.

THE HELPER OPERATION

The earth between the ties has been pounded down by the pressureof the pusher'sfeet.

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The helper (female)and the regular(male)locomotives have been waiting for a northboundempty to clear lhe tunnel. Now that it has emerged they have a hard job stariing the train for its tunnel transit.The helper only goes as far as the lunnel portal. dr$

The helpers drift downgrade.

25

"'

:, .1

My privatetrain waits at the end of the passenger service at Ro Liau Junclion. The building is anothergeneralstore.

tm

:lt!

When a meet occurs where there is no siding the empty car is simply tipped off the line.

There is one part of this line which ls so closeto the riverbank that an out crop of rock had to be tunneled away, the only half or open air tunnel on the line.

There is no passengerservice beyond Ro Liau Junction. The grade, my locomotive said, is too steep. At the junction in addition to the standard store there is a small brrildingwhere a man keepsa tally sheet noting each coal car as it goes by and the name of the locomotive.

The entire line lies just to the north of 25"05'north latitudeand the sceneryis subtropical.The hills on either srdeo{ the line are alwaysgreenand thereare the ever presentfeatheryleavesof bamboo of a different shade of green.The farmersin the f ieldsand most of the peoplepushrngthe carswearthe conical straw hats that tell you you are in the Orient.On some hot days there is the characteristicsmell of night soil fertilizer.

The prevailingwinds come out of the eastand when moisture laden, they rise over Taiwan's central mountain chain and dump their moisture,sometimes for what seemsto be days on end. When it is not raining,tfreareais blanketedwith hot damp mist.

The acid test of lovers of the Yu Na is to ride the passengertrain in a downpour.This is the normal summer weather.

In the winter the wind shiftsto the north but on the l ong journey from Siberia,the moistureis gone and the cool air tempersthe subtropicalclimate.This is the seasonto rrde the Yu Na, or for that matter,see any of Taiwan'srailroads,eat the endlessvarietiesof Chinesefood, drink the localwine steaminghot and view the magnificentscenery.

We have quoted Rule A which governswhetherthe double track portions of the line or a long passing siding is operated left or right handed. To understand Rule A it must be realized that the track switchesdo not have movablepoints.

The car must be sl ew ed w i thi n thi s di stance.

Outline of car body

:-

tl

tl P U LL

PUSH

TO SLEWLEFT

It is obvious that to perform the slewingoperation one of the pusher'sfeet must be on the ground.This precludestaking a diverging route when coasting with the pusher riding on the car.

Slewing a loaded coal car is a much more di{ficult task than slewing an empty. This fact plus the inabilityto slew when coastinghassetthe patiernfor left and rrght hand running on the double track sections.

The lines which use machine power for traction either have conventionalswitches or the simpler versionof one movablepoint which is pivotedat the apex of the frog. Either of these types requirethe train or car to stop, if proceeding in the facing direction while someone throws the switch. The simple single movablepoint cannot be run through in the trailingdirection.The conventionaltype switch could not be run through in the trailingdirectionby such lightly loadedcars as empty coal cars.None ol these problems exist with the pointlesspush car switch. Cars, loaded or empty, can run through in either directionon eitherline with the pusherdoing the slewingas necessaryfor facing point direction.

The essenceof successfulpush car operationover the non-movingpoint switchesis the timing of the slewing operation.This is not an easy task for the pusher cannot see the wheels. In the case of a passenger car the passengersblock the forward view.Since it is done in total darknessin the tunnel. obviouslythey do not dependon vision.The pushers have memorized the feel of the ground and ties under their feet with a precisionof an inch or so know when to do the slewing.

An increase in coal productionin the fall of 1973 required more pushers and some came from the closedline at PaTu. Eventheseexperienced pushers, for the Pa Tu line had beenclosedonly a few months earlier ,were not able to negotiatethe tunnel siding.

As a consequencein October 1973an electriclight was installedat each end of the tunnelsiding When the new pushershad learnedto managethe tunnel siding, I was told, the lightswould be removed The fact that the line had operatedfor threegenerations without any lights in the tunnel, the experienced pushers assured me, was clearly proof that lights were unnecessarv.

