Sparks Fly over the "Resurrection" of Taiwan's Steam Locomotives

Now the world's most advanced railway technology-high-speed rail-is about to enter our lives, and Taiwanese have begun to miss the rumbling thunder and sparking wheels of the old "demon cars." A number of events have sparked calls for the preservation of Taiwan's railway history: Last May the boiler of the Taiwan Railway Administration's (TRA) CK101 steam locomotive was relit. Then in February, Alishan's No. 26 steam engine began running again, and the TRA began refurbishing Taiwan's first locomotive, "Cloud Rider."

How does one bring an old locomotive back to life? What kind of life will it have after its "resurrection"? And what kind of ripples will these old locomotives set into motion in the lives and hearts of modern people?

In the semi-darkness of a Taipei dawn in March, employees of the "Steam Engine Refurbishing Shop" at the Taiwan Railway Administration's (TRA) train yard on Taipei's Civil Boulevard are arranging fresh fruit and ceremonial objects to pray that the efforts to refurbish the old locomotive "Cloud Rider" go smoothly. Smoke from the incense swirls heavenward.

After the ceremony is completed, employees of the train yard go to work on Cloud Rider, oblivious to the milling reporters and acetylene glare. "Director Cheng, come take a look. The cylinder seems to be in pretty good shape," beams one of the master technicians to Cheng Wan-ching, director of the shop.

"Um, better than I expected. The corrosion isn't serious," responds Cheng in Hakkanese after examining the cylinder himself. He then moves around to the conductor's platform before climbing up the smokestack, examining every part of the train. The other workers in the shop are also working away industriously.

"There's no other way. If we're to get it all taken apart and diagrammed by the end of March, and then refurbish and reassemble it in two months, we've got to really rush. So even though the changes in the weather these last few days have got my joints aching, there's nothing for it but to climb all over the train," says the 73-year-old Cheng, rubbing his knees.

One grandpa fixes up another

Cloud Rider was Taiwan's first steam-driven locomotive. It was built by the Hohenzollern company of Germany in 1887. Liu Mingchuan, the Qing dynasty governor of Taiwan who began construction of the island's railways, purchased it in 1888 and named it Teng Yun, "Cloud Rider." The engine put in 36 years on Taiwan's railways before being retired in 1923. It then became a railway relic and was put on display in an exhibition room in Taipei's New Park. But the desire to display Cloud Rider in all its glory on the upcoming Railway Day (June 9) led to its recent move to the TRA's train yard, which has for years repaired and maintained all of TRA's trains.

The more than 100-year-old Cloud Rider is known to train buffs as "Old Grandpa." Interestingly, the team that has been put together to restore "Old Grandpa" is itself made up of "old grandpas"-mechanics long retired from the train yard.

Leading the restoration work is Cheng Wan-ching, the retired assistant director of TRA's Taipei train yard, along with Chuang Pei-cheng, Chuang Yung-huan, Chiu Ching-chuen, Hsu A-hsien and Huang Chin-sheng, all of whom are retired train-yard veterans.

There are more than 10 people on the team for this restoration project, about half of whom are elderly master mechanics. The reason that so many retired mechanics have been asked back to help is that the TRA began phasing out the old steam engines in the 1970s, and then took them entirely out of service after Taiwan's West Coast Line was electrified in 1978. The mechanics currently working at the Taipei train yard have no experience at all repairing steam engines. Moreover, a serious flood at the yard resulted in damage to the blueprints of many early locomotives. Under the circumstances, the only way to get the old engines running again was to ask these retired master mechanics to come back and apply their great experience with steam engines to guiding the restoration work. But this bunch of septuagenarians were at an age where they ought to be playing with their grandchildren. Were their skills still sharp?

Actually, the Cloud Rider project was not their first "experiment." In October of 1997, this team of "old men" began working on bringing the CK101 steam engine back to life. CK101 had been sitting around for years and there were no blueprints for the engine. But using their experience and what Cheng Wan-ching terms "a little imagination," they were able to restore it to running condition in only seven months. On seeing the old engine running again, memories of those old trains came surging back into the minds of many Taiwanese.

This wave of enthusiasm for restoring old steam engines got its start in the TRA's plan to preserve railway history. In the past, TRA trains which were retired from service were mothballed and shunted into sheds. Without maintenance, their condition deteriorated. The Railway Cultural Society, an association of Taiwan train buffs, had long suggested to the TRA that quietly displaying the old locomotives wasn't nearly as effective as getting them up and running again, so the TRA put together a plan by which the retired master mechanics would make the old trains into living bits of history. After examining the condition of the extant locomotives, the TRA decided to take its first shot at restoration with the pretty well preserved medium-sized steam locomotive CK101.

