The Alishan Forest Railway (阿里山森林鐵路) is an 86 km network of narrow gauge (762 mm) railways running up to and throughout the popular mountain resort of Alishan in Chiayi County, Taiwan. The narrow gauge lines were originally constructed by the Japanese Colonial Government in 1912 to facilitate the logging of cypress and Taiwania wood, however today the line caters mostly to tourists. Narrow-gauge railways are railroads (railways) with track spaced at less than the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 in (1. ... The Alishan National Scenic Area (阿里山國家風景區) is a mountain resort and natural preserve located in the mountains of Taiwans Chiayi County. ... Chiayi County (嘉義縣, pinyin: Jiāyì Xiàn) is a county in southwestern Taiwan encompassing Chiayi City and administered as part of Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. ... 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ... Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the conifer family Cupressaceae (cypress family). ... Binomial name Taiwania cryptomerioides Taiwania (Taiwania cryptomerioides) is a large coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, formerly listed in the segregate family Taxodiaceae. ...

Unlike the national rail system administered by the Taiwan Railway Administration, the Alishan railway is managed by the Forestry Bureau. The Taiwan Railway Administration (台灣鐵路管理局, a. ...

Lines

The main line runs from the city of Chiayi (elevation 30 m), to the final station of Alishan (elevation 2216 m). The vegetation along the way changes from tropical to temperate and finally alpine. Chiayi City (嘉義市, pinyin: Jiāyì Shì, Taiwanese: Ka-gī chhī) is a city in Southwestern Taiwan. ... The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... For the climate of the mountains named the Alps, see climate) for a region above the tree-line. ...

• Main Line

Chiayi (嘉義) - Alishan (阿里山)

Includes several steep gradients (max. 6.26%), and four switchbacks; longest line with most dramatic climate change.

• Zhushan Line

Alishan (阿里山) - Zhushan (祝山)

Early morning trains, popular for viewing the sunrise over Jade Mountain (玉山).

• Meinyue Line

Alishan (阿里山) - The Stone Monkey (石猴)

Closed due to earthquake damage.

A nearly 180-degree turn in a road, trail, or ramp is called a hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or, if in a trail, a switchback). ... Jade Mountain or Yushan (玉山) is situated in the Yushan National Park (玉山國家公園) in the Republic of China on Taiwan. ... The Chi-Chi earthquake (also known as 921 earthquake) occurred on September 21, Taiwan at 1:47 am local time (September 20 17:47 GMT) and measured 7. ...

See also

• Rail transport in Taiwan

TRA train passing over the Kaoping Bridge. ...

External links

• Alishan Forest Railway (English, Chinese & Japanese)
• Online ticket reservations (Chinese)