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National Taiwan Museum_Railway Bureau District
The National Cultural Asset site of the Railway Department of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office is located among Zhongxiao West Road, Tacheng Street, Zhengzhou Road, and Yanping North Road, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation's Taiwan Railway Administration. In 1884, the Taiwan Governor Liu Mingchuan employed British and German consultants to construct the Machinery Bureau at the harbor of Dajia (Dahsing), assembling weaponry, assembling firearms and ammunition, coin-minting, and facilities like iron-melting furnaces, smithing workshops. In 1895, after the Japanese military took over the Machinery Bureau, it was renamed the Taipei Armaments Repair Workshop, manufacturing and maintaining army weaponry. It produced shells, fuses, cannonballs, powder cartridges, boats, and bridges. Later renamed the Taiwan Artillery Factory in 1900, it was transferred from the Army Bureau to the Railway Department the same year. In 1908, the trans-island railway on Taiwan's west coast was completed, significantly increasing railway freight and vehicle maintenance needs. In 1909, the Taipei Workshop expanded eastward, constructing new workshops for vehicle maintenance and painting. From 1915 onward, buildings on the southern side of the site were demolished. By 1918, the Railway Department complex was completed and coexisted with the Taipei Workshop, forming the southern administrative complex and northern industrial area configuration. This continued until 1934, when the Taipei Workshop relocated to Songshan (currently the National Cultural Asset, Taipei Locomotive Workshop). Originally, nearly forty buildings occupied the site, but due to the 2005 Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) construction and the 2013 restoration involving demolishing non-preserved structures, only ten buildings remain today, including eight designated cultural heritage sites.
1. Railway Department complex. The first phase of the Railway Department complex was completed in May 1918, replacing the Qing-era Machinery Bureau's four-structure administrative building used previously. Constructed with brick and wood, its corridor floors used reinforced iron concrete tracks. Two tower buildings created a main entrance, and the first floor featured an arched design along a corner. Classical columns were arranged on both sides, while the second floor had a two-meter-overhanging balcony supported by dual columns. A sloping roof with large老虎 windows and a curved ceiling with columns marked the central atrium. Wooden spiral stairs led to the second floor. Numerous ceilings and walls had stucco reliefs, and the rare elliptical ceiling design inTaiwan was a distinct feature.
2. Canteen. This complex comprises the staff canteen and the managerial accounting office. The staff canteen, built in 1932 as a two-story Western-style wooden building, had no confirmed designer. It was likely designed by the Railway Department's construction section or borrowed the architect Liu Tan Takaray from the Governor-General's Department of Works. Constructed by Kunita Rokuro. The managerial accounting office, constructed in 1941 as a similarly two-story wooden structure, had unknown designers and builders. Corridors and staircases connected it to the administrative complex and canteen. Metal truss frames were finely crafted. Wooden components reused materials from scrapped buildings. The ceiling and beams featured a textured British-style finish, and the first floor's walls were distinguished by mosaic German rainproof boards.
3. Octagonal Pavilion Men's Latrine. Built in 1919, this single-story masonry neoclassical style building features a tile-roofed structure. Since staff was predominantly male, only men's urinals were installed. The main structural column is a central reinforced concrete hollow octagonal column with an upper ventilation shaft connected via eight reinforced concrete beams projecting outward like an umbrella. Eight urinals encircled the octagonal column, while four stalls were evenly placed at corners of the octagon. Outdoors, a waste pit was conveniently positioned behind. The exterior walls used stone-paint techniques with segmented wall lines, mimicking the classical masonry style.
4. Power Station. Constructed before 1925 as a single-story electrical facility, potentially for mechanical power generation or as an electrical storage facility. Expanded through multiple additions and shaped in a unique zigzag plan to align with the southern administrative complex and northern industrial site. Constructed with load-bearing brick walls reinforced by buttress columns and a wooden truss roof. The roof was equipped with a so-called "Taisan" (Taisan-style) air vent for heat dissipation.
5. Construction Office. Likely constructed after 1934 when the Taipei Workshop relocated. A single-story Western-style wooden building with approximately 44 meters in length, the facade had windows covering 80% of the wall to emphasize indoor lighting. Originally housed the Construction Section's administrative unit and Improvement Section office. After three renovations, the lowest part included an anti-termites reinforced concrete foundation, rainproof boards, stuccoed walls, and doors. The four-pitched roof was covered with tile shingles.