21

T h i s s e cti o n o p e ra te sri g h t h anded b e c a u s el o a d e d ca rs co mmi n g downhill f r o m e i t h e r b ra n ch ta ke th e straight r o u t e . E mp ti e sco mmi n g d o w nhill out of t h e t u n n e l a re co a sti n ga n d a l so take t h e s t r ai g h t ro u te -

Yu Na JUNCTION (2.3km)

Th e tu n nels i di ngi s at the summit.

All carsare movingat their slowest speedand thus can be slewedright'"

SOUTH PORTAL (0.7km)

This section operatesleft handed.

B o th the loadedcar s coming d o w n g r adeand the em ptiesgoing u p h i l l take the str aightr oute.

-l-ungShanJUNCTION (0.5km)

T h i s se cti o n o p e rates left handed.

L o a d e d co a l ca rs take the str aight ro u tea t (A ).L o a d e dcoalcar scomm ing f ro m T u n g S h a nsl e wthemselves at ( B) t r I GH T

A. LEFT

H A ND

tr UNNING.Atr tr ANGEMENTS

28

The Yu Na line is 500mmgauge.One of the pushers told me (shewas about 40 yearsold) that her father and grandfatherhad been coal car pushers all of their lives on this line. Working this back gives a building date somewhere around 1895 which is when the Japaneseoccupationstarted.

I havea map which showsthe linegoing southon the east bank of the riverf rom the place I havecalledYu Na Junction. When the line reachesthe Chi Lung River the map shows a ferry. This might well have been the originalroute with the presentltne on the west bank and the tunnel havingbeen built later.In any eventthe Yu Na is one of the pioneerrailroadsof Taiwan.

There is a track maintenancegang and it consistsof one man plus a f lat car. His principaltoolis a sledge hammer.Since the wheel treads are wide, accurate gauging is not a real problem. The maintenance man's problem is that he has no new rails. He replacesrotted ties and packs up the worst of the out-of-linejoints.He alsorepairsthe typhoondamage.

The prevailingwinds are from the eastand moisture laden,they come up the Chi Lung rivervalley,risein the mountains and drop their water. This area is damp with considerablerainfall.

The good rail is about the size of Decauville's9 KG/meterstandardand thereis not very much good rail.Whenthe head wearsout, they turn the railon its side and use the f lange!This then rustsout and the rail is replacedwith angleiron or T iron sectionsand occasionallya short gap is filled with a piece of wood.

The good rail is reservedfor those sectionswhere the loaded coal cars run by gravity at speeds in excessof 25 kph. On the sectionswherethe empties are pushed uphill, almost anythingseemsto work.

Flying downgradeon a passengercar even on the best sectionsoverthe kinkedand out-of-linetrack is not for those who are not completefatalists.

The pibce de r6sistanceof the trackwork is the doubletrackcrossingwhich alsofunctionas double slip switches.Theseoccur at two places.The first is withinthe Tung Shan Coal Company'syard trackage, and the secondplaceis at the coal dumps at the end of the line parallelto the governmentrailroad.Here each company has its own dump and coal picking shed.

There are only two basictypes of cars on the linethe coal car and the flat car. By putting a box for a seat on the flat car, it becomesa passengercar.

The drawings give the averagedimensionsof the cars but each car is a littledifferentfrom the others.

The coal cars have a cubic capacityof a little less than three quartersof a meter cubed and therefore hold about 0.6 to 0.75metrictons dependingon the moisturecontent.

The oointlessswitch is an excellentexampleof a seemingly primitive device which is really quite efficient.lt is also obviousthat mechanrcaltractron power could not be substitutedfor the pushers unlessall of the switcheson the.linewererebuiltfor there would be no reasonablesolutionto slewinga locomotive.lt is also obviousthat cars could not be pulledover these linesby animals- horsetraction, for example,without rebuildingthe switches.As a consequencethe pushcar lineswillremainwith their pushers until abandonedas the cost of conversion for marginalmines is far too high.

All of the cars havebrakes.The brakeshoesare logs suspendedby wire or chainwhoseaveragediameter is 80mm.Two of theseare installed.

Wrappedaround each log is a piece of heavy wire, about 3mm in diameterand thesef orm a loop at one end of the car.

The brake pole is a piece of pine which is wedge shapedat the end.

The brakeis appliedby puttingthe wedgeend of the pole in the loop and pullingback on the pole which forces the logs (shoes)againstthe wheels.