CK101 returns to the stage

Taiwan used to have eight locomotives of the CK100 line, all of which were made in Japan. CK101 was produced in 1917 and at different times ran on the Pinghsi Line, the Hsintien Line and the Tanshui Line. It was retired in the 1970s and stored in a Chiayi shed. Because it had not been retired for all that long, restoring it to running condition wasn't too difficult. They could draw on the master mechanics' experience, and there were a number of parts which could be reconditioned and used. However, the original boiler, water tank and pipes were all beyond repair, and new ones had to be custom-made.

According to Cheng Wan-ching, more than half of the restored CK101 was custom-made, with the old mechanics using their experience and a little imagination to create the needed parts.

After seven months of work in which the team virtually lived at the train yard, CK101 returned to the stage on last year's Railway Day. It left the yard pulling a refurbished carriage known as "Little Dingdong" (DR2050). Decked out with a red-and-gold nameplate and puffing clouds of steam, it zipped by cheering fans lining the tracks on its way first to Sungshan Station, and from there to Keelung.

The restoration of CK101 awakened many people's memories of simpler days, was applauded by Taiwanese society at large and was widely reported by the media. As a result, after CK101 was driven to Changhua's roundhouse to await periodic calls to duty for railway tourism events, the TRA began planning its next steam engine restoration.

Still the same train?

After mulling over several candidates, at the start of this year the TRA finally announced that the restoration of Cloud Rider would be its headline project for this year's Railway Day.

The 112-year-old Cloud Rider, which was retired in 1923, has been out of service for the last 76 years. Although it has previously undergone two restorations, one in the 1950s and the other for the 100th anniversary of Taiwan's railways in 1987, these earlier restorations were for display purposes and were not very well done. The Taiwan Museum, to which the engine belonged, also carried out occasional maintenance, but the replacement of parts too badly corroded to repair has some wondering whether the engine still qualifies an authentic historical artifact. Even getting Cloud Rider to the Taipei train yard was a major headache for the TRA because the previous restorations had incorrectly installed the drive assembly, immobilizing the locomotive. The TRA finally had to use a crane to lift the engine onto a flatcar to bring it to Taipei. Considering that Cloud Rider is a 100-year-old antique, even though it is now in Taipei, restoring it to working condition will be no easy task for the master mechanics working on the project.

Hsiao Yuan-sheng, head of the work group at the Taipei train yard, says that this restoration of Cloud Rider actually consists of fixing the mistakes made during previous restoration attempts. After the engine is rust-proofed, the next objective is to disassemble and diagram it. Their goal is to build an identical steam locomotive from these blueprints next year.

A process which can't be rushed

Walking into the workshop just a few days after work began, you could already see disassembled pieces of Cloud Rider lying about. The smokestack was off to one side, and workers were using acetylene torches to free the wheels. As each piece came off, it was given to a draftsman who measured it and made notes.

"Without blueprints, we have to rely entirely on our experience to decide whether parts are correct, or whether something is missing," says Chuang Pei-cheng. He points out that this is a 100-year-old engine. From the perspective of preserving it as a historical artifact, they should be doing their utmost not to change anything. However, after years without proper maintenance, many parts, including the drive assembly and the brakes, no longer fit together as they should and must be altered. There are other problems. For example, an opening in which to pour oil exists, but there are no pipes to carry that oil. And the water gauge on the conductor's platform was installed backwards during a previous restoration. Other parts are gone altogether and must be replaced by new ones. In addition, the design of Cloud Rider's valves differs from that of later steam engines, so the mechanics must try to puzzle out the mechanism for themselves.

All of the locomotive's blueprints have been lost, and the only information they have to go on is a picture of Cloud Rider which is in the Taiwan Museum. The photo dates back to the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Taiwan after the war and the turning over of the trains to the ROC government. Some might feel it is asking too much to base the restoration of a historical artifact on one picture and the experience of some elderly master mechanics. This concern has made the mechanics themselves extremely careful, but it has also raised doubts at the Railway Cultural Society.

Wu Yi-han, the society's head, says that train buffs are naturally happy to see that Cloud Rider is being restored. But he points out that one must be extremely conscientious when preserving a historical artifact. Issues as large as how to deal with the crank assembly, and as small as the writing style and materials to be used for the nameplate must all be considered. He says that given the TRA's concern for the preservation of historical objects, they should go further by sending someone to Europe to find a locomotive of the same model and date, draw up accurate blueprints by comparing such a locomotive to Cloud Rider, work out Cloud Rider's whole history, and only then begin the restoration work. He worries that another slapdash "restoration" will only further damage the engine, especially given that the current effort is being carried out under such serious time constraints.

