Text by Liu Jiawen, compiled and reported
Located in 228 Peace Park, the National Taiwan Museum is showcasing the "Railway Impressions: 1970s" photo exhibition from now until April 15. The exhibit displays over 60 precious images provided by photographers Huang Shumin and Loren Aandahl, documenting key moments in Taiwan’s transportation development during the late 1960s and the critical role railways played in Taiwan’s economic growth during the Ten Major Construction Projects period. Additionally, the exhibition features scale models of diesel locomotives, electric multiple units, commuter cars, and Fu-Hsing Express train cars, as well as cultural relics such as ticket cabinets for hard tickets, uniforms of female attendants, and drivers’ caps.
The National Taiwan Museum is presenting the "Railway Impressions: 1970s" photo exhibition from now until April 15, featuring over 60 precious photos, train models, driver uniforms, and more. (Photo provided by the National Taiwan Museum)
Railway construction has made tremendous contributions to Taiwan’s transportation development. The tunnels and bridges along the railway lines reveal the immense challenges of the engineering projects at the time. The themes of this exhibition include "1970s Western Trunk Line, Steam Locomotives, and Diesel Trains," "1976 Western Trunk Line, Railway Electrification," "1980 Eastern Trunk Line, North-Link Line, Eastward Expansion," and "The Lives of Railway Workers." Spanning from the delivery of R0 and R20 diesel locomotives in 1960—marking the beginning of Taiwan Railways’ diesel era—to the completion of the Eastern Trunk Line expansion project on June 26, 1982, the exhibition comprehensively presents the historical trajectory of Taiwan’s railways in the 1970s and evokes a wave of nostalgia.
This special exhibition fully showcases the history of Taiwan’s railways in the 1970s. This photo shows the uniform of a female attendant during the trial run of the Ju-Feng Express in January 1970. (Photo provided by the National Taiwan Museum)
The photographer behind the images in this exhibition, Huang Shumin, is 93 years old and served as an engineer in the Rolling Stock Department of the Taiwan Railways Administration for 40 years. He used his camera to document the development of Taiwan’s railways, with his works thoroughly capturing the crucial role railways played in Taiwan’s economy during the Ten Major Construction Projects. Loren Aandahl, an American, moved to Taiwan with his parents in 1954. During his train travels across Taiwan with his family, he developed a deep passion for railways and began taking photos of them around the country. Most of the photos he took in high school were in color, a rarity at the time as Taiwan was under martial law and photographing transportation infrastructure was very difficult—black-and-white film was even quite expensive. Therefore, these color photos documenting the height of Taiwan’s transportation development are extremely valuable for both historians and railway enthusiasts.