Taiwan No. 1 Steam Locomotive “Teng-yun”

Liu Ming-chuan, the Qing dynasty governor of Taiwan, established the All-Taiwan Railway Commercial Bureau in 1887 (Meiji 20 / Guangxu 13) and began railway construction. For the Keelung–Taipei (Dadaocheng) section, which opened in 1891, two steam locomotives built in 1887 were purchased from Hohenzollern of Germany. They arrived in Taiwan the following year and were named Teng-yun No. 1 and Yu-feng No. 2. Their original chimneys were of the straight type, but in 1906 (Meiji 39) they were rebuilt with diamond stacks, which considerably changed their appearance. After the first section opened, the railway was extended further, reaching Hsinchu in 1893 (Meiji 26). These locomotives were used for railway construction, train haulage, and shunting until 1924 (Taisho 13). They were later preserved and displayed in Taipei New Park, now 228 Peace Memorial Park, and the locomotive is still exhibited today under the name Teng-yun. However, markings on parts such as the coupling rods have been reported as indicating Yu-feng, and there are differing views as to whether the preserved locomotive is actually Teng-yun or Yu-feng. Foreign engineers were also employed for the railway works; in addition to British engineers, the German engineer Becker took part in route and construction planning. His involvement may have been one reason why German-built locomotives were selected. There was once a theory that these locomotives had been transferred to Taiwan from the Woosung Railway (Shanghai–Woosung). This idea had been believed since the early Japanese colonial period, partly because the Woosung Railway was often described as the first railway operated in China. If its locomotives had been moved to Taiwan, the origins of Taiwan’s railways could have been presented as part of a symbolic narrative linked to the beginning of Chinese railway history. In reality, the two railways had different gauges, 762 mm and 1,067 mm respectively, and the manufacturing dates also make it difficult to sustain the claim that the same locomotives were simply reused. Today, this explanation is regarded as erroneous.