The coal cars havedrop sidesfor discharging.They also havea wire rackf or the pusherssweatrag and a pin for the oil can. The bearingsall get a squirtof oil before each downhill loadedtrip.

With all of the poor track, derailmentsare not a common occurence.The few that do take placeare on the doble trackjunctionleadingto the Tung Shan line and these occur with the empty cars.

I havesat by the hour at Yu Na or at Yu Na Juncti on and watchedthe coal cars going down to Wu Tu. l've watched with fascination the uphill traffic, mine timbers, air hose, conveyors,and all of the other suppliesneededby a mine.Mostof the men pushing the coal cars are grimed by dust from their loads sticking to their sweat soaked bodies.The women wearingthe conicalbamboof rond hats,blackstockings, a blouse and skirt,top off their costumewith white gloves.

C R O SS I N G & S L IP S WIT CH TRACK ON TUNG SHAN MINE

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E OU IV A L E NT

SINGLE LINE DIAGRAM

29

The brake gear of a coal car. The wire loop, in which the brakepole is inserted,is always on the north end of a loaded car.

The push car trackswitchis a simpleand effectivedevice.

30

BR AKE POL E

PIN TO HOLD SIDE CLOSED

.-S_

WEDG E END

(

9 0 x 90 T I M BER

B R A K EB E A M B OmmD l A .S U S P E N D E D B YW IR EOR C H A IN MA D EFR OMW OODLOGS

B RAKELO O P

B RAKELO O P TWOTURNS OF 3 m mWI RE B E A R IN GB LOCKS

U N D E R S I D EO F C A R S H O WI N G B R A K E R I G G I N G H I N G E D L I D FOR OIL IN G

YU NA sOOMMGAUGECOAL CAR

OP E NTOP B OX W ITHLID A S A S E A T (R E MOV A B TE )

9 0 TIMB E R. -

BRAKE GEAR SAME AS THE COAL CAR

CAR YU NA sOOMMGAUGEPASSENGER 31

As I watch the progressionpassby I can not helpbut think that while these peopledo not live in blissful contentment,they certainlyseem lessdiscontented than the workers in the affluentcountrieswho do poor and sloppywork and are constantlyon strike.lt seems ironic that increasingaffluence brings increasingdiscontent.

The pinpoint of light visible from the noril portal shows that the tunnel is empty.

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32

T U N GSHA NCO ALMI N I NGC O MPANY Chapter3

The Tung Shantrackagebeginsat this iunctionwith the Yu Na line-

The scale house.

The mine props are slacked at the entrance to the yard. The cars are not the push car tvpe bul are arranged for cable haulage and h-aie no brake gear. The targe building in the back_ ground is the mining company ottice.

34

The coal loadingbins.In this partof the yard the switches are of the push car type.

The sawmill is on the left.In the center is the incline to the upper level.At the top of the pictureis the coal dump over the loading bins.

35

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The Tung Shan (;[ H, ) Cout Mining Company, whose tracks are cohnectedto the Yu Na line,is the largestproducerwhich relieson push cars to bring its productionto the Governmentrailwayat Wu Tu. Their productionis 5,000metrictons per month and is half of the tonnagecarriedby the Yu Na line.

The main shaft or adit descendsat an angle of 28 degreesfor 1,000meters and is worked by cable.

This intersectsanotherinclinedadit which is operated by a diesel locomotive.Also intersectingis anotherdiesel-workedadit. The maximum depth is 600 meters and the farthest workinq face is 3,000 metersfr.omthe portal.

The coal seams in the Chi Lung coal basisare very thin averagingbetween40 and 60 cm in thickness and this requiresthe excavationof an equaltonnage of the soft slatetype of rock.Sincea loadedrock car carriesabout 1.2 metric tons of rock and a loaded coal car 0.6 metrictons of coal,in termsof carloads, there is one car of rock for every two cars of coal.

Mining is carriedout with pneumatrcjackhammers.

No explosivesare used in the mine and the coaldust is coated with lime to preventdust explosions.

There are 380 minerson the rosterwttn an average daily attendanceof 300 split into two shifts.Mining, which was very poorly paid a short time ago before the fuel crisis, now pays six times the wage of an unskilled factory worker and coal, thanks to the Arabs, now sells for $45.00per ton.

The straighl track is the route of the loaded coal cars to ihe dump over the loading bins.

