Located in northern Taiwan, the mountainous Wulai area was where the Japanese developed forestry industries during the Japanese colonial period. In order to transport logging tools and mining timber, a trolly railway from Guishan to Wulai was established. With the expansion of the industry, a trolly track was added to the south to the Xinxian area in 1928. The earliest trolly had a very simple structure with wheels added under the wooden platform so that it could transport the wood manually. The wooden boxes on the trolly are loaded with tools and lunch boxes for trolly workers. Pushing the trolly on rugged and steep mountain roads was very laborious and dangerous, but it was a way of life for many people at the time.
Wulai Trolly was taken by Lee Ming-tiao in the early postwar period. In the photograph, a trolly worker with a bamboo hat stands at the entrance of the tunnel. In front of him is a simple trolly which has not yet been loaded with wood. The photographer took photos from the other end of the tunnel while the front track reflecting the sunlight forms a clear line extending to the trolly. The worker looks at the camera with hands on his hips. His face cannot be seen clearly because of the backlight. Against the bright background of mountains and rocks in the distance, the silhouette-like appearance of the worker and the trolly form clear layers and distinct outlines in the work.
Liu Yi-hui, “2020 Compilation and Research Project of Metadata in Photography.”