The Railroad with Shay Steam!

E-Mail: cwhung@atmos.ucla.edu

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Alishan is a very famous forest Railroad in Taiwan. It is a narrow gauge (762mm) railroad. There are Shay Steam locomotives made by LIMA running there before. The last alive Shay steam in Taiwan is #26. Although, the steam didn't have regular run now, there are daily passenger service. If you ride the train, you can experience the triple loop around the mountain and 4 times switchback!

The regular passenger train

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The Shay Steam in Alishan!

This is the last Shay #26 in Alishan. It ran for a TV program named "Travel on Taiwan Railway". This location is Alishan New Station. It was 4th switch junction before.

The Kingdom of "Shay"

Alishan Railway was built in Japan era, but this railway bought many American "Shay" steam engine from 1910 - 1917. All of them were made by Lima of America. Those Shay locomotives are the most famous engine in Alishan, but there were still some other steam locos there.

The steam locomotive in the early era of Alishan Railway

The first engine of Alishan was a Lima 1907 made 13t shay. It joined Alishan Railway during construction, and returned Japan later. No number was givin to this shay. Then, #1 & #2 steam made by Barclay in 1911 (or 1910) joined this line. Later, #3 was made by Kawasaki in 1914 and ran on this route. All of them are not Shay.
Alishan Railway was built in Japan era, but this railway bought many American "Shay" steam engine from 1910 - 1917. All of them were made by Lima of America. The following is their information from my book,The monograph of Alishan forest railway.

Lima 18t Shay in Alishan

#11, 1910.8, abandoned before WW2
#12, 1910.8, preserved in Alishan.
#13, 1911.10(or 1910.8), preserved in Chinese Movie cutural town in Taipei.
#14, 1912.6, preserved in Puffing Billy Rail Museum in Australia.
#15, 1912.6, abandoned in Peimen workshop now.
#16, 1913.1, preserved in Tsu-Nan Forest Park in Hua-lien
#17, 1913,1, preserved in Alishan Railway Hotel in Alishan old station.
#18, 1913.1, parked in Feng-Chi-Hu garage.

Lima 28t Shay in Alishan

#21, 1912.7, preserved in Chung-Shan Park in Cha-Yi.
#22, 1913.5, preserved in Cheng-Kong-Ling.
#23, 1913.8, preserved in Alishan old station.
#24, 1913.9, preserved in Alishan Railway Hotel in Alishan old station.
#25, 1914.8, preserved in Peimen garage.
#26, 1914.8, This is the last repaired Shay steam in regular service of Alishan RR. It still can run very well,now.
#27, 1914.8, abandoned already.
#28, 1914.8, preserved in Miao-Li Rail Museum.
#29, 1914.8, preserved in Feng-Chi-Hu garage.
#30, 1915.7, abandoned already.
#31, 1917.11, Peimen. If the railway has money, this will be the next one back to service.
#32, 1917.11, Display in Chu-Chi.
#Number, built year/month, note.
The very last Shay ran in Alishan during early 1980s are #31, #32 and #26. At that time, they ran on a tourist line from Alishan to Rock Monkey. The boilers of #31 and #32 had problem during mid-1980s. Although the #26 is still OK, Alishan Ry decided to stop all the steam trains, and shay #26 didnt' run for years.
Between mid-1980 and 1999 spring, #26 only run for special event. Late last year, #26 was fixed to a very very good condition, and pass the government exam for boiler test (This is very important for the steam to run again). Shay #26 returned to mainline and run for event in 1999 spring.
Alishan Ry plan to run the Shay regularly, but all the lines of Alishan were damaged by the earthquake on 9/21/1999. The tracks are assumed to be repaired by 2000 spring, but no one really know when will it be OK! So now, Shay #26 is sleeping, and waiting for the track be fixed! We wish it will have a good new life soon!

My friends' comments about trains of Alishan RR

Shin'ichi Nito :

I have been to Peimen station/depot once in 1984. However, I could not go to Alishan and Feng-Chi-lake depot because of paucity of time in my only 4 days trip in Taiwan. Then, I have never seen the Shay locomotives to my regret (I could not find any Shay locomotives at Peimen station/depot in 1984). Your mail informed me that most of 18t and 28t Shay locomotives were preserved elsewhere along the Alishan Railway. Therefore, I want to visit and observe some of those locomotivs in following trip to Taiwan.
The first Shay locomotive with no number, #1, #2 and #3 steam locomotives are particularly interesting. I am also interesting in diesel locomotives (DL), DMU, passengers cars (PC) and freight cars (FC) of Alishan Railway not only steam locomotives. Is the DL made by O&K (DL35-37) still on service? I feel those DL have a good form, just looks like special diesel shunter DE11-2000 of JR. In addition, I desire to know details of many PC and FC of Alishan Railway.