Friday, March 27, 2009

searching for sleepers and girders



our start and end points



this morning, three clean-cut retirees set off from sunset way in search of sleepers and girders. our start point was the abandoned rail bridge across sunset way and our end point, the bukit timah train station. at the end, we were transformed into three dirty old men, after having gone through a lot of sleepers and girdles girders. some of the sleepers are still in good shape.






victor, the oldest among us, referred to the trek as 'exploring the angkor wat of singapore'. angkor wat in cambodia are ruins covered by vegetation whereas the angkor wat of singapore is an abandoned railway track covered by trees, grass and all kinds of plants. some sections of the track seem to have disappeared. jason, the youngest among us, was intrigued by the bolt with the '3v' impression. he noticed that this was the only part that had resisted rusting.



as we moved along, we saw kingfishers and parakeets and heard the flutey calls of the orioles. we were also fascinated by some of the plants that we encountered, like the passion flower, the yellow mimosa and one plant with purple flowers and seed pods. however, the most captivating was this rather unusual spider with two sharp horns. we spent about fifteen minutes trying to get a good shot of it.



as it had rained the past two days, our pace was hampered by the soggy ground. that was how the state of the three (dirty) old men came about. we tripped, fell and waded through very wet and muddy ground. we also had to wade through a short tunnel which was flooded in most parts. jason made a check and found that the tunnel runs under clementi road, near where maju camp is located.




when we reached this section, the track again was missing. soon, we found out the reason. the malaysian railway authorities have been dismantling the track. they are in the process of filling up the sections where they had removed the metal rails and the wooden sleepers. we saw a mountain of the ironwood sleepers quite close to the existing track.



while we were walking towards the bukit timah station, a northbound goods train came along. at the station, we struck up a conversation with the attendant. he told us of his encounter with a huge snake in the tunnel. as he was alone at that time, he took the wiser move of not proceeding and so he turned back.




the three dirty old men at the end of the trek. jason actually cannot qualify as an old man although he retired before me. i think he retired about 5 years ago, at the age of 45.

14 comments:

Lam Chun See said...

Interesting. Got chance must give this trek a try. Hope don't have to wait till I retire.

peter said...

u mean the tunnel under clementi road now "passable"? I thot full of under-growth last time I saw it.

Icemoon said...

The mountain of sleepers might belong to the existing track, not Jurong Railway. Track rehabilitation - most noticeably the change to concrete sleepers.

Nice 29 Class with (what I think) BCF behind (boogie container flat).

Icemoon said...

Peter, should have given yg the photo of the tunnel, then we have the second shot!

Maybe Chun See can give the trek and second shot a try, heehee.

yg said...

peter, the tunnel is definitely 'passable'. it's was flooded though; better to wear properly trekking shoes. a 'walking stick' comes in helpful.

icemoon, the pile of sleepers was a distance from the existing track, although there were some sleepers near to it.

yg said...

icemoon, you do know something about train. yes, this train was carrying a very long chain of container flats. didn't think of counting.

Victor said...

Do I see 4 spider eggs on the twig which the mother "horny" spider seems to be guarding?

yg said...

wow, victor, you are very observant. yes, i guess that was why it stayed put although we kept nudging it with a stick to move into a position whereby we could get a better shot. normally, if you disturb a spider, it will run away. do you want pictures of the spider?

Lam Chun See said...

Victor is always very observant; especially when it comes to horny subjects.

nah said...

It is strange that the four eggs were left exposed. Normally, spider eggs are stored in a silk bundle called egg sac. The egg sac protects the eggs against predators like ants and birds. Some spiders even carry the egg sac on its back.

yg said...

mr nah, maybe the spider was still in the process of making a sac when we distubed it.

passerby said...

Sorry for commenting on such a late entry, but I walked around this area last year - following the canal off Clementi Road (near Maju Road) all the way up to the KTM railway, and then walking down to Old Holland Road. I actually went to look for remnants of the Jurong Line but they only started becoming visible near a forested area (I saw some sleepers but was wearing the wrong clothes and got bitten by ants all over and had to turn back) I didn't realise the whole trail from Sunset Way was walkable - it looked rather track-less and full of surprise spider webs, the one thing I'll never get over when it comes to exploring places. Thank you for the nice photos, I was curious about the tunnel.

yg said...

hi passerby, you can actually get to the tunnel from clementi road, just opposite the maju camp. look for a small rectangular concrete structure by the side of the footpath. then look for a slope which will lead you to see the abandoned track and the tunnel.

passerby said...

Oh! Okay, I was thinking of the bit before Maju Camp (I think it's the former Lorong Gaung mentioned in Icemoon's post here http://2ndshot.blogspot.com/2008/08/old-tracks-new-trail-bridge-on-river.html) I'll definitely try the bit opposite next time, thanks!