The 106-year-old mountain railway you’ve never heard of

As a red and cream-colored train chugs up the Alishan mountains of Taiwan, hikers and villagers stop and wave at the passengers on board.

It feels like an adventure, harking back to a time when train travel was new and exciting.

And in a way, it is.

The train has embarked on one of the newly introduced cruise-style tours on the century-old Alishan Forest Railway, a network of 71.4 kilometers (44.4 miles) of narrow-gauge rail lines in central Taiwan’s Alishan mountain range.

Former Japanese logging railway

Completed in 1912 under the Japanese occupation, the Alishan Forest Railway was used to transport now-endangered Taiwan cypress trees from Alishan. After logging was banned, it lived on as the only passenger train to ride up the mountains.

Today, it remains one of the world’s most historic and beautiful mountain railways.

Running between Chiayi city at an elevation of 30 meters (98.4 feet) to Chushan at 2,451 meters (8,041 feet) — the highest train station in Taiwan — the Alishan Forest Railway offers diverse natural scenery.

It’s the highest narrow-gauge mountain railway in Asia — higher than the famed Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, which ascends from 100 meters to 2,200 meters.

Best of all, many aspects of Alishan rail network remain as they were 100 years ago. The railroad ties are still made of solid wood and drivers have to get off the train and manually switch the track direction.

“It feels more human, unlike the cold and automated modern machines,” says Liao Yuan-chiao, an Alishan train captain.

A rail enthusiast, Liao left his job as a lecturer six years ago to work as a train assistant at the Alishan Forest Railway.

“I like railways because I love the low noise from a diesel train motor — you can hear the changes in the sounds when the machine changes its speed. It sounds alive.

“Luckily, Alishan Forest Railway hasn’t been replaced by electric trains,” Liao adds. “It’s totally my paradise.”