Miaoli Depot in the Age of Steam

This is the DT560 class, photographed from a passing train. It is a 9600 class built by ALCO (American Locomotive Company). The train I was on was a reserved-seat train without a specific name, known as "Taihao Te Kuai". Since the train didn't slow down, the image is blurry.

Although there are locomotives with similar specifications in Japan, there is no exact equivalent to the CK100 class. Eight units were built by the Kisha Seizo Company between 1917 and 1919 and were in operation until 1974. It was restored in 1998 as the first operational preservation locomotive by the Taiwan Railway Administration but is now in static preservation at Changhua Depot.

CT254 was originally designated C554 during the Japanese era and was built by Mitsubishi in 1935. On the water tower to the right, the slogan "Jing Cheng Tuan Jie" (Dedication through Unity) is written. This kind of phrase was commonly used in military or organizational settings.

CT276 was formerly C576 during the Japanese era, manufactured by Kawasaki Rolling Stock in 1943. Units up to 6 were built before the war and designated C57 by the Taiwan Governor-General's Railway Bureau. CT277 and later were built after the war and sent to Taiwan as CT270 class from the start. The last unit, CT284, built in 1953, was the final JNR-type steam locomotive manufactured.

DT671 was formerly D5121 during the Japanese era, built by Kisha Seizo in 1942. In Taiwan, it retained the D51 classification and was renamed DT650 after the war. The foreground is filled neatly with coal.

The building in the background remains unchanged and is still used as the Cultural Heritage Museum of the Miaoli Railway Park.

Electrification of Taiwan’s Western Trunk Line began in 1977. A warning sign, similar to "Caution: Overhead Wire" in Japan, reading "Danger: High Voltage Overhead Wire Present" is displayed on the deflector of DT671. Miaoli was electrified in October 1987, and the steep grades of the mountain line were replaced by a new route in 1998.

The coal storage area had a fence-like structure embedded with stones and was so long that, when seen from the tracks, it looked as though there were multiple layers—an impressive sight.

The single-story building next to the Cultural Heritage Museum of the Miaoli Railway Park still remains today. I fondly remember being offered a leftover lunch by a staff member inside this building during my visit in 2000.

This manually operated turntable was located at the southern end of the Miaoli Depot and still exists today at the same site in the Miaoli Railway Park. Although I never saw a locomotive turning here, I did witness a 140-ton Mikasa class locomotive turned by two men in Gyeongju, South Korea. Since the C55 and C57 classes in Taiwan weigh around 110 tons, it may be surprisingly easy to rotate them manually as well.

This is CT256 departing as a helper locomotive. CT256 is the same type as the C55 class and was also designated C55 during the Japanese era. It was built by Mitsubishi in 1938. While only two Mitsubishi-built C55s existed in Japan, all nine units of the same type in Taiwan were manufactured by Mitsubishi.

This train was pulled by a diesel locomotive, with CT256 coupled at the rear as a helper. The section of the Western Trunk Line between Zhunan and Changhua is divided into mountain and coastal lines. Since the mountain line goes through Taichung, many express trains operated via the mountain line then and still do. Helper operations between Miaoli and Taichung were discontinued after electrification was completed in October 1978.