Alishan Forest Railway Garage Area Introduction
Chiayi Depot Park, formerly known as "Beimen Repair Shop" during the Japanese colonial period, was originally located at the Beimen Mechanic Depot when the平地段 section opened in October 1910. With the ongoing construction of the railway, it officially began operations in 1912 (the first year of the Taisho era), primarily working on the construction and repair of various locomotives, passenger cars, and freight cars for the Alishan Railway, boasting nearly a century of history. Since the opening of the Alishan line, the repair shop has been a major maintenance hub. Although the trains were originally purchased from the United States, Beimen Repair Shop had a staff of about one to two hundred skilled workers who excelled at maintenance, modifications, and fabrication. They created replacement parts by hand and produced their own external boilers and steam engines. The cypress wood carriages from Alishan are also among the classic masterpieces of the repair shop, and many valuable retired Alishan trains are currently preserved at Beimen Repair Shop. On August 23, 1993, a fire destroyed the wooden buildings of the Beimen Repair Shop, consuming some old trains. Today, part of the repair shop's facilities has been modernized, and a few valuable vehicles are kept in the garage for preservation. To allow the public to visit this historically significant site, it was renamed Chiayi Depot Park in 2005. Chiayi Depot Park serves as the base for the Alishan Forest Railway trains and is a large eco-park for train enthusiasts, where visitors can closely examine various retired steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, power cars, and passenger-freight cars from the Alishan Forest Railway, including the cypress wood carriage used by the Crown Prince of Japan during his visit to Alishan, offering a glimpse into a century of Alishan railway history.
