Steam Locomotives
The steam locomotive was the main transportation in Taiwan from 1887 to 1979. At present, only 4 locomotives are still operating regularly. Among them three locomotives, CK101, CK124 and DT668, are housed in Changhua. They only perform on important celebrating occassions.
You may find there some letters and numbers on the front part of locomotives. What do they mean?
Take "CK101" for example:
"C" means the locomotive has 3 driven wheels.
"K" means the locomotive has the water tank and better view in the front and back when operating in reverse direction.
It is mostly used for branch railway lines.
"101" is the serial number of that type of locomotives,
so "CK101" is the first one of Type CK100.
Locomotives are categorized and each category is marked with a different English letter. For example:
- D: Locomotive with 4 driven wheels.
- E: Electric locomotive.
- T: Tender locomotive suitable for long-distance trunk in high speed but not suitable for two-way driving for the disadvantage of visional field.
- R: Locomotive driven on the main line.
Something you may like to know
About steam locomotive
- Steam locomotives were called as "iron horse" before.
- Coal, fuel, and water are essential to operating a steam locomotive.
- Locomotives are powered by burning some combustible material, usually coal, or petroleum, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine.
- Steam locomotives should get fueled after a certain kilometers of driving, so six roundhouses were set up at golden age in Taiwan.
The steam locomotives preserved in Changhua Roundhouse
CK101 is the first steam locomotive successfully restored to service in Taiwan.
CK101
Type: Tank steam locomotive
Number: 8 (CK101～CK108)
Year of manufacture: 1917
Country of manufacture: Japan
Weight: 50 tons
Speed limit: 75km/h
Operated between Keelung and ShuangXi, for passengers and freights.
Scrapped in 1979
Re-operated in 1998
CK124, nicknamed “Lady”, leads the role of nostalgic activities.
CK124
Type: Tank steam locomotive
Number: 7 (CK121～CK127)
Year of manufacture: 1936
Country of manufacture: Japan
Weight: 51 tons
Speed limit: 85km/h
Operated for Jiji Railway Line, for passengers
Scrapped in 1979
Re-operated in 2001
Source: lapinot1
DT668 has 4 driven wheels and is called “ King of steam locomotives” because of its high energetic efficiency.
DT668
Type: High-pressure steam
locomotive
Number: 37 (DT651～DT687)
Year of manufacture: 1941
Country of manufacture: Japan
Weight: 124 tons
Speed limit: 85km/h
Operated for Taiwan Railway Line, for passengers and freights
Scrapped in 1981
Re-operated in 2012
Source: Seirayc
Words are adopted from: Fan, Yu-Jay and others. Tour guide book on Changhua County-Designated Heritages: Changhua Roundhouse. Changhua: Changhua County Government, 2011.
What do the madarin phonetic symbols ”ㄇㄕㄔ” mean?
It is the locomotive code.
“ㄇ”means “coal” and “ㄕ” means “water”, while ” ㄇㄕㄔ” means the locomotive has the storage of coal and water. It is technical mark of railways in Taiwan.
Source: Changhua Cool-Bow