6. War Command Center. Located in the north-western corner of the site, built in 1943 by Takehira Hidenori, a technician in the Railway Department's construction section. Constructed with reinforced concrete as two levels: the upper level protruded about 7 meters from ground (cone-shaped for shell protection), with an external anti-blast wall added post-1949 Chinese Civil War. The inner entrance had a blast-resistant steel door, while the lower level was underground. Interior walls displayed a detailed map of Taiwan's railway network including stations, bridges, rivers, and tunnels, connected to ground-level vents.
7. Qing Dynasty Machinery Bureau Ruins. Discovered during MRT construction in 2006, these stone walls exceed two meters in height with a sandwiched construction of stacked stones on either side and filled with clay and gravel in the middle. During trial excavations at about 60 cm below ground, a stone-pathway was revealed, with horizontal stone slabs laid every 50+ cm, matching the width of city walls. This matched the stone path depicted in historic photos, a structure from Liu Mingchuan's Westernization initiatives.
8. Taipei Workshop (outside the Railway Department complex). Originally the Vehicle Maintenance Workshop, built in 1909, spanning 24 meters wide. Its southern side faced the factory while its northern side overlooked Dadaocheng. Decorative turrets and gable ends emphasized the neoclassical style. A "Taisan" ventilation shaft followed a curved gable section. Six load-bearing brick arches along the east and west provided six arched gates for six railway tracks. The roof spanned 17 meters using converted European scrap railway tracks with riveted connectors, originally used at the Dadaocheng Railway Station. Galvanized sheet metal tiles covered the roof. Post-war converted to a TRA auditorium, the southern entrance removed an original gabled wooden entrance hall, adding a classical pedimented arched portico. The "Taisan" tower and curved gable were replaced by triangular gables. When the underground railway expanded Civic Boulevard, northern twin turrets and two arch entrances were demolished. After the MRT Songshan line was planned to pass through below the auditorium, the MRT Authority purchased land from the TRA for demolition. Experts identified the building as symbolizing TRA employees' shared memories. The MRT Authority permitted documentation, revealing original workshop floors of gravel and concrete embedded with some preserved concrete slabs.
Post-war renamed the Taiwan Railway Administration. In 1967, Tacheng Street opened under the urban plan, cutting the linkage with the western staff quarters. In 1992, the Taipei City Government designated the Railway Department complex as a third-level historic site. In 1993, the TRA headquarters relocated to the new Taipei Station. In 2005, the Council for Cultural Affairs commissioned Tamkang University and China University to study and redevelop the site. In 2006, the Ministry of Transportation, TRA, Council for Cultural Affairs, and the National Museum of Prehistory signed an alliance for restoration. The railway department's restoration under the "Railway Department Museum Park" concept aims to establish a modern multifunctional historical site while integrating surrounding urban and historical elements. In 2007, the site was upgraded to a National Cultural Asset, encompassing the Octagonal Pavilion, staff canteen, power station, construction office, and wartime command center. The Taipei Workshop and Qing-era Machinery Bureau ruins were designated city-level heritage by Taipei in 2008 and 2010 respectively. Since 2009, the National Museum of Prehistory administers the area. Future Railway Museum exhibits will center on the interaction of heritage, the site, railway culture, and modernity, eventually incorporating the adjacent E1 and E2 plot from the original Machinery Bureau factory.
(Source: National Museum of Prehistory, Taiwan)
1. Railway Department complex. The first phase of the Railway Department complex was completed in May 1918, replacing the Qing-era Machinery Bureau's four-structure administrative building used previously. Constructed with brick and wood, its corridor floors used reinforced iron concrete tracks. Two tower buildings created a main entrance, and the first floor featured an arched design along a corner. Classical columns were arranged on both sides, while the second floor had a two-meter-overhanging balcony supported by dual columns. A sloping roof with large老虎 windows and a curved ceiling with columns marked the central atrium. Wooden spiral stairs led to the second floor. Numerous ceilings and walls had stucco reliefs, and the rare elliptical ceiling design inTaiwan was a distinct feature.
2. Canteen. This complex comprises the staff canteen and the managerial accounting office. The staff canteen, built in 1932 as a two-story Western-style wooden building, had no confirmed designer. It was likely designed by the Railway Department's construction section or borrowed the architect Liu Tan Takaray from the Governor-General's Department of Works. Constructed by Kunita Rokuro. The managerial accounting office, constructed in 1941 as a similarly two-story wooden structure, had unknown designers and builders. Corridors and staircases connected it to the administrative complex and canteen. Metal truss frames were finely crafted. Wooden components reused materials from scrapped buildings. The ceiling and beams featured a textured British-style finish, and the first floor's walls were distinguished by mosaic German rainproof boards.
