Takao Port Station (Hamasen Railway Cultural Park)

Takao Port Station (打狗驛, later 高雄港驛) was established in 1900 as a temporary stop on Taiwan's western trunk line during the Japanese colonial period. Located in what is now the Gushan District of Kaohsiung, the station sat at the terminus of the longitudinal railway line where it met Kaohsiung Harbor — at the time one of the most important ports in the Japanese Empire's southern territories.

The station's name "Hamasen" (はません / 濱線) derives from the Japanese word for "beach line" (濱線, hamasen), referring to the coastal rail branch that connected the main station to the harbor wharves. This rail network became the lifeblood of Kaohsiung's rapid industrialization under Japanese rule.

In 1908, the permanent Takao Station (打狗驛) was completed as the southern terminus of the completed longitudinal railway. The wooden station building served both passenger and freight operations. In 1920, when Takao was officially renamed Kaohsiung (高雄), the station became Kaohsiung Station (高雄驛).

As Kaohsiung's industrial and military importance grew through the 1930s, the station's dual passenger-freight role became untenable. In 1941, passenger services were relocated to a new Kaohsiung Station east of the Love River, and the original station was redesignated as Kaohsiung Port Station (高雄港驛), dedicated exclusively to freight operations. The harbor rail network expanded with multiple branch lines, marshalling yards, and signal stations to handle the enormous volume of war materials — coal, metals, armaments, sugar, and other strategic commodities — flowing between Taiwan's interior and the port for shipment throughout the Japanese Empire.

During World War II, Kaohsiung was a critical logistics node for Japan's southern military operations. The port station and its rail infrastructure were essential for marshalling supplies destined for Southeast Asian theaters. The harbor could accommodate approximately 40 ships under 10,000 tonnes simultaneously, and the railway network feeding into it operated continuously to maintain supply flows.

In the last phase of the war, US aircraft repeatedly bombed Kaohsiung as part of the broader campaign to neutralize Taiwan's military and industrial infrastructure. The Kaohsiung Port Station, as a vital military logistics hub, was a primary target. The bombing left the station and its surroundings in ruins.

After Japan's surrender, the Republic of China administration rebuilt the station in 1947 at a location slightly south of the original site. The reconstructed building used reinforced concrete beam-column and brick wall construction with a wooden truss roof — functional but less ornate than the original Japanese-era structure. The station continued operating as Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) Kaohsiung Port Station, handling freight until railway operations were suspended in 2008 as part of Kaohsiung's underground railway project.

In 2002, the station was registered as a historic building by Kaohsiung City. The former rail yard — spanning an area equivalent to roughly 12 football fields — was gradually transformed into the Hamasen Railway Cultural Park (哈瑪星鐵道文化園區), preserving the network of tracks, switches, and signal equipment. A railway museum opened in the station building in October 2010 as the Takao Railway Museum (打狗鐵道故事館) and was renamed the Old Takao Station Story Museum (舊打狗驛故事館) in 2017. On November 30, 2024, a tourist train converted from freight wagons, the "Hamasen" (哈瑪星號), began running on restored track through the park.