National Taiwan Museum - Railway Department Park Introduction
The National Historic Site of the Taiwan Governor's Office Railway Department is located between Zhongxiao West Road, Tacheng Street, Zhengzhou Road, and Yanping North Road, under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan Railways Administration. In 1885, Liu Ming-chuan, the Governor of Taiwan, invited British and German advisors to build a machinery bureau at the Tamsui River wharf for assembling munitions and minting currency, which included a foundry and forge. In 1895, the Japanese military took over the machinery bureau, converting it into the Taipei Arsenal to manufacture and repair weapons under army jurisdiction, capable of producing projectiles, fuses, small arms ammunition, and explosives, as well as marine vessels and railway iron bridges. It was later renamed the Taiwan Artillery Factory, and in 1900 it was transferred from the Ministry of the Army to the Railway Department, becoming the Taipei Factory in the same year. The Western Cross-Island Railway in Taiwan opened in 1908, increasing railway transport volume and vehicle maintenance demand. In 1909, the Taipei Factory expanded eastward, constructing new vehicle repair and painting facilities. Starting in 1915, buildings on the southern side of the site were demolished, and in 1918, a new Railway Department office building was completed, coexisting with the Taipei Factory, forming the South Office and North Factory layout until the Taipei Factory moved to Songshan (now the Taipei Machine Factory National Historic Site) in 1934. Originally, nearly forty buildings existed within the block; however, due to the construction of the MRT in 2005 and the demolition of non-preserved sites during the restoration work in 2013, only ten buildings remain, including eight legal cultural assets: the Railway Department, the canteen, the octagonal men's restroom, the power room, the engineering office, the wartime command center, the remnants of the machinery bureau from the Qing Dynasty, and the Taipei Factory (which is outside the Railway Department's park area). After the war, the Railway Department became the Taiwan Railway Administration. The urban planning that opened Tacheng Street in 1967 severed the connection with the official dormitories on the west side, forming the block as it is seen today. In 1992, the Taipei City Government designated the Railway Department building as a third-class historic site, and in 1993, the Taiwan Railways Administration relocated to a new building at Taipei Station. In 2005, the Council for Cultural Affairs commissioned National Chung Hsing University and Chung Yuan Christian University to conduct a historic site investigation and reuse planning study. In 2006, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications signed an alliance agreement with the Taiwan Railway Administration, as well as the Council for Cultural Affairs and the National Taiwan Museum, officially commencing the restoration and reuse work of the Railway Department historic site, with the foundational concept of "Railway Department Museum Park." The goal is to establish a multifunctional park featuring modern exhibition themes while integrating surrounding urban and historical contexts. In 2007, it was designated a national historic site, encompassing the Octagonal Pavilion, canteen, power room, engineering office, and wartime command center as part of the historic site, while the Taipei Factory and the relics of the Qing Dynasty machinery bureau were designated as municipal historic sites in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Starting in 2009, the National Taiwan Museum managed the land and buildings in this area. The planned exhibition themes for the Railway Museum will mainly focus on issues related to the historic site and base, railway culture, and modernity, and will also address the integration of the block within the former machinery bureau factory area E1E2 on the west side. (Source: National Taiwan Museum)
