Yourui Mine Handcar Railway

At that time, all railway lines in Taiwan were non-electrified, and Wudu Station was served by small diesel multiple units and passenger trains hauled by diesel locomotives operating on short routes. In addition to passenger services, there were also coal freight shipments from a private industrial line. The station yard was quite large, and several belt conveyors were installed to load coal onto freight cars on the main line. Today, this section of the line has been elevated, and the railway environment has completely changed.

Before visiting Wudu, my main interest was the steam locomotives of the Keelung Coal Mine. However, I had seen a map of the Keelung Coal Mine Railway in the book Tetsudo Sanka (鐵道賛歌) (Railway Hymn) by Kemuri Productions (けむりプロ), which also showed the route of the light rail for workers. Still, I had no clear image of what it was like in reality. Looking back, I should have done more thorough research, but at the time, there was almost no available information about Taiwan's worker-operated light railways.

The coal mines that used steam locomotives and those that used the light rail for workers were separate entities, each having its own coal loading facilities near Wudu Station. The tracks of the worker rail crossed the Keelung River (基隆河) and extended close to Wudu Station. While there were no clearly defined platforms or stations, this was effectively the terminus.

On the Wudu Station side, after crossing the river, the tracks of the worker rail branched off to the left and right, leading to coal unloading areas. The coal unloaded on the left side (seen in the pile beneath the track) was then transported using the belt conveyor on the right side to freight cars parked just outside the fenced area.

At that time, there were three suspension bridges over the Keelung River, and none of them were suitable for automobile traffic. One was used for transporting coal wagons by cable from the Keelung Coal Mine, another was a pedestrian bridge, and the third one was used by the light rail for workers. All of these bridges had similar suspension designs.

The bridge was suspended by very thin wires. Today, all three of these bridges have been removed. In their place, the sturdy New Chang'an Bridge (新長安橋) has been constructed, and cars now pass over it constantly. Furthermore, in 2011, the Xiangzhangcuo Bridge (郷長厝橋) was built for pedestrians and bicycles.

After crossing the bridge, there was an elevated structure, and beneath it was a bustling spot that resembled a small station, where people and handcars gathered. In addition to the main line, there were several sidings, and some of the handcars were even parked directly on the roadway.

Until this point, the worker rail had been running on the right side, but here it switched to the left. The track on the right appears to be a siding. Around the tracks were loaded railcars and parked vehicles waiting for departure. There were also shops nearby, and the place was bustling with people pushing or boarding the railcars.

Coal wagons were left abandoned on the track, and children were playing on them. The gauge of this worker rail was 495.3 mm, which differs from that of the Keelung Coal Mine Railway. A person carrying a broom was walking nearby—such street vendors are now a thing of the past.

The several-kilometer-long worker rail route had a variety of features, and one of the most interesting was the cut-through tunnel. The previously double-tracked section became single-tracked before entering the tunnel, which had no lighting—passengers relied on the light from the exit. In the middle of the tunnel, there was a passing point in case trains came from both directions. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take any photos inside the tunnel, so this picture shows the exit on the Wudu side.

Most of the railway was double-tracked, and traffic flowed on the right-hand side. While the Taiwan National Railway follows the left-hand traffic rule inherited from the Japanese era, this worker rail line adopted the same right-hand traffic system as Taiwan's roadways. On the left side is the site of a well that was used until 1965.

Although most of the tracks for the worker rail were very light, some sections used heavier rails (around 17 kg/m), which could be mistaken for the Keelung Coal Mine Railway used by locomotives. The standard posture for pushing the cars was to place the right foot on the rail and the left foot on the ground between the sleepers.

The Keelung Coal Mine Railway and the Yourui Coal Mine worker rail did not run side by side continuously—they would diverge and converge at various points. On the road were bicycles, motor tricycles, and carts pulled by water buffalo. While Taipei was already overflowing with automobiles, here the road was still too narrow for large vehicles.

It’s unclear in what situations turning back was necessary, but there were crossover tracks at several points along the route. These switches were not of the lever-operated type; instead, the direction the car took depended on how the pusher guided it.

At that time, the Republic of China (Taiwan) was still in fierce confrontation with the People’s Republic of China, and martial law was in effect. As a result, there were strict restrictions on photography of anything related to railways. In fact, there was a military garrison in Wudu, and as the expressway was under construction, I was stopped and questioned by the police—nearly having my film confiscated. Political slogans like the one in this photo were seen throughout the town. This one reads, "Destroy the Communist Party and reclaim the Mainland."

This was a single-track section, but the tracks were kept clear of weeds because people walked on them regularly. There was a temple ahead where people had gathered and were blocking the track, but since these were just hand-pushed cars, they passed through without incident. When cars met on a single track, there seemed to be rules—such as signaling with a whistle, giving priority to cars heading toward Wudu, or giving preference to the one carrying heavier cargo—but which rule applied in practice remains unclear today.

