Photo of railway bridge over River Ulu Pandan taken by Icemoon.I had crossed this bridge on 20 Dec 2008.
In one of my past entries, Managing fears: I have conquered a bridge, I have shared my good fortune to be given the privilege to join heritage-bloggers, Chun See, Icemoon, Peter and Preetamrai to walk along parts of the Old Jurong Line and to explore this now defunct railway line on 20 Dec 2008.
I am still trying to better appreciate the history behind the Old Jurong Line, so please forgive me that I will not be writing too much of the historical facts behind this defunct railway line. What I shall attempt to share here will be some of my adventurous experiences exploring the Old Jurong Line.
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Our adventures for the day started at our meeting point: The car-park in front of Blk 326 Clementi. We met at about 9 a.m. My heartfelt appreciation to Chun See for his generosity in offering to give us a ride on his car to make our exploration of the Old Jurong Line slightly less physically daunting.
My thanks to Icemoon. He was very thoughtful to remember that I wish to explore the part of the Old Jurong Line near the Sunset Way area, and he made a counter-proposal to Chun See's original plan. Thanks to Icemoon's counterproposal and Chun See's willingness to accept the counter-proposal, I had the chance to cross the railway bridges that ran over Sunset Way and River Ulu Pandan, and learnt to overcome some of my fears of height.
Our first stop after departing the meeting point at Blk 326 Clementi was Sunset Way. It was a fascinating experience. I walked with the rest of the team to a jungled area of Sunset Way and found myself fascinated with searching for remnants of the railway tracks as I walked about the grassy area. I won't have done that on my own, and I was so thrilled that I was able to be on the adventure of exploring the Jurong Line.
As we continued walking, we came to a short railway bridge that ran over Sunset Way. I crossed it with a tinge of hesitance, and when I crossed it, I felt a sense of pride. After that bridge, we walked quite a while until we came to the railway bridge that ran over River Ulu Pandan. That was a challenging cross. Thankfully, I managed to cross it!
After the most challenging cross, we continued walking. I was impressed with Chun See's knowledge of fruit trees. He can tell what fruit trees that we came across simply by looking at them.
Interestingly, I noticed from a distance an elderly man who was sweeping the railway tracks. Was he the guardian of the Old Jurong Line?
Walking. It had been a relaxing walk along the Old Jurong Line that day. As we continued walking, we came to the part of the railway line that ran under the Clementi Ave 6 flyover. I recalled that on a few occasions, I had travelled via the Clementi Ave 6 flyover on my way to the National University of Singapore. It somehow was enlightening to walk along the Old Jurong Line that lied just below it. I wondered when the flyover was built, and how on earth someone could build a flyover over a railway line, if it had been in use back then.
Clementi Ave 6 Flyover.Look at the photograph below of an area that is nearby the Clementi Ave 6 Flyover. Peter shared with me that the railway tracks were buried underneath the sands. It looks like that part of the railway line would be forever be lost to history?
Where did we go after that? Stay tuned for more please.
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Related posts:
Adventures of the Old Jurong Line Part 4
Adventures