Sp.463 Taiwan Old Train Stations (I) (D463)

Stamp SN : D463
Stamp Name : Sp.463 Taiwan Old Train Stations (I)
Stamp Cat Standard : Special Stamps
Stamp Cat : Relics,Railway
Issue date : 2004-06-09
Dimension of stamps(mm.) : 37 x 29（mm）
Printer : China Engraving & Printing Works, R. O. C.
Sheet composition : 20 (5 × 4)
Print color : Colorful
Process : Deep etch offset
Paper : Phosphorescent stamp paper
Perforation : 13 1/2
Drawer : Ben Wang

To arouse nostalgia for old train stations and to give people in Taiwan a better understanding of these stations’ cultural significance, Chunghwa Post has selected several architecturally important station buildings from several cities of Taiwan as subjects for a series of postage stamps: “Taiwan Old Train Stations.” These will be issued in two different sets. The first set features stations in Keelung , Taipei , Hsinchu and Taichung . Trains were once the hand that pushed Taiwan ’s industrial and commercial development. Apart from providing a place for passengers to purchase tickets, wait, and board trains, they were imbued with the sorrow of parting and the joys of reunion, and served as the backdrops for many important personal moments and memories.
The designs of the stamps follow:
(1) Keelung Station (NT$5): Keelung Station was the starting point of the railway built by governor Liou Ming-chuan during the Cing dynasty. The station featured on the stamp is the third-generation station building constructed by the Japanese in 1908 and was known as the “Throat of Taiwan.” The current station building is the fourth-generation building. It was completed in 1967.
(2) Taipei Station (NT$5): The Taipei Station was one of the earliest components of the railway in Taiwan . Its first generation station was built in 1891 in the Dadaocheng area of Taipei . The station featured on the stamp is the third-generation station building built by the Japanese in 1901 in a new location (on the north side of the city). It was a faux-Renaissance red brick building.
(3) Hsinchu Station (NT$15): The first-generation station building, located in the foothills of Mount Jhentou (Mt. Pillow), was built with pounded earth in 1893, much like farmers’ homes back then. The current structure is the fourth-generation station building. Built in 1913, it is the oldest large train station still standing in Taiwan . It is built in the Baroque style.
(4) Taichung Station (NT$25): Taichung Station was built in 1905 and rebuilt in 1917. Its brick structure is in the late Renaissance style. The white horizontal belt on its red wall made scholars call it the “free classical style.”
(1) First Day Cover in small size to be sold at NT$2.00 apiece
(2) Folder especially prepared for the stamps to be sold at NT$5.00 apiece
(3) Folder with crystal mount for better protection of the stamps to be sold at NT$5.00 apiece
(4) Loose-leaf stamp album page with plastic cover to be sold at NT$8.00 apiece
(5) Pre-cancelled First Day Cover affixed with a
low-valued stamp to be sold at NT$7.00 apiece
(6) Pre-cancelled First Day Cover affixed with a complete set of stamps to be sold at NT$52.00 apiece