Special 372 Around-The-Island Railroad Postage Stamps (1997) (D372)

Stamp SN : D372
Stamp Name : Special 372 Around-The-Island Railroad Postage Stamps (1997)
Stamp Cat Standard : Special Stamps
Stamp Cat : Railway
Issue date : 1997-06-12
Dimension of stamps(mm.) : 29 X 37(mm)
Printer : China Color Printing Co., Inc., R.O.C.
Sheet composition : 20 (4 X 5) stamps per sheet
Process : Deep etch offset
Perforation : 13 1/2
Designer : Yang Huey-shin
Creative Director : Su Tsung-hsiung

The completion of the Around-The-Island railroad system is of great help in integrating the resources of eastern and western Taiwan, and in developing the tourism industry of the Hualien and Taitung areas. To let the public understand the difficulties of constructing the Southern Loop Line and Northern Loop Line and to introduce the beauty of the eastern Taiwan, this Directorate will issue two Around-The-Island Railroad Stamps. They are denominated NT$5.00 and 28.00. The NT$5.00 stamp depicts the cliffs at Chingshuei along the Northern Loop Line, and the NT$28.00 stamp depicts the prospect of a southbound train passing through a tunnel in the Central Mountain area. The Taipei-Taiwan Line was the first railway planned and constructed by the first Taiwan governor Liou Ming-chuan in 1887, marking the outset of Taiwan's railway construction. In 18B9 the section between Dadaucheng of Taipei and Sungshan was finished, In 1 89 1 the section between Taipei and Keelung was completed, In 1 893 the railway was further extended to Hsinchu. During the Japanese occupation, the rest of the Trunk Line, the Pingtung, Ilan, Hualien-Taitung, and Danshuei Lines were in turn completed. Alter Taiwan's retrocession, the northern loop line and the southern loop line were constructed to be part of an around-the-island railway system. The Northern Loop Line starts from the Suao station and ends at the Hualien station, connecting the 11an Line in the north and the Hualien- Taitung Line in the south. The scenery along the line is as beautiful as a painting, with 91 bridges and 16 tunnels. The Southern Loop Line starts from the Taitung station and ends at the Fangliau station, connecting the Hualien- Taitung Line and the Trunk Line. From Jben to Dawu, the scenery is magnificent with the mountains on the one side and the sea on the other. After passing Dawu. the line begins to cross the Central Mountain areas and meet the Trunk Line at Fangliau, Pingtung.