Spectral Codex
談文車站

Tanwen Railway Station

Locations
Entrance to Tanwen Station (談文車站)
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D3400
Lens
AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G or AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
Aperture
ƒ / 6.3
Shutter Speed
1/160 sec
Focal Length
20.0 mm
ISO
100
Exposure Value
12.6 EV
Download
3600 × 2400
Approaching the old railway station from the main road.

Tanwen Station (談文車站) opened in 1922 as the first stop on the Coastal Line (海岸線) south of the junction at Zhunan, built during the Japanese colonial era. It was originally named Danwenhu Station (淡文湖驛) after the surrounding locality, taking its present name in 1954. The modest station house, built in a hybrid Japanese-Western style with a gabled tiled roof, is one of only a handful of original wooden examples left in Taiwan.

Wooden Station House at Tanwen Station (談文車站)
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D3400
Lens
AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR or AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Aperture
ƒ / 5.6
Shutter Speed
1/125 sec
Focal Length
22.0 mm
ISO
100
Exposure Value
11.9 EV
Download
3600 × 2400
The side of the station facing the platforms. One of the station’s distinctive round windows is partly obscured by the station sign.

For most of its working life the station handled freight more than passengers, forwarding charcoal burned from the acacia woodland of the surrounding hills alongside red roof tiles from local kilns, timber, and quicklime. This trade faded through the 1970s as demand for charcoal and handmade tiles collapsed, and the station was steadily downgraded to an unstaffed stop by 1991. Nowadays the wooden building rests below the raised embankment of Provincial Highway 1, its street-facing side screened behind a corrugated metal fence and most easily seen from the island platform.

A Closer Look at Tanwen Station (談文車站)
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D3400
Lens
AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR or AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Aperture
ƒ / 5
Shutter Speed
1/125 sec
Focal Length
23.0 mm
ISO
100
Exposure Value
11.6 EV
Download
3600 × 2400
A closer look at a round window along the side of the build. Knob-and-tube wiring can still be seen on the exterior.
Inside Tanwen Station (談文車站)
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D3400
Lens
AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G or AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
Aperture
ƒ / 4.5
Shutter Speed
1/80 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
100
Exposure Value
10.7 EV
Download
3600 × 2400
The plain interior of the station. Nobody has been on hand to sell tickets for decades.
Tanwen Station (談文車站)
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D3400
Lens
AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR or AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Aperture
ƒ / 5
Shutter Speed
1/100 sec
Focal Length
24.0 mm
ISO
100
Exposure Value
11.3 EV
Download
3600 × 2400
The station was due for restoration when I first visited in 2023.
Overlooking Tanwen Station (談文車站)
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D3400
Lens
AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR or AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Aperture
ƒ / 7.1
Shutter Speed
1/200 sec
Focal Length
38.0 mm
ISO
100
Exposure Value
13.3 EV
Download
3600 × 2400
Overlooking the station from the pedestrian overpass leading to the island platform.

This station underwent restoration work in 2025, with the project nearing completion in the summer of 2026. Initial photographs revealed a design unlike the original, prompting public outcry from heritage advocates in Taiwan.

Map

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Details

  • Status:Public (公有)
  • Heritage designation:Historic Building (歷史建築)
  • Coordinates:

Recorded On

Links

Themes

Series: Northern Taiwan Ride 2025-2026

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Author

Profile photo of Alexander Synaptic, founder of Spectral Codex
Alexander Synaptic
Curator, Spectral Codex

I am a web application developer, photojournalist, urban explorer, and history enthusiast passionate about the open web and documenting my experiences on this planet. This project was founded in the early 2010s and has evolved into a sort of personal Wikipedia of places that interest me (and often the photographs I’ve taken there). I’m originally from Toronto, Canada, but spend most of my time residing in Taiwan.

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