Beimen Station Introduction
Beimen Station is the former starting point of the Forest Railway steam train and a distribution center for cargo of the Alishan Railway. All supplies for the Alishan Railway are transported up the mountain from here, making it an important location. The Alishan Forest Railway is one of the world's celebrated mountain railways, possessing a unique charm. Beimen Station, constructed from Taiwan's Redwood, was completed before the full line of the Alishan Railway was opened in 1912. After the new station was built twenty years ago, the old Beimen station was repurposed as an office for train car maintenance staff. The station covers an area of about 28 ping, mainly divided into an office, ticket counter, and waiting room. The Alishan Forest Railway is internationally known for its rare characteristics such as the "spiral railway," "Z-shaped ascent," and "62.5 per thousand gradient." Beimen Station serves as the starting station of the Alishan Railway, with its structure entirely built from high-quality red cypress from Alishan, featuring a classical and simple design. During the Japanese occupation, forestry development was the most important economic source, and nearby Beimen Station were established forestry offices, wood storage pools, sawmills, train repair shops, and forestry clubs, making the timber industry fully functional. Beimen Station became the distribution center for logging in Alishan, holding significant status. Before the war, it was operated by the Taiwan Colonization Company and was later transferred to the Forestry Bureau. In October of the 62nd year of the Republic, the new Beimen Station was completed and put into use, effectively retiring the old station. The Alishan Forest Railway transported timber down to Beimen Station, generating a bustling environment with lumber yards, timber businesses, sawmills, and processing factories, attracting both northbound and southbound timber merchants, along with opportunities for hotels, restaurants, and theaters, leading to a rapid population increase and a vigorous freight industry. The Alishan Forest Railway, one of only three remaining mountain railways in the world, possesses its unique charm. Though the old station lost its function in March of the 63rd year of the Republic due to the construction of the new station, its simple appearance and facilities hold significant cultural asset value, and the Chiayi City Government has designated it as a city historic site. Beimen Station is designed in a Japanese style as a wooden station, with a building area of 95.15 square meters, primarily divided into a ticket counter, waiting room, and office. It is currently planned to be a railway cultural exhibit hall, with public art installations such as the "Calling Landmark," "Time Space Corridor," and "Ecological Art Wall" set up in the square in front of the station and its surroundings, aimed at fostering a collective consciousness of railway culture.
