A lumber town revisited
Upon returning down the mountain, we visit the Chiayi Sawmill, once described as the most advanced in the Japanese Empire. Guide Lou Cheng-kuo explains that by turning felled trees into lumber, the mill underpinned the growth of the wood processing industry in Chiayi.
The sawmill had its own electricity generation system and used machinery imported from the UK, America, and Germany. Incoming unprocessed logs were moved automatically along the production line. The mill was impressively advanced for its time. The electric-powered drying room featured a cutting-edge dryer, which circulated rising hot air and falling cool air to dry the wood while controlling for air speed, temperature, and humidity.
A remarkable mountain railway
Chiayi’s lumber industry boom traces its origins back to 1899, when Japan discovered the forest resources of the Alishan area. The colonial government adopted the recommendation of botanist Shitaro Kawai, who had a doctorate in forestry, to build a railway up the mountain.
Curiously, the Alishan Forest Railway is Taiwan’s only railway system to combine logging railway and mountain railway technologies. Just a few years after its construction, cableways were established at Taipingshan and Baxianshan to transport lumber in those locations. Railway expert Su Chao-hsu explains: “That divergence was connected to the evolution of technology.” In 1903, airplanes were unheard of, and roadways for motor vehicles only became widespread after 1920. The rails were the main arteries for land transport during that era. Alishan used forest railway technology developed in America. From today’s perspective, the railway may not seem the most economically efficient method, but it represented an ingenious combination of the technologies and construction techniques of its time.
“Of the five methods used anywhere in the world to construct a railway up a mountainside, four are employed on the Alishan Forest Railway,” says Su. The sweeping 180-degree horseshoe curves represent the first method. The second is the spiraling track on Dulishan. The third is the zigzagging track that requires the train to go in reverse. The fourth is the use of Shay geared steam locomotives.” If you want to ascend a mountain slope, the train must possess certain capabilities. The Shay locomotives produced by the Lima Locomotive Works in the United States were specifically designed with mountain railways in mind. With cylinders positioned upright to save space, these engines are extremely powerful, and the large trees that were felled on Alishan were all carried down the mountain using them.
Although Lima eventually went bankrupt, repairs and spare parts made by the Beimen Repair Plant kept the Shay locomotives rolling on Alishan’s tracks. They didn’t start being retired until 1969. In 2000 reconstruction of the railway’s steam locomotive No. 26 was successfully completed, and it began to chug along the tracks once again. Since then, engines Nos. 31 and 25 have also been restored and brought back into service. There are very few countries with any Shay locomotives remaining, and fewer still with the engines actually in service. These truly are world treasures.
“The Alishan Forest Railway, Asia’s highest-elevation narrow-gauge railway, has the most complex spiral of loops—nearly concentric circles—found on any of the world’s 762-millimeter-gauge railways,” summarizes Su. “It also has the greatest gain in elevation.” Moreover, the Alishan Forest Railway is a sister line of railways in Japan, India, Britain, Switzerland, Slovakia and other countries, fostering frequent international exchanges.
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Huang Miao-hsiu says that Alishan’s unique tapestry of charms is woven from its tangible and intangible cultural assets.