The “Railway Branch Road Park” in Puzi City, Chiayi County, is a strip park that was planned by the Chiayi County Government and Puzi City, stretching 1,250 meters in length. Part of this stretch was originally a dump during the Japanese colonial era; it was not until 1911 that it was built into a narrow-gauge railway that ran from the Suan Tou Sugar Factory, transporting sugar cane and people. When the entire Taiwan Sugar Corporation railway network opened, the line also carried freight, coastal catch, agricultural products from the Chiayi–Tainan plain, and more, entering Chiayi City and extending its arterial influence across Taiwan. It involved almost every aspect of agriculture and industry at the time and can be said to be a key contributor to Taiwan’s economic takeoff. Only in the early 1960s, after reducing passenger, freight, and passenger train sections, did the narrow-gauge train change direction to head west to Puzi as its terminus. From then on, the section west of Puzi Train Station to Port Quay Road was used solely for transporting sugar. It was not until March 1999 that the narrow-gauge train finally entered history, after which the Suan Tou Sugar Factory was dismantled and retired from service.
After its removal, the railway lost its tracks and ties, as well as its functional value, and was left idle and desolate. It later became an area where locals arbitrarily cleared land for farming or dumped garbage and abandoned furniture, resulting in environmental pollution that was intolerable. Only after a Chiayi County cleanup project did it transform into the current beautiful “Puzi Railway Branch Road Park.” Along this lovely park, a comprehensive greening project was carried out: besides the 1‑kilometer‑plus strip of boulevard trees, the area now features extensive planting, artificial paths, cool chairs, nighttime lighting, and other facilities. The project was officially completed in September 2004. The beautified Railway Branch Road Park not only allows Puzi residents to reminisce about the unforgettable nostalgia of chasing the narrow-gauge train that once pulled sugarcane but also serves as an important local recreational and tourism destination.