Adventures of the Old Jurong Line Part 2

On 20 Dec 2008, I explored the defunct Jurong Line with a few fellow bloggers. Subsequently, I blogged a bit about my trip along the Old Jurong Line. After I had published the post Adventures of the Old Jurong Line, Chun See shared with me copies of pretty old maps of Singapore that showed the routes that we had taken.

I may disappoint Chun See and readers by not including any sketch of the routes that we had taken while we were on our adventures along the Old Jurong Line. Anyway, I shall attempt to outline our route using words.

1) Meet at car park next to Clementi MRT station (Blk 324/326).
2) Drive to Sunset Way, and park car at carpark along Clementi St 14.
3) Walk across the railway bridge that ran over Sunset Way.
4) Walk across the railway bridge that ran over River Ulu Pandan.
5) Walk under a part of the Clementi Ave 6 flyover.
6) Walk under the Commonwealth Ave flyover.
7) Head towards Faber Terrace and walk under the Faber Heights bridge for vehicles.
8) Keep walking parallel to AYE until we cross the railway bridge that ran over River Pandan.
9) Continue walking till we are walking under the Teban Flyover.
10) Get back to the car and drive from Jurong Town Hall Road to Teban Carden.
11) Check out the stretch of the railway line under the Teban Flyover.
12) Drive to Penjuru Road/Teban Garden Crescent and check out the stretch up to Sungei Jurong. Parts of the traffic lights junction/gate still there.
13) Drive to former Jurong Ice Skating Rink for Lunch.
14) Check out the stretch of the railway that runs opposite the now demolished Tang City.
15) Check out Jurong Port Road and Tanjong Kling Road section.
16) Return to Clementi MRT station.

In my post, Adventures of the Old Jurong Line, I had written about the journey from 1) to 5). Look at the photograph just right below, we were approaching the Commonwealth Ave Flyover which ran almost parallel to the SMRT tracks that run between Jurong East station and Clementi station. I won't know that the Old Jurong Line had used to run under the Commonwealth Ave Flyover.


As we continued walking, Peter shared with me some interesting anecdotes of the Japanese invasion of Singapore during the World War II period. I was intrigued with this part of the history of Singapore that it was a pleasure to listen to Peter's sharing. Soon, we came to the Faber Heights bridge for vehicles. Did you notice the railway tracks that ran under the bridge?

The Faber Heights vehicular bridge. Do read Icemoon's post.

I shall not go into the details of how we trekked marshy, wet and soft grounds just so that we can be walking along the Old Jurong Line. It was an experience that I won't usually have. Anyway, as we trekked parallel to Faber Walk, we came across two domestic helpers who were trying to saw off the branches of a fairly large tree-like plant. What were they using to saw the branches? Mind you, they weren't using a saw. They were using a kitchen chopper! They said that was what was given to them.

Along the way, we saw pots of plants grown by the private-estate dwellers. Chun See tried to identify the names of the plants and told us their names in delight. We saw ginger plant and more. However, the most beautiful of all was found along the railway tracks.



I would say that morning glory is the most beautiful kind of flower that grew along the railway tracks. We saw not just one, but a number of morning glory along the Old Jurong Line. Did the railway track attract the morning glory?

Along the way, we saw a marker. I have no idea what it was meant to serve as. Does anyone have any clue?



We continued walking. I felt good about my physique that I was still able to manage such a long trek from Sunset Way to the part of River Pandan. Soon, we reached River Pandan (known commonly as Sungei Pandan) and there was a railway bridge to be crossed. For now, please enjoy the lovely sights near River Pandan, and the part of the railway that ran over River Pandan. This railway bridge that ran over River Pandan was by far the easiest to cross among the three railway bridges that I had crossed that day. It was simply because a boardwalk was built over this very railway bridge.






Icemoon has written an interesting blog post about our expedition group's adventures along the Old Jurong Line, and I would strongly recommend that you read his post Old Tracks, New Trail (3) - Track Excavation at Jurong Port Road.

In the meantime, please stay tuned to Part 3 of this series.