This section ran behind houses and didn’t look like a hand-pushed rail line at all—more like the tracks used by steam locomotives of the neighboring Keelung Coal Mine. Some parts even gave the impression of a full-scale railway.

Where there was no space for double tracks, the line became single-tracked, brushing past the eaves of houses. To avoid fighting the terrain, some segments had rather steep gradients. Since the cars were pushed by people, even a slight slope could be a serious burden. In areas with heavy coal wagons, specialized workers assisted on slopes, earning about 8 yuan a day.

At 2.3 km from Wudu was a place called “Gangkou” (Port) (港口), where quite large boats reportedly docked before the war. The “Shunyi General Store (順益商號)” located here still stands today. The Yourui Creek still flows below, but the road has been widened into a major intersection where buses now pass. At the time, dense subtropical vegetation grew beside the worker rail, and we were warned not to enter due to the presence of snakes. We were even told that the highly venomous "hundred-pace viper" (Deinagkistrodon) in the thickets could kill a person within a hundred steps of being bitten.

This was a bridge we came across along the route. Since the girders were made of wood, it could be called a wooden bridge. Rails were simply laid on top of the wooden beams, and the strength came from the rigidity of the rails themselves. Notice the contrast in weight between the bridge rails and those on the approach. Normally, people pushing the cars walked on the ties, but on the bridge, they skillfully stepped directly on the rails.

While the handcars did not run continuously at all times, there were occasions when multiple cars ran back to back carrying goods or people. These handcars were privately owned. Local residents could purchase their own handcar, but to operate it, they were required to pay a track usage fee to the coal mining company. In this photo, the rail line of the Keelung Coal Mine Railway can be seen crossing perpendicularly behind the last handcar.

The handcars were used to transport both passengers and all kinds of cargo. The people riding, pushing, or loading them varied widely. Since the handcar line was affiliated with the coal mine, it was likely also used for coal transport, though I did not witness this directly. It was said that transporting passengers by handcar was typically women's work, while men were engaged in moving coal. The passenger handcars could carry up to four people, seated on a box that also served as storage. The box was not fixed in place—it could be removed or repositioned to accommodate larger loads. When descending a slope, the pusher would ride in front and use a lever-operated brake to control the speed.

At the location of “Shunyi General Store” the line split, with the single track continuing straight toward the Hualong Coal Mine. The gradient increased noticeably in this section. When the load was heavy, it couldn’t be moved by one person alone—it took two people to push. In sloped areas, there were sometimes helpers stationed to assist. It was a moment that really brought home how hard the work of pushing handcars must have been.

The handcar had handles on all four corners for pushing, and a box in the center that served both as a seat and for cargo storage. At the time, workshops in Wudu and Luliaokeng built these handcars for 800–1,000 yuan each. There was also a market for used handcars. The box was not fixed—it was simply placed on the frame, so it could be removed when necessary.

Privately owned handcars were parked at various points along the line. Placing them perpendicular to the track was a common practice, similar to maintenance or inspection railcars. With makeshift roofs, they looked like bicycle parking spaces. The axles were lubricated with fibrous materials like loofah soaked in grease or thick oil such as engine oil, then wrapped with metal sheeting to improve smoothness.

Behind the eaves of the Shunyi General Store, there was also a handcar storage area. Handcars were taken out from here to transport personal cargo or upon request. The equipment was very well maintained. Normally, handcars operated from 6:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m. for coal wagons) until sunset. However, there were occasions when, if specially requested, they operated at night in exchange for round-trip fares.

The Shunyi General Store, located midway along the route, was the only store between Wudu and Luliaokeng at the time. Coal mine workers usually made purchases on credit here and settled their payments on the 15th and 30th of each month. Nearby was a handcar storage site, and from this point, the track split in two—one turning sharply toward Luliaokeng Coal Mine, another 3.5 km away, and the other continuing right toward the entrance of the Hualong Coal Mine.

A little further along the track extending right from Shunyi General Store was the entrance to the Hualong Coal Mine. Timber used inside the mine was stored here. The small hut was used to weigh the handcars loaded with coal. Since coal was a vital resource, the weight was measured here and again at Wudu to prevent theft or tampering en route. Around 80 workers were employed to push coal handcars, making about 10 round trips a day. The daily wage was 40 yuan, with an additional 0.5 yuan added for each trip beyond the tenth.

Although a hand-pushed railway may seem primitive, it carried a warmth absent from modern high-speed mass transit. Of course, pushing a handcar was a demanding job, and even in warm Taiwan, rain and cold days made it difficult. Still, the image of people chatting cheerfully with the pushers while riding on the handcar remains vivid in my memory. However, this handcar system was abolished in 1979 when the Luliaokeng Coal Mine switched to truck transport.