3. Octagonal Pavilion Men's Latrine. Built in 1919, this single-story masonry neoclassical style building features a tile-roofed structure. Since staff was predominantly male, only men's urinals were installed. The main structural column is a central reinforced concrete hollow octagonal column with an upper ventilation shaft connected via eight reinforced concrete beams projecting outward like an umbrella. Eight urinals encircled the octagonal column, while four stalls were evenly placed at corners of the octagon. Outdoors, a waste pit was conveniently positioned behind. The exterior walls used stone-paint techniques with segmented wall lines, mimicking the classical masonry style.
4. Power Station. Constructed before 1925 as a single-story electrical facility, potentially for mechanical power generation or as an electrical storage facility. Expanded through multiple additions and shaped in a unique zigzag plan to align with the southern administrative complex and northern industrial site. Constructed with load-bearing brick walls reinforced by buttress columns and a wooden truss roof. The roof was equipped with a so-called "Taisan" (Taisan-style) air vent for heat dissipation.
5. Construction Office. Likely constructed after 1934 when the Taipei Workshop relocated. A single-story Western-style wooden building with approximately 44 meters in length, the facade had windows covering 80% of the wall to emphasize indoor lighting. Originally housed the Construction Section's administrative unit and Improvement Section office. After three renovations, the lowest part included an anti-termites reinforced concrete foundation, rainproof boards, stuccoed walls, and doors. The four-pitched roof was covered with tile shingles.
6. War Command Center. Located in the north-western corner of the site, built in 1943 by Takehira Hidenori, a technician in the Railway Department's construction section. Constructed with reinforced concrete as two levels: the upper level protruded about 7 meters from ground (cone-shaped for shell protection), with an external anti-blast wall added post-1949 Chinese Civil War. The inner entrance had a blast-resistant steel door, while the lower level was underground. Interior walls displayed a detailed map of Taiwan's railway network including stations, bridges, rivers, and tunnels, connected to ground-level vents.
7. Qing Dynasty Machinery Bureau Ruins. Discovered during MRT construction in 2006, these stone walls exceed two meters in height with a sandwiched construction of stacked stones on either side and filled with clay and gravel in the middle. During trial excavations at about 60 cm below ground, a stone-pathway was revealed, with horizontal stone slabs laid every 50+ cm, matching the width of city walls. This matched the stone path depicted in historic photos, a structure from Liu Mingchuan's Westernization initiatives.
8. Taipei Workshop (outside the Railway Department complex). Originally the Vehicle Maintenance Workshop, built in 1909, spanning 24 meters wide. Its southern side faced the factory while its northern side overlooked Dadaocheng. Decorative turrets and gable ends emphasized the neoclassical style. A "Taisan" ventilation shaft followed a curved gable section. Six load-bearing brick arches along the east and west provided six arched gates for six railway tracks. The roof spanned 17 meters using converted European scrap railway tracks with riveted connectors, originally used at the Dadaocheng Railway Station. Galvanized sheet metal tiles covered the roof. Post-war converted to a TRA auditorium, the southern entrance removed an original gabled wooden entrance hall, adding a classical pedimented arched portico. The "Taisan" tower and curved gable were replaced by triangular gables. When the underground railway expanded Civic Boulevard, northern twin turrets and two arch entrances were demolished. After the MRT Songshan line was planned to pass through below the auditorium, the MRT Authority purchased land from the TRA for demolition. Experts identified the building as symbolizing TRA employees' shared memories. The MRT Authority permitted documentation, revealing original workshop floors of gravel and concrete embedded with some preserved concrete slabs.
Post-war renamed the Taiwan Railway Administration. In 1967, Tacheng Street opened under the urban plan, cutting the linkage with the western staff quarters. In 1992, the Taipei City Government designated the Railway Department complex as a third-level historic site. In 1993, the TRA headquarters relocated to the new Taipei Station. In 2005, the Council for Cultural Affairs commissioned Tamkang University and China University to study and redevelop the site. In 2006, the Ministry of Transportation, TRA, Council for Cultural Affairs, and the National Museum of Prehistory signed an alliance for restoration. The railway department's restoration under the "Railway Department Museum Park" concept aims to establish a modern multifunctional historical site while integrating surrounding urban and historical elements. In 2007, the site was upgraded to a National Cultural Asset, encompassing the Octagonal Pavilion, staff canteen, power station, construction office, and wartime command center. The Taipei Workshop and Qing-era Machinery Bureau ruins were designated city-level heritage by Taipei in 2008 and 2010 respectively. Since 2009, the National Museum of Prehistory administers the area. Future Railway Museum exhibits will center on the interaction of heritage, the site, railway culture, and modernity, eventually incorporating the adjacent E1 and E2 plot from the original Machinery Bureau factory.
(Source: National Museum of Prehistory, Taiwan)
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