Welcome Home, New-Beitou Old Station!

During the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan, the Xinbeitou (lit. new Beitou) railway line branch was extended from Beitou Station of Tamsui railway line to meet the demands of local hot spring development and launched its service on April 1, 1916. Meanwhile, Xinbeitou Train Station was established as a doorway for visitors to enjoy hot spring in this area. And that’s how Xinbeitou which is quite a newly growing township in Beitou area then, got its name, just from the name of the railway station. After several expansions and renovations, this only 1.2km long railway branch was eventually incorporated into the Tamsui System of Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) after World War II. In brief, it’s the only remaining train station with more than a hundred years’ history in the TRA Tamsui Line, even in Taipei City.

The design of Xinbeitou Train Station combines traditional Japanese style and western architectural elements resulting from Meiji Reform in Japan. With a black- tile roof and wood-frame structure, the station is characterized by the delicately engraved brackets under the eaves, and the 3-plus-1 dormers, best witness of the expansion due to the rising tourist number in1937. You’ll be extremely surprised to find that the frame of the station is simply made of wooden parts firmly connected by mortise and tenon joint, the most intricate workmanship, without involving any nails.

However, the construction of Taipei Metro System brought an end to the service of TRA Tamsui Line in 1988, so did to the Xinbeitou Train Station. The building of the station was dismantled with all the components patiently numbered and listed in piles of pages. Later on, it was moved to Taiwan Folk Village in Changhwa for permanent exhibition in the following year. Gone the century’s old station!

Along with the preservation of Beitou Hot Spring Museum, the local community here perceived the historic significance of Xinbeitou Train Station and started to voice out their expectation of this precious old station’s homecoming in 1996. After years’ mutual efforts by the locals and Taipei City Government, the present owner agreed to donate the Xinbeitou Train Station building to the Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government in 2003. With a follow-up traffic test conducted by a simulated building, the station stood close to its original site at Qixing Park in the end. It was opened to the public again after a deliberate renovation on April 1, 2017, coincidentally at its centenary almost. Welcome home, my lost station!

There are three sections of exhibitions inside this rebirth station, in addition to the souvenir shop. The highlight is the section displaying the original materials utilized on the station in the old days. The scattered dormer will show you what an extraordinary craftsmanship the mortise and tenon joint was. The stamps printed on the lumbers from the walls were the seals of Taiwan Governor’s office at that time, while the texts such as the lumber’s position on the original log, its size (length, width, height) and content explained the standardization of the forestry development. You will learn more about the background as well as history about Xinbeitou Train Station with all the aids of the new charts, old photos, sound and video records, and the real architectural materials right on display.