Taiping Mountain Forest Railway

The Taiping Mountain Forest Railway was commissioned in 1920 and connected to the Luodong Forest Railway in 1924. No regular passenger services have been provided since 1979, but a short section of the track was used for a sightseeing train. Since commercial forestry has been phased out on Taiping Mountain, the area is used for sightseeing and recreation.[3]

In 2012, due to damage caused by a typhoon, the sightseeing train was taken out of use. On 19 September 2018, the operation was officially resumed on a 3 km-long section of the track. Eight trips per day are available between Tài Píng Shān-sho station and Shigeru station at intervals of 30 minutes. Each one-way trip takes 20 minutes.[4]

Maosing Reminiscent Trail

The 1.5 km (nearly 1 mile)-long Maosing Reminiscent Trail (茂興懷舊步道, closed) starts at the platform of Maosing Railway Station. It runs at a height of 1.870 m to 1.950 m above sea level on the disused railway track, and has thus only a relatively small gradient. There are state-of-the-art facilities providing recreation and information boards about history, natural resources, and geology.[5]

Remains of a wooden trestle bridge

The Maosing Reminiscent Trail provides a combination of both heritage and riskless ecotourism. Most of the railway sleepers are rotten, but a majority of the rails are still in good order; the rails are left in place and the railway sleepers covered in gravel to provide an attractive footpath. The bulk of the trestle bridges has collapsed or deteriorated. Thus, some of them have been repaired, some of them left as historic ruins, and others have had to be removed and replaced by modern suspension bridges. The Maosing Reminiscent Trail is consequently a safe and comfortable footpath, while it takes care of the environment and the preservation of the historic trestle bridges.[5]

The Jancing Historic Trail (見晴懷古步道)[6] was installed on a section of the former Jancing Forest Railway and originally had a total length of 2.35 km (1.4 miles). Since a landslide occurred, only 0.9 km (0.5 miles) are publicly accessible. The former Jancing Forest Railway was approximately 5.5 km (3.4 miles) long and provides access to the natural and cultural heritage along the old railway track. The remaining rails, trolleys, and bogies are a reminder of long-gone times of the lumber industry.[7]