On the left is the series of buildings housing the repair shop, the batterycharging room, and above, a group ol residences.

38

Referring to the operating diagram, the mining company'strackageis operatedas follows: Loaded cars come out of the portal (A) hauled by cable to the tail track (B). The haulage winch is reversedand switch ('1)thrown and the carsdescend 'to the receivingtrack (C) where the cable is detached.The loadedcars are both coaland rock.The coal cars are pushed to the rotary dumper, hand operated,at (D), dumped and then pushed back to the outboundtrackat (E).Carsof rock are pushedto the intermediatelevelinclinereceivingtrack (F) and the cable attached.They are hauledup the tail track (G) and then let down the incline(H). At the bottom (J) the cableis detachedand they go by gravityto the rock incline receiving track (K) and then up the incline (L) cabl e hauted and finaily dumped at (M) down the back sideof the mountain.Emptyrock cars follow the sequenceof (M) (L) (N) (H) (c) (F) (E)and (A). Cars of mine props or lime enter the systemat (P),are pushedto the switch (9) and then follow the sequencefor empty rock cars. Switches(1) to (10) are the single point type. Track (R) is used to hold prop and lime cars until neededin the mine.

HOIST

OPEFIATING DIAGRAM TUNG SHAN COAL Co.

=+

@ @

UP ANGLE28"

UPI

DOWN-*

@ LEVEL

Dovi! '

ANGLE

P1JEL

su.ts{.......#

Cable haulage G r a v i t y o r p u sh

O Change of propulsion method point

TUNG

SHAN

COMPANY

COAL

EL l'f7 ROCKDUMP

DIAGAM SHOWINGVERTICALRELATIONOF TRACKS IElevations aproximate based on observatio.r]

T h g g ra d ie n ta t (A ) a n d ( B ) i s j u s r suffient to overcome the friciion for loaded cars. Empty cars going in t h e o p p o s it e d irec t i o n a r 6 p u s h e do n a p a ra lle lt rac k .

MINEYARDTRACKS EL7

o- Er-zs

E LI 4 C OAL WASH IN G & L OAD IN GBIN S

Yu Na L INECRO SSI NG TUNNELSOUTHPORTAL

\9 E L6

\

Ba s eLine- KEELUNGRI VER- EL 0.0 0

{<+ il4 7 )

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Cable haulage Gravity sections connecting cable inclines Pu sh ca r o pe ration Elevations in meters Electric cab le h ois t

)-\ -/\

MINESHAFT (ADIT)

\

T u n g S h a nJ U N C TION N O VER T IC AL OR H O R I ZO N TA L S C A L E

The second car, loaded with mine props, has jumped the track.There is a conference in progress concerning the easiestway to get it back on again.

40

A train of rock cars is descending the incline in charge of a brakewoman. From right to left are lhe arrivaltrack and departuretrack for cars using the incline.

Viewedfrom the lower levelanother trainload of rock comes down the incline.

41

There are always a few lumps of coal in the rock cars.Thesewomen are picking it out to take home.This is lhe point where the cable is attached for the long haul to the rock dump.

Four cars of rock start up the long incline.Along the line are two wirei yli",l .*l9n Otorghilogether rings a. be.llin the winding engine houie at the top. The function of the brake.manriding the train is to brint the wires togethershoutdthere be l derailment.

+z

Coming down the incline f rom the rock dump is a train of Tung Shan empty cars.

The track at the bottom is the Yu Na line iust betore it reaches the tunnel.

The yard switchesare a mixture of the single point type, those on the inclines and their connecting lines, and of the push car pointlesstype. The push car switchesare installedon the lines leadingto the loadingbins,the main lineto the Junctionand in the warehousearea.

The elevationdrawingshows how the gradientsare arranged to assist loaded cars while empty cars are pushed on parallelleveltracks.

Referring now to the Basic Track Layout drawing, there are ten loading tracks under the concrete structurewhich housesthe dump on the upper level and a washingplant and theseconnectdirectlywith the two track main line which leadsto Tung Shan Junctionon the Yu Na. The balanceof the yard provides connectionsto the two inclines,to the storeand the piles of mine props. house/warehouse

Althoughthe Tung Shan'syardand generaltrackage is larger than the other push car mines, its overall arrangementis typicalof the KeelungBasin mines.

