National Taiwan Museum - Railway Department Park Introduction
The National Historic Site of the Taiwan Governor-General's Railway Department is located between Zhongxiao West Road, Tacheng Street, Zhengzhou Road, and Yanping North Road, under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan Railway Administration. In 1885, Liu Mingchuan, the governor of Taiwan, hired British and German consultants to build a machine bureau at the Tamsui River docks, where weapons, ammunition, and currency were assembled, including a foundry and a blacksmith shop. In 1895, the Japanese military took over the machine bureau, transforming it into the Taipei Army Repair Depot, which manufactured and repaired weapons managed by the army, producing ammunition, fuses, bullets, and components for ships and railway bridges. It was later renamed the Taiwan Artillery Factory, and in 1900 it was handed over to the Railway Department by the Army Ministry, becoming the Taipei Factory that same year. With the opening of the West Taiwan Main Line in 1908, railway transportation capacity and vehicle maintenance demand surged, leading to the expansion of the Taipei Factory eastward in 1909 and the construction of new vehicle repair and painting shops. From 1915 onward, the original buildings in the southern part of the base were demolished, and in 1918, a new railway department office was built, coexisting with the Taipei Factory, with configurations of the South Office and North Factory until the Taipei Factory moved to Songshan (now the designated historic site Taipei Machine Factory) in 1934. The street block originally had nearly forty buildings, but after the construction of the MRT in 2005 and the demolition of non-preserved structures during the historic site renovation in 2013, only ten remain, including eight designated cultural assets: the Railway Department, dining hall, octagonal building men's restroom, power room, engineering room, wartime command center, remnants of the Qing dynasty machine bureau, and the Taipei Factory (outside the Railway Department precinct). After the war, the Railway Department was renamed the Taiwan Railway Administration. Due to urban planning, Tacheng Street was opened in 1967, severing the connection with the western Railway Department official residence group and forming the current street block. In 1992, the Taipei City Government designated the Railway Department office as a Level 3 historic site, and in 1993, the Taiwan Railways Administration relocated to the new building at Taipei Station. In 2005, the Council for Cultural Affairs commissioned Tunghai University and Chung Yuan Christian University to conduct a historic site survey and reuse plan. In 2006, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Taiwan Railway Administration, the Council for Cultural Affairs, and the National Taiwan Museum signed an alliance agreement for the Taiwan Museum System, officially commencing the restoration and reuse of the Railway Department historic site, based on the concept of the "Railway Department Museum Park," aimed at creating a modern exhibition-themed complex that integrates surrounding urban and historical contexts. In 2007, it was designated a national historic site by the Council for Cultural Affairs, including the octagonal building, dining hall, power room, engineering room, and wartime command center as part of the historic site, while the Taipei Factory and remnants of the Qing dynasty machine bureau were designated as municipal historic sites by Taipei City in 2008 and 2010, respectively. From 2009 onward, the National Taiwan Museum has managed the land and buildings in this area. The planned railway museum display themes will primarily focus on issues related to the historic site and its foundation, railway culture, and modernity, and will also involve the integration of the E1E2 street block within the original machine bureau factory area on the west side. (Source: National Taiwan Museum)
