Hong Kong Railway Museum

Tai Po Market

大埔墟
Tai Po Market; 大埔墟
KCR station
General information
Location	On Fu Road, Tai Po; Tai Po District, Hong Kong
Owned by	Kowloon–Canton Railway Corporation
Operated by	Kowloon–Canton Railway Corporation
Line(s)	Kowloon–Canton Railway (British Section)
Platforms	2 (side platforms)
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus, public light bus
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Platform levels	1
History
Opened	1 October 1910
Closed	6 April 1983
Services
Location
	Tai Po Market Location within the current MTR system

Hong Kong Railway Museum (Chinese: 香港鐵路博物館; Cantonese Yale: heung1 gong2 tit3 lou6 bok3 mat6 gun2) is a railway museum in Tai Po, Hong Kong.^[1] It is now under the management of the Leisure and Cultural Service Department. Opened on 20 December 1986, it is located at the site where the Old Tai Po Market Railway Station was built in 1913. Admission to the museum is free.

History

The Kowloon-Canton Railway (British Section) opened in 1910 in Tai Po Market was one of the stops in the New Territories. The station building was erected in 1913. Since then, it acted as a centre of administration and trade which indirectly boosted Tai Po Market's economy by bringing traders there.

The KCR was electrified in 1983 and the station was taken out of service, with new stations being opened to the north (Tai Wo) and south (Tai Po Market) of it. One year later, the Old Tai Po Market Railway Station was declared a monument. The site, together with the buildings and relevant exhibits, were then given to the government by the KCRC for the construction of the Museum.

Architecture

The building of the station is unique in the way of architectural style among original Kowloon-Canton Railway (British Section). It is of indigenous Chinese architectural style, with many small figures decorating the exterior, such as are commonly found in existing old southern Chinese temples.

Exhibits

Inside the museum

On the left of the museum, there is an exhibition room of train tickets and train models of not only KCR trains but also Japanese Shinkansen and Eurostar. The further internal part of the room is a refurbished ticket office and signalling house.

Vehicles on the track

Two locomotives are on exhibition at the museum:

EMD G12 Diesel-electric locomotive #51, introduced in Hong Kong in 1955, which is called "Sir Alexander", named after former Governor Alexander Grantham
A W. G. Bagnall 0-4-4PT narrow gauge steam locomotive, restored from the Philippines in 1995. The locomotive is one of two that formerly ran on the narrow gauge Sha Tau Kok Railway line between Fanling and Sha Tau Kok. When that closed, they were used by sugar mills in the Philippines. The other locomotive of the pair was also brought back to Hong Kong and is reported to be undergoing restoration.

There are six coaches on the tracks for public viewing and appreciation of the contrast between the old and the new.

A 1911 third-class coach, #302
A 1921 engineering brake coach, #002
A 1955 third-class coach, #223 (an educational video room)
A 1955 luggage coach, #229
A 1964 first-class coach, #112
A 1976 ordinary-class coach, #276

There are also a pump trolley and a diesel-engined railcar.

A 1:1 scale model of a non-refurbished East Rail Line Metro Cammell EMU was once on display at the Museum, but was removed to make space for locomotive #51.^[2]