None of these have vertical shafts and the large headframesare typical of American or European mines. Inclinedshaftsplus inclinesclimbing up or down the face of the mountain are the typical arrangement.

In the yard is a two track level crossing. The west crossing is a genuine crossing while the easterly crossing is of the push car type which can also be used as a double slip switch. The purpose of this complicatedtrackageis obscurebut it doesf urnisha siding for the sawmill

44

WU LAI Chapter4 For sometime after1949the government,f earingan invasion from the mainland,discouragedtourists but as that threat faded,activelytried to encourage tourism.They encouragedbetterhotelfacilitiesand set out to improveaccessto the inland attractions.

About 1965 the road to Wu Lai was improvedand timber haulingon the push car line ceasedand the track was improvedin the interestsof safety,The line was cut back to 2 km in length and terminated oppositethe waterfall.

The .olling stock follows the traditional push car design insofaras the underframe,wheelsand axles and brakeclesignis concerned.The pushingis done from the soace betweenthe double track and as a consequencethere are two verticalstantionsat the rear on the left side.A paddedseat for two people was installedon the f ront and coveredwith a canopy for rain and mist are frequent.At the rear are two small wooden seats, one for the pusher on the downhill run and the other for a second class passenger.

During its log haulingdays,pushingan emptycar up grade was not too hard a job. Now with Ihe 11/z-2o/o people two or possibly three aboard, it is real work and normally a rest stop is made half way up the grade.

The up-hillfare per personis NT$16.00(420US) and the car pushergets half of this - (21AUS) - for his effort which takes about 20 minutes.ln the reverse direction,down-hill,the fare is reducedto NT$12.00 (320 US). Once the car is rolling at Waterfall,it will coastthe entiredistanceand now the pusherputshis musclesto work on the brakepole.Again he collects half of the fare for himself.

The majorityof touristsarriveby bus and this causes the traffic to bunch up and run in convoys.Thereare about sixty cars and assumingthat half are coming down the other half just about holds a bus load.

Numberedticketsare sold for the uphill journeyand passengersgo in rotation by ticket number. Enormous verbalbattlestake olacewhen irateTaiwanese tourists disccver that a tour operator has f ifty tickets for a Japanesetour party and they haveto wait foran hour. Down hill you wait in line, first come, first served.

I have never been enthusiastrcabout amusement park rarlroadsor for that matterpreservation efforts when the equipmenthas been importedfrom other lines, for the essenceof working for a living and community servicehas been lost.

The Wu Lai line is includedin this book becauseit started life in the honorable busines of carrying timber and conversionto a tourist attractioncame later.The other reasonfor includingit is becauseit is easy to reach and gives some of the feeling of its more humblecounterpartsin the coalf ieldsto those without the languagecapabilitiesto penetratethe remotervalleys.

From Taipei,the governmenthighway,roughlyparallel by a branch line of the governmentrailroad, runs south to Hsin Tien (literaltranslation- New Store)and there the railroadstops and the highway veersto the east.Branchingoff the highwayis a toll road to Wu Lai of recent construction.At Wu Lai (literaltranslation- Bird Coming)the road stops as the valley narrows leavingonly room for the river.

The push car line startson a shelf about 30 meters above the stream and follows the valley on a shelf steadilyclimbing to keep its distancefrom the river bed.

The line was built about 1953to the uniquegaugeof 545mm or 21 15/32 inches.This dimension is 1.8 Chinese"feet",the Chinese"foot" beingdividedinto ten units. This is the same unit formerly used in Japan - one chi (ff ) havingten chon (si). Untit e the industriallines the track is well mainthinedand the track switches are of the conventional type operated by hand-throw levers.

Although the switchesareof the conventionalpattern, the pushers disdain the use of the switch throw stands.Ratherthanto stop,run aheadand throwthe leverand then return to push the car ahead,they use the poles at the end of the car to lift the f ront wheels on to the divergingline and then with a good push, they get the car overthe closedpoint.This is a good exampleof the usersdefeatingthe bestintentionsof the designers.Since the switch standsare the conventioal pattern used on the 3'-6" gauge, one can supposethat the rebuilt line was designedin some office where the realitiesof push car lines were unknown.

