A Walk From Rail Mall to Bukit Panjang Level Crossing

By CK Ng, 28 Jun 2011.

Having been inspired by Jerome Lim, author of The Long and Winding Road, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he’ll be leading a walk together from the Rail Mall to the Bukit Panjang Crossing. I’ve actually walked that route the previous week, but I wanted the opportunity to meet him in person so I signed up. I also got Steve and Gilbert who were with me on the last trip to join in, as well as Boon Hwee and Gin Pak.

Being on the last weekend of the train operations on the old line which runs from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to Woodlands, a record number of more than 100 people turned up, including TV personality Denise Keller. This is also possibly the last of such walks organised by Eugene Tay, owner of the We Support the Green Corridor Facebook page and the Green Corridor web site.

Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

By CK Ng, 26 Jun 2011.

This weekend marks the last weekend of the train operations along the old railway system in Singapore. During the last few weekends, I’ve been photographing around the Bukit Timah Railway Station several times as I am attracted to the quaint little building and also wanted to capture the old practice of exchanging key tokens.

Today, after bringing Clarence, Jimmy and their friend Lawrence to the station to shoot, we made our way to the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. The sky was starting to get dark and rain was imminent.

Preserve railway’s mechanical wonders

Letter by Dr John Elliott, The Straits Times, 26 Jul 2011.

I am delighted that a part of the KTM railway is to be preserved (“Parts of KTM railway to be retained”; last Saturday).

We should also preserve one of the old mechanical signals, several of which are to be found on the northern reaches.

These signals were mostly later replaced by electric lights (a set also visible near the Bukit Timah station) and are museum pieces. They are a triumph of mechanical engineering and exemplify the principle of levers. The weighted arm halfway up the mast was a safety feature. Should a wire break, the counterweight would fall and ensure the signal came to rest with the arm horizontal at “stop”. Crowds photographed these striking structures, which are still in working order.

Read more

Source: The Straits Times

A walk on the wild side

By Jerome Lim, 15 May 2011.

I took a walk into a world where there might not have been one, where gold, crimson and blue tinged fairies dance a flight of joy, a joy that’s echoed in the singing of songs of joy that eludes ears made weary by the cacophony of the grey world we have found ourselves in. It is a world that seeks to be found in the midst of the cold grey world we find around us, a world that we may soon lose with the lost of the reasons for its being. The world I speak of is none other than the Green Corridor that has existed solely because of the railway which has allowed a green and seemingly distant world to exist next to the concrete world that we have created in our island.

Railway Tracks Exploration Part 3 – Bukit Timah to Ten Mile Junction

By Jinghui, 24 Apr 2011.

In the continuation of my old and active railway tracks exploration, completing Part 1 and Part 2 that forms the Old Abandoned Railway Tracks, it was now Part 3 and I joined an organised outing by Ivan, hiking from Bukit Timah Railway Station to Ten Mile Junction Railway Track road crossing. Meeting at King Albert Park McDonald with Daphne, Jingwen, Wilfred and Ivan, we had our breakfast before starting off on the Bukit Timah Railway Track Bridge and starting our wonderful “science class” trek up North.

The weather was great, hot and sunny, however, it’s the best for trekking and taking photographs. This is part of the Green Corridor, a long stretch of wildlife, flora and fauna and rainforest, that has been recently getting more attention with the “relocation” and eventual of the active railway tracks and train stations. This is part of our adventure, to document, share and spread the awareness of the importance, relevance and significance of preserving (instead of demolishing) and protecting our greenery, wildlife, forests, history and heritage. It’s like our own mini Red Dragonflies movie too! Read more

(Abandoned) Railway Track (Part 2) Photography Walkabout

By Jinghui, 16 Apr 2011.

Do you remember my recent abandoned Old Railway Track Part 1? A photography walkabout from Teban Gardens to Sunset Way Railway Bridge? It was a fun, exciting and challenging photography walkabout, searching, documenting and photographing the abandoned Old Railway Tracks of Singapore.

In my Part 2 series of Abandoned Old Railway Tracks, the 2nd leg starts from Sunset Way Railway Bridge, following the Old Railway Tracks along Sunset Way HDB Estate into the Clementi Woodlands before trekking out into the open near the Bukit Timah area, connecting to the active KTM Railway tracks. This stretch of Old Railway Tracks is part of a bigger blueprint of “We Support The Green Corridor“, making lots of effort and awareness tools, sharing and showcasing the need to preserve the greenery, flora and fauna, animals and wildlife residing inside this Green Belt. Trekking through the Clementi Woodlands today, this is something we have to do, to preserve our history, forests, flora and fauna, not just for us, it’s for our future generations. Read more

(Abandoned) Railway Track Photo Walkabout

By Jinghui, 19 Feb 2011.

The KTM Malaysian Railway Lines in Singapore, goes back quite a long way in history in time and it’s an important and integral part of the history of Singapore and Malaysia. In the early days, there were railway lines from the western part of Singapore, from the industrial estate in Jurong to the main railway line along Bukit Timah to Tanjong Pagar. However, as time and economics changed, the railway was no longer in use for a period of time, while the railway line from Tanjong Pagar up to Malaysia is still in operation.

View KTM Malayan Railway Lines in Singapore in a larger map

With the recent changes to the future of the railway tracks and Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, agreements between the governments of Singapore and Malaysia is leading towards a new era for the railway lines in Singapore, what will happen to them? Will they survive the thirst of land scarce Singapore? Can the railway lines, there are or going to be no longer in use, be turned into Green Corridors?

Armed with the strong interest inside me, I read, followed and researched on various other blogs, photographs and details on a segment of the railway lines in Singapore. Thereafter, I decided to do the Teban Gardens to Sunset Way (Abandoned) Railway Track Photo Walkabout with Sue and Amanda. Using the KTM Malaysian Railway Line Track (on Google Maps) as a reference, we started at Block 9, Teban Garden Road, recognising the landmarks from friends photographs, we hiked under the bridge, into a tunnel and came out on the diagonal side of Ayer Rajah Expressway and Jurong Town Hall Road. Read more

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