A Walk on the Tracks – Pt. 2 (Buona Vista to Jalan Hang Jebat)

By CK Ng, 19 Jul 2011.

This is a continuation of my previous post where I talked about a walk Boon Hwee and I took from Bukit Timah Railway Station to Jalan Hang Jebat. Before bidding farewell, Jerome gave us some pointers on what to look out for along the route as well as how to get there, and we set off to continue our walk.

A view of the railway tracks from an overhead bridge near Blk 10, Ghim Moh Road. Read more

A Walk on the Tracks – Pt. 1 (Bukit Timah Railway Station to Ghim Moh)

By CK Ng, 17 Jul 2011.

Shortly after the cessation of rail services between Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the Woodlands Train Checkpoint, the announcement came that the entire railway will be opened to the public to explore until 17 July 2011. With no trains to watch out for, this is a good time to explore the track and the surroundings, so when I saw Jerome‘s Facebook posting organising such a walk last week, I jumped at the opportunity and also invited Boon Hwee, who has also been documenting the last days of the KTM railway to come along.

The walk was supposed to start from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, but Jerome, having walked the track with the Minister of State Brigadier-General Tan Chuan Jin, commented that it was rather tough and there wasn’t much to see until much further down the road, so we decided to start from Bukit Timah Railway Station and end at Ghim Moh instead.

We arrived to see the Bukit Timah Railway Station now fenced up in an ugly green fence.

The railway tracks and the now-defunct and fenced up Bukit Timah Railway Station in the early morning. Read more

Shooting the Last Days of the KTM Railway

By CK Ng, 9 Jul 2011.

I was not much of a railway person. The KTM railway in Singapore has been around for nearly 80 years, but like most people, I never thought much about it. I had vague memories of taking the train to Malaysia when I was a little kid but couldn’t remember much of it.

The quaint little railway station (which I never knew about until recently) and the iconic black truss bridge across Bukit Timah Railway – these were very close to Ngee Ann Polytechnic where I spent three years studying. I would pass the bridge every day on the way to and from the polytechnic, but never ventured to explore the vicinity.

The black truss bridge across Bukit Timah Road and Dunearn Road, as seen from the Bukit Timah Railway Station side. Read more

End of an Era

By CK Ng, 2 Jul 2011.

After 79 years of operation, the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station will cease operations on 30 June 2011. Not wanting to miss the historic moment, I decided to pay the station a last visit before it’s closed the next day. Gilbert was with me as well, and we hoped to capture the last trains in and out of the station which will serve as a closure for the many photographs of the railway that we’ve done over the past few weeks.

Arriving at the station and not having previously shot it at night, I decided to take a photo of it. Additional lights have been put up to further light up the station’s facade, which we later found was also to prepare for the arrival of the Sultan of Johor who will be driving the last train out of the station.

Read more

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.

Another Visit to the Bukit Timah Railway Station

By CK Ng, 19 Jun 2011.

After attending the Green Corridor walk to the Bukit Timah Railway Station last week, I decided to get Gilbert as well as another couple of friends to go there to shoot again. I also wanted to get a few shots of the token exchange process, a practice still performed here but will be history once the railway line and land is handed back to the Singapore government come 1 July 2011.

We arranged to meet at 7am at the McDonald’s at King Albert’s Park, but I was disappointed when I woke up to find it raining. After some hesitation, we decided to go ahead as the rain was getting lighter, and by the time we started, there was no more rain. Thankfully we did not give up and go back to bed!

I missed shooting some of the signboards leading up to the station the last time round, so I took them on this trip.

Nature lovers push harder for Green Corridor

By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 30 Jun 2011.

NATURE and heritage groups have beefed up their original proposal to save the KTM railway land.

They point out that the land, comprising that on which the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station now sits and the north-to-south strip through which the rail tracks wind, links historic buildings and nature conservation areas. It could even become a Unesco World Heritage site, they add.

The KTM land reverts to Singapore tomorrow.

In their original proposal, green groups pushed for the 173.7ha strip of land on which rail tracks now run to be turned into a ‘green corridor’ for cycling, gardens and nature walks.

But corridor proponents now also call for calculations to be done on the true financial contribution which permanent green spaces make to property values.

Read more

Source: The Straits Times via Wildsingapore

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.

The Green Corridor: Wildlife, Alive and Dead, along the Tracks

By Daphne, 25 Apr 2011.

Warning: The following post includes gruesome photos of dead animals, which may cause discomfort to some readers.

Long tail macaques. Monitor Lizards. The rare pangolin. The common changeable lizard. Various species of snakes.

Long tail macaques are a common sight at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, of which the railway tracks pass near to the entrance of.

These are but a few animals that can be found along the section of the KTM railway tracks that run from the Bukit Timah Railway Station up till the road next to the soon-to-be-converted-into-a-condomium Ten Mile Junction.

Unfortunately, some of these animals may have fallen victim to “road-kill”, or rather “track-kill” by passing trains. Read more

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