Yesterday, Wednesday, 23rd November, 9,971km from its headquarters at Llanfair Caereinion in Wales, the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway agreed on a loan of a 50-year old diesel locomotive from the Alishan Forest Railway of Taiwan.
The handover of the locomotive took place at an official ceremony between representatives of the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway and the Alishan Forest Railway in the Garage Park at Chiayi in Taiwan.
The locomotive, number DL-34, was built in 1972 by Mitsubishi of Japan and has a 523 HP engine. It was designed to tackle the steep gradients and tight curves of the line through the Alishan Forest in Taiwan.
The locomotive will leave Taiwan by sea later this month and is expected to arrive in the UK early in the new year.
The two railways have been affiliated since 2017, as both railways share the same 2ft. 6in. (762mm) gauge and have sharp bends and steep gradients.
DL-34 will remain with the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway on an initial 3-year loan, and both railways hope that the loan will help further their educational and cultural co-operation.
The Alishan Forest Railway is the highest narrow-gauge line in Asia and was originally built for logging, but is now a tourist attraction with over 50 tunnels and 77 wooden bridges. It was recently listed by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture as a potential World Heritage Site.
The Alishan Forest Railway is a wonderful feat of engineering as it zig-zags and corkscrews up the central mountains of Taiwan. I recommend anybody visiting the country to take a trip on it, as I did recently. I was also honoured to be invited to the ceremonial handover in Chiayi of DL-34 to the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. Everybody was very excited about it.