The Taiping Mountain Forest Railway (), also known as Bongbong Train () is a 36.4 km (22.6 miles) long

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

forest railway A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felling, felled logs to sawmills or railway stations. In most cases th ...

with a gauge of in Yilan County,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Part of it can be used for heritage trains, but it is temporarily closed.

History

The Taiping Mountain Forest Railway was commissioned in 1920 and connected to the Luodong Forest Railway in 1924. No regular passenger services have been provided since 1979, but a short section of the track was used for a sightseeing train. Since commercial forestry has been phased out on Taiping Mountain, the area is used for sightseeing and recreation.行政院農委會林務局©版權所有 (Executive Yuan COA Forest Service)
太平山森林鐵路 (Taiping Mountain Forest Railway).
Retrieved 25 November 2017. (Chinese) In 2012, due to damage caused by a typhoon, the sightseeing train was taken out of use. On 19 September 2018, the operation was officially resumed on a 3 km-long section of the track. Eight trips per day are available between Tài Píng Shān-sho station and Shigeru station at intervals of 30 minutes. Each one-way trip takes 20 minutes.

Maosing Reminiscent Trail

The 1.5 km (nearly 1 mile)-long Maosing Reminiscent Trail (, ''closed'') starts at the platform of Maosing Railway Station. It runs at a height of 1.870 m to 1.950 m above sea level on the disused railway track and has thus only a relatively small gradient. There are recreation and information boards about history, natural resources, and geology.Maosing Reminiscent Trail.
27 June 2016. Accessed 25 November 2017. The Maosing Reminiscent Trail provides a combination of both heritage and

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

. Most of the railway sleepers are rotten, but a majority of the rails are still in good order; the rails are left in place and railway sleepers are covered in gravel to provide a footpath. Most of the

trestle bridge A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles triangl ...

s have collapsed or deteriorated. Thus, some of them have been repaired, some of them left as historic ruins, and others have had to be removed and replaced by modern suspension bridges.

Jancing Historic Trail

The Jancing Historic Trail () was installed on a section of the former Jancing Forest Railway and originally had a total length of 2.35 km (1.4 miles). Since a landslide occurred, only 0.9 km (0.5 miles) are publicly accessible. The former Jancing Forest Railway was approximately 5.5 km (3.4 miles) long and provides access to the natural and cultural heritage along the old railway track. The remaining rails, trolleys, and bogies are a reminder of long-gone times of the lumber industry.

Gallery

Railway relics of Taiping Mountain Forest Railway.jpg, Remains of a wooden trestle bridge Taiping Mountain Forest Railway 08.jpg, Maosing Reminiscent Trail Taiping Mountain Forest Railway 05.jpg, Taiping Mountain Bong Bong Train Taiping Mountain Forest Railway 02.jpg, Taiping Mountain Bong Bong Train Taiping Mountain Forest Railway 03.jpg, Taiping Mountain Bong Bong Train Station Taiping Mountain Forest Railway 07.jpg, Taiping Mountain Bong Bong Train Taiping Mountain Forest Railway 09.jpg, Taiping Mountain Bong Bong Train Taiping Mountain's Forest Railway Station.jpg, Taiping Mountain Forest Railway Station, 2022 Topdown shot of Taiping Mountain's Forest Railway Station.jpg, Top-down shot of Taiping Mountain Forest Railway Station, 2022

Track

Old Taiping Mountain Railway

The Old Taiping Mountain Railway () has been removed and only very little information about it is available.

New Taiping Mountain Railway

The New Taiping Mountain Railway () is the main system that exists today. It uses a combination of

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

and

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, sky tram, cable car, ropeway, aerial tram, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip ...

s to transport

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

down the mountainous terrain.

Stations

Lines

Dayuan Mountain Railway

Dayuan Mountain ()

References

{{Coord, 24.49364, N, 121.53645, E, display=title Mountain railways in Taiwan 2 ft 6 in gauge railways in Taiwan Forest railways in Taiwan Railway lines opened in 1924 Tourist attractions in Yilan County, Taiwan 1924 establishments in Taiwan