Making friends in the Far East
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway (W&LLR) Chair, Anne-Marie Wright, led a delegation of the Welsh line’s members as part of an international tour of enthusiasts to take part in the events at the Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) and the Alishan Forest Railway (AFR).
The celebrations and the presence of the international enthusiasts made national news in Taiwan.
The W&LLR has been affiliated with the AFR since 2017 and one of the famed Taiwanese line’s powerful Mitsubishi diesel locomotives, No. DL-34, is currently on loan to the Welsh line.
TSC operates heritage lines on some of its former sugar cane railways – the W&LLR purchased one of the redundant diesel locomotives from the sugar operation in 2005 and has operated it in Wales ever since.
This led in 2018 to the signing of an affiliation agreement between TSC and the W&LLR, the Welsh line’s Barclay steam locomotive ‘Dougal’ travelling to Taiwan to star at the ceremony.
Welcomed to the event by TSC chair, Wu Ming-chang, the party travelled on a historic railcar dating from before the Second World War, which returned to service at the celebration – trains running during the event were decorated to reflect the close ties between TSC and the W&LLR.
Then over the following three days the delegation took part in a three-day cultural exchange on the AFR, being received by Wang, Jau-Pao, director of the Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office, for what was described as a celebration of the deep-seated friendship between the two railways.
During the visit the party travelled on the line, which operates a challenging route into the Alishan mountains. They viewed a special exhibition on the railway’s history and learned how the AFR is integrating ecological conservation, cultural heritage preservation and landscape harmony into the challenging engineering of its track maintenance and numerous tunnels.
The relationship between the W&LLR and the AFR was further strengthened by the signing of an extension to the loan agreement for DL-34, which will see the diesel operating in Wales until at least 2030.
This followed a recent five-day working visit to the AFR by W&LLR General Manager, James Brett, and Workshop Manager, Joe Gunby, which the AFR said had demonstrated the transitioning of the relationship from initial cultural promotion to a robust partnership in mechanical engineering and technical cooperation.
Following the signing of the extension agreement Director Wang, Jau-Pao stated: “From the technical exchanges at the beginning of the year to today’s signing, it is evident that the cooperation between the Alishan Forest Railway and the W&LLR has advanced from ‘mutual recognition’ to a profound stage of ‘technical synergy’.
W&LLR Chair, Anne-Marie Wright, commented that the trip to visit the affiliated railways had proved to be as fascinating as it was informative.
“All of us were very grateful to the Taiwan Sugar Corporation and Alishan Forest Railway for the welcome we received during our trip,” she said.
“We at the Welshpool & Llanfair greatly value our relationships with our friends in Taiwan which have proven beneficial for both sides – we have been able to make available our long experience of heritage preservation while promoting the Taiwanese lines to UK enthusiasts, while as well as the very useful loan of the diesel DL-34, we have seen an increase in visitors from the Far East thanks to promotion of our railway in Taiwan.”
The Welshpool & Llanfair Railway’s 2026 operating season opened on Saturday, March 14.
The line is currently running at weekends and will be open on every day over the Easter holiday period. Details of train times and ticket booking facilities can be found on the website, www.wllr.org.uk.
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