Differing opinions on how to deal with railway artifacts have generated a variety of pressures on TRA's efforts to restore Taiwan's steam engines. But the Taiwan Forestry Bureau (TFB), which is currently restoring the Alishan steam engines, is facing a different set of issues.

Precious as a panda

Everyone in Taiwan knows the children's rhyme which runs, "One, two, three, to Taiwan // Taiwan has an Alishan // On Alishan's the 'Holy Tree'. . . ." And for many tourists who visit the island, Alishan is Taiwan. Primary school textbooks state that the best way to go up Alishan is to take the steam train through the forest. Whistling brightly, the train passes through tropical, sub-tropical and temperate forests. A ride on the forest train allows one to appreciate the whole spectrum of Taiwan's beautiful forests.

One can never predict the future. On July 1, 1997, the same day that Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule, the "Holy Tree" fell down, bringing its story to an end. In addition, development is making it unlikely that the original beauty of Alishan's forests will ever be seen again. As for Alishan's steam locomotives, they were retired in 1969 and replaced by diesels. It was only at the beginning of this year that they were "resurrected."

In February of this year, Chiayi took "Legends of the Forest Rail" as the theme of its culture day. The TFB and the Chiayi city government cooperated in the restoration of Alishan's No. 26 steam engine, and had the engine carrying passengers between Peimen Station and Chuchi Station for nine days. The event caught everyone's eye, and the train was packed. The excitement reached a peak when the festivities were brought to a close with an event bringing No. 26 and CK101 together on the rails.

For rail fans, the restoration of Alishan's No. 26 was even more exciting than that of CK101. And Wu Yi-han even went so far as to state that Alishan's steam engines are "a national treasure on a par with China's pandas."

"But the panda can still breed, whereas Alishan has just these few steam engines. There are only a few in the entire world, so they're even more precious!"

"Shay" locomotives

What's so precious about these Alishan steam engines? Maybe we should begin with the unique character of the Alishan railway.

The Alishan Forest Railway is one of the most famous alpine railways in the world. It is extremely steep, with a gradient of 0.0624 at one point. The railway's most unique features are the "snail rail" and the line's unique switchback system. In his book The Story of Taiwan's Trains, Hung Chih-wen, a writer on railway history, writes that to get trains up grades, Switzerland's alpine railway and Japan's Ohigawa railway use a rack-and-pinion system which prevents trains from sliding backwards. But at Alishan, the trains were "Shay" locomotives which used vertically mounted cylinders to overcome the steep grades.

Alishan's steam engines come in an 18-ton and a 28-ton model. The cylinders of both are mounted vertically, with the former having two cylinders and the later having three. The more powerful three-cylinder model was used on the mountainous portion of the route, while the smaller two-cylinder model was used on non-mountainous sections and to move cars around the stations.

According to Lin Mo-shan, a retired former master mechanic with the Chiayi Forest District Office, the up-and-down movement of the pistons of the Alishan locomotives drove the cranks directly by turning a coupling ring. The system, which could move the engine both forwards and backwards, was well-suited to the peculiar switchbacks of Alishan's tracks. Because of the steepness of the route, it was designed with a spur extending beyond each switchback instead of a turn. The train reverses directions at each spur, so that sometimes the train is moving up the mountain with the engine in front, sometimes with it in back. Because the universal joint allowed the engine to exploit its full power in either direction, it would not slide. This differentiated the model from other steam engines used on non-mountainous routes. Another interesting feature was the rarely seen "offset head" which resulted from offsetting the boiler 216 millimeters to the left to counterbalance the weight of the cylinders, all of which were mounted on the right side.

No coal for the fire

The Alishan railway is about the same age as the Republic of China. Its steam locomotives were imported from the US in 1912 and served until 1969. Because their manufacturer, the US train builder Lima, closed its doors long ago, the Chiayi office of the TFB has been making the parts it needs in its own machine shop for years. For the current restoration, it supplied all the parts itself. Though, like Cloud Rider's restoration team, they lacked blueprints to work from, the master technicians took the situation firmly in hand.

As with the TRA's Taipei restoration project, the TFB called a number of retired mechanics back into service to handle the Alishan project. The team was led by Lin Mo-shan, the former head of the parts shop.

The 28-ton engine No. 26 was chosen for the project because it was the best preserved of the Alishan steam locomotives. It had undergone a major restoration 12 years ago and was not too badly rusted.

Lin says, "The corrosion of the boiler was not severe. But to make sure it could still generate enough power and be safely used, we checked its thickness with an ultrasound scan. We ended up replacing all 96 boiler pipes. The Forestry Bureau [team] had the experience it needed to do the job. Although the young technicians weren't familiar with steam engines, with the master mechanics guiding the restoration, it wasn't too difficult." With a smile, he adds that the train still has a lot of life left in it.