Duringthe periodwhen it was a timbercarryingline, visitorswould walk up the trackto viewa spectacular waterfallsome 2 kilometersfrom the startingpoint.

Evidently a few convinced the men pushing the empty four wheel timbercarsto let them ride and an unofficialpassengerservicebegan.

45

Wu Lai flashes with the traditional red and gold decorationsso dear to the Chineseheart and even the passenger cars are decorated. Long after the coal haulersare gone this linewith itsthrivingtourist businesswill continue,a sterilized versionof primitive railroading.

Due to the f ixed seatingarrangement,the cars have to be turned at each end of the run. On the coal haulers,the brakeend is alwayson the up-hillend of the car; here it is alwayson the pushingend.

There is one ihtermediatestationwhich seemslittle used for it is within easy walking distance,via the foot path, from Wu Lai. As a further tourist attraction there is an aerial cableway from Waterfall to the top of an adjacent peak and if you climb the steeppathto the top of the mountainthere is a superb view, so they say.

The turntableat Wu Lai.

46

Wu LaiVILLAGE iliFi-r

rr il rl

r----_r ARRIVALPLATFORM

RIVER :l/

w@ r-El DEPARTURE PLATFORM

Km 0

TURNTABLES

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WATEFFALL

ry S TA .TION

W,

PASSENGERAERIAL CABLEWAY

Wu Lai PassengerStation.

The banner sign, literally translated,reading from the right io left, says: TIMID HEART GO CAR PEACE ALL FIRST.What it means can be freely translatedas: DO NOT BE AFRAID TO RIDE THE CARS BECAUSEWE PRACTICESAFETYFIRST.

48

The track passesa few houses at Wu Lai (above) and lhen proceeds to Mountain Chief Station.

WaterfallStation.

The long line of people waiting to ride back to Wu Lai on this holiday included a group of Nigerians.

S HE NAO L I CO A L MIN E R A ILR OA D Chapter5

There is a sidingwhich divergesto the leftand serves the lower levelof the loadingbin and is usedfor the mine prop cars.The main line terminatesin a set of sidings and a cable hauledincline with a rise of 10 meters.At the top there is a turntable.The rock cars are rotated 90o to the right and are pushed to the rock dump adjacent to the sea. The coal cars are turned 90" to the left and are pushed to the rather rickety wooden loading bin structure.

At one time the coal was hauledto Keelungby the 2'6" gaugeline but when the linewas takenoverby the Government,the siding was removed.Now the coal is hauled away by truck.

The coal cars used on this line are not the standard push car type but ratherthe type used when either cable or engine haulage is employed.They havea steel plate running longitudinallyacross the top of the woodenframeso they can be coupledwith chain.

This type of car normallyhas no brakesbut the ones on this line have been fitted with the standardpush car brake but on only one set of wheels.

There is a falling gradientfrom the mine adit io the siding in f ront of the inclineand cars reachthis point by gravity. ln the other direction the pusher,wl'ro wears a standard miner's headlamp because 300 metersof his journey is insidethe mountain,has to wade throughthe mine drainagewater,in the trench and inside the adit, as he pushes the empty back toward the beginningof the cable hauled incline.

This mine and its railroadare living replicasof the eighteenthcentury.

lf you drive out of Keelungalong the easternstdeof the harbor after you pass such landmarkssuch as the town garbage dump, the road runs along the shore of the East China Sea. There is a railroadparallelingthe roadand oncethis was a 2'-6" gauge line owned by the Taiwan Metal Mining Company.lt was about10 km long and terminatedat Shui Nan Tung wheretherewas a coal mine.

The line ceased opei'atingfive years ago and the roadbed was used for a 3'-6" gauge branch of the governmentrailroad.The mining company used 06-OTs which were buil t in Taiwan.

After,yon pass through Pa Tou Tzu you came to a bay and on the shore in its middle is Shen Ao Li (literal translation is Deep Waters Edge Village) which consists of a few housesand a mine.

When I f irst visitedthis mine,it was all but derelictfor with coal at $7.50 per ton, full scale working had ceasedand only a handfulof minersremained.The energy crisis changed this. The price of coal increased6330/o and the Yong Shin Coal Mining Co. resumedfull productionof 120 metric tons per day with 120 miners.To get a ton of coal,a ton of rock is excavated.

