See Taiwan｜Worry Relief Train – Blue Pip Express, the most beautiful figure on the southern railway

Yu Guangzhong has a poem called "Crossing Fangliao", which is about the field scenery of Pingtung, the southernmost part of Taiwan, "sweet rain", "fertile fields", and "the saltiest and saltiest" sea. But only those who are a little old know that the key to understanding the beauty of the South Island described in this poem is the first word of the poem's title: "car".

You have to cross Fangliao on the Blue Pip Express train on the South Link.

The Southern Loop Line bypasses the southernmost tip of Taiwan, starting from Fangliao in the west and reaching Beinan in the east, connecting the Western Main Line and the Huadong Railway. There are many caves and bridges running through the central mountain range along the southern loop line, leaning on the lofty mountains and overlooking the sea, such a superb view of mountains and seas is not rare in Taiwan . While the bullet trains and maglev express trains all over the world are competing for speed, the Blue Pip Express train, which is the only one every day, still uses diesel fuel to propel the weather-beaten iron wheels, quietly re-engraving the past. year's scenery.

This blue-skinned train from Fangliao to Taitung (formerly known as Beinan) has a high status in the hearts of railway fans. As the only remaining diesel train, she walks slowly, has no air-conditioning, and the seat back is not ergonomic and the seat There is no handle, but she has a beauty that other trains ca n't match. She is beautiful in the paint on the body, the window with the sea breeze, the old lamp that flickers on and off, and the old fan that clicks. She is beautiful in the car. A silent diesel smell, stubbornly resisting the change of time.

Maybe you can say that she is beautiful in her body that refuses to bow to the times.

The Blue Pip Express trains are 3671 and 3672 (round-trip). There is only one train per day. When passing through the cave, the dim fluorescent lights will light up in the car. The pungent smell seems to be particularly obvious when passing through the cave. The sound of the old gears and the rails rolling together has the momentum of the train running in the old movies, compared with the harsh high-frequency friction sound when the high-speed rail roars into the station. , It is probably that Xi Shi holds the heart, and the East applies frowns.

Nowadays, most of the people who take this train are tourists who come here. You will see many people with camera equipment to take pictures of every corner of the car. At that time, a Japanese person sitting next to me said that he did not The destination is to take this train specially.

"I haven't seen this kind of train in Japan. I'm here to find the smell of old Japan."

The blue leather walks slowly. When coming out of the tunnel, passengers will always line up to the rear of the train to capture the perspective of the tunnel entrance from the track. The route it travels is also full of famous tourist attractions, among which it is called the most beautiful train in Taiwan. Even though she didn't stop at the station, she could see the bay, blue sea and blue sky from the car in the distance, all of which matched her reputation of "relieving worry".

With the advancement of the electrification project of the Nanhui Railway, the only remaining diesel express train in Taiwan has experienced numerous discussions of "stopping". Every time the news that she will enter the history, it will detonate railway fans. Pilgrimage, the unique charm of this train, seems to be the mourning and pity of modern people for the past time. In the past , transportation was inconvenient and communication was underdeveloped. Although the pace of time was slow, people were very particular about doing things, sitting on rusted seats. , you seem to be able to go back to the time when people traveled back and forth with fish and geese, and saw the returning people leaning on the mottled window lattice, looking thoughtfully at the blue ocean, the sea breeze penetrated the half-opened window, and was involved in a stuffy and greasy feeling. The smell of diesel oil, the old fan blades on the roof of the carriage rattled and rattled for a while, as if to persuade passengers who frowned deeply and in a hurry to say: No hurry, the road is still long.

At the end of 2020, the news of the suspension of operation of the Blue Pip Express was hidden in the war of words due to the new crown epidemic. The news of the Ministry of Communications is that the Blue Pup Express will continue to run again in the future, and will continue to drive a worry-free journey for the passing tourists. . At present , the official website of Taiwan Railway still has the introduction of the Lan Pip Express ticket from Fangliao to Taitung. I seldom take the train and I have a bit of a technological barrier. If I find that it has actually resumed driving, or it will return to the arena in the future, I will leave a comment below for an update.

If you want to enjoy the whole blue-skin train and the distant view of the mountains and the sea, you can search for keywords such as "blue-skin train", "southern return", etc. At that time (2018) I was determined to take all the way from Fangliao to Taitung , I didn't get off the bus for sightseeing and take pictures at the stops along the way.

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