The restoration of No. 26 has been mainly aimed at getting it running on flat routes. But can it still "make the grade"?

Chiu Ching-hung, head of the railway division at the TFB's Chiayi office, says that the train itself wouldn't have a problem. Instead, the quality of the coal used as fuel is the key issue. He says that the coal used in the past was of high quality and burned hot, so generating the necessary power wasn't a problem. However, Taiwan no longer mines its own coal, and most of the imported coal is made out of compressed coal cinders. It doesn't burn as hot, and it produces a lot of ash.

Chiu says, "Forget about going up the mountain. Even making frequent runs on flat ground would cause pollution along the line. That's why the Chiayi office doesn't let the train make too many runs."

A badge of honor

Yu Chun-jung, head of the Chiayi office, says that the office began to talk about restoring the steam engines several years ago, but cost concerns and environmental issues kept the project on hold. It was only after the restoration of CK101 received such positive reviews that the office invited back the retired master mechanics to restore No. 26 over a five-month period.

Yu says, "Modern environmental laws are strict. The black smoke that steam engines belch out doesn't meet legal standards. For special events, it's not such a problem, but there would probably be protests if we used the engine regularly."

After the restoration of No. 26 was completed, the Chiayi office began planning the restoration of engine No. 31. But Yu is still struggling with the problems of funding.

The public has greeted the restoration of these steam locomotives warmly, but it was several factors operating behind the scenes which made these projects possible. Besides the motivation provided by the nostalgia people feel about the glory days of rail and the willingness of so many retired master technicians to commit themselves to the projects, Wu Yi-han points out that cooperation between the TRA and environmental agencies was also required.

Wu says that in the US, Japan and South Africa, getting steam engines back on the rails has required special permits from environmental authorities which exempt these artifacts from the usual air-pollution regulations. There is a lot of enthusiasm for getting these trains running again in Taiwan, but how it will be done remains to be seen. He suggests careful planning of the preservation of railway artifacts and the creation of a consensus on environmental, budgetary and preservation issues. Wu believes that only in this way can the restoration's momentum be maintained.

Everyone is happy that the old steam engines are running again, but the focus has been entirely on the trains. People have overlooked the true treasures-the master technicians who got the locomotives running again. While we lament the speed at which time flies, who stops to think about the passing of these old hands? Who will carry the torch forward when they are gone?

Wu says that in Japan there is a shop dedicated to the repair of steam engines. When a locomotive comes out of this shop, it is fixed with a memorial plaque listing the names of the mechanics who worked on it. Those who've been involved in the work are thus honored, and this naturally entices many young people to enter the field. In Taiwan, putting aside the question of encouraging youngsters to enter the field, how many people even know about those long-retired mechanics who were willing to come out of retirement to the preserve a piece of Taiwan's railway history?

Can Cloud Rider be restored in time for this year's Railway Day festivities? No one is sure yet. But walk into the sweltering heat of the shop at the Taipei train yard and you'll see those old technicians sweating buckets to meet the demands of their critical role in the project. The "resurrection" of these old locomotives and the preservation of Taiwan's railway history are issues for all generations in Taiwan. Seeing these men giving their all, one can't help but remember the combination of excitement and doubt in the eyes of train buffs watching Cloud Rider be removed from its resting place in New Park in preparation for its restoration.

The master mechanics responsible for Cloud Rider's restoration examine the severity of the engine's corrosion.

The post-restoration trip around Taiwan of CK101, Taiwan's first steam locomotive to be restored, caught the public's eye. The photo shows locomotive testing at the Taipei train yard.

The elderly master mechanics shovel coal into the firebox to test the power and safety of CK101's new boiler.

On Railway Day 1998, a glittering CK101 took the stage. The female attendants standing at the engine's head brought to mind the "Express Train Attendants" of the old days. The job of train attendant was thought to be "fashionable" in much the same way that being a flight attendant was to a later generation.

As CK101 passed through the "green tunnel" of Nantou's Chichi Line, children lined the tracks to cheer it on.

Vertically mounted cylinders and universal joints were the Alishan steam locomotives' secret weapons for climbing the steep mountain line. The photo shows Alishan's engine No.26, restored by the Taiwan Forestry Bureau （TFB） at the beginning of this year.

The Alishan railway was first used to transport lumber. After logging on the mountain was stopped, the railway became a tourist attraction. （courtesy of TFB, Chiayi）

One of the unique features of the Alishan railway is its switchback system, known as the "Alishan wall crasher.".

After the restoration festivities were completed, CK101 was driven to Changhua's roundhouse, which houses both old and new trains. The TRA plans to turn the site into a living museum, collecting and displaying its restored steam engines here.