The tunnel goes straightinto the side of the mountain,with a slightrisinggradeagainstthe emptycars, for 300 meters.At this point there is a cable worked incline inside the mountain about 1,000 meters in length. This being one of the oldest mines in the area,they are now working 30 cm thick seams.The track gauge is 500 mm, the standardin the area.

The line emerges from the portal together with a torrent of mine drainagewater. lt goes under the former 2'-6" gauge lineand entersaconcretetrench.

The trench terminatesat the road and the tracks pass under the road with only a few inchesof clearance abovethe mine car and its rider.The mine drainage now headsstraightfor the EastChina Sea whilethe track curves sharplyto the left to run parallelto the shore.

5l

C H IN A S EA

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Two coal cars emerge from the portal propelled by gravity.

The mine drainage running down the track makes the maintenancejob a wet one.

53

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Havingpassedunder the GovernmentRailway bridge lhe track heads for the East China Sea. The miner keeps the speed of the loadedcar in check with the brake.

Going toward the portal,which is upgrade, it takes three men to handlea car load ol props.

54

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It was a cold windy winter'sday with the wavespounding on the rocky shore when this empty car was being pushed back lo the mine.

55

The miners were quite amused at the author'sinterestin the mine and its railroad.

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Coal is loaded into trucks at this shed. Formerly the 2'-6" gauge tracks of the Taiwan Metal Mining Co. servedthis mine.

56

SH U IS H A NM ININ GCOMPANY Chapter6

One train ol coal is coming from the west bank mine while a long train ol emptieswaits.These tracks are 508 mm gauge.

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HouT'ungSTATTON TaiwanGovt.Railway

The Keelung River (Chi Lung Ho) starts in the mountainson the east coast of Taiwan,flows north to Pa Tu and then turns to the west and meets the Tam Sui Riverat Taipei.Togetherthey flow into the China Sea. Hou T'ung, the literaltranslationis MonkeyTunnel, is on the part of the riversouth of Keelungwherethe river is flowing due north.

To switch the standard(3'-6")gaugecars underthe loading bins,there were two duplicateengines,the same size as the 508mm engines but widened in guage. These are now derelict at the loading bins and a small dieseldoes the switching.

The east bank line comesovera bridge,from a shelf on the mountain,acrossthe riverand runs over the top of the loadingbins.The westbanklineterminates in an inclinewhere the cars are cable hauledto the top of the bins.

There are two mining areas,one on the east bank of the riverand the other on the west bank.Both areas have508mmgauge linesto the loadingbins located at Hou T'ung stationwhich is cn the west bank.Both lineswere steamoperateduntil five yearsago when the small Japanese0-4-0Tsbuilt by Amemiyawere replacedby Japanesediesel-mechanical engines.

This line has been includedto show that some of the mines have modern transportation.

58

4

A single track line connecls the west bank mine with the loading lacility at Hou T'ung.

59

A coal train on its way to the loading facility.

60

A C K N OWLEDGEMEN TS

My most valuablecontactin Taiwanwas Col. P .K.Yu, ChineseAir{orce(Ret.) who smoothedthe way into the mines.Tsu Tsun Hseh ably interpretedwhen I was seeking informationfrom those who only spoke the Fukiendialect.The calligraphyon the front coverwas a gift from one of the leadingart dealersof Taipei.As a travellerthroughoutthe length and breadth of Taiwan,both on businessand in the pursuitof narrow gauge railroads,once the peoplegot over their amazementand were convincedthat you were interestedin their daily jobs they were most co-operativeand anxious to give the full story.

In Japan, Mr. K. Yamazaki,the owner of the Kigei PublishingCompany,was kind enough to makeavailablethe servicesof his superbstaffartistto makethe maps and track diagrams.ProfessorY. Oguma, the foremostauthorityrn the Far East on Chineserailroadsgave the informationon the pre-WorldWar ll lines which operatedin the KeelungCoal Basin.

Back home the manuscriptwas put in shapefor the printerby Ms.MarvaLustig.

The photographicprintswere made by Leco Photo Servicesunder the direction of llse Friesen.The opticaltypesettingwas done by Tod ClonanAssociates.

Last but not least,was the driver of the Taiwanesetaxi which I would time charter for excursionsover the ratherprimitiveroads in the back country.He became, reluctantlyat first, then enthusiastically,a searcher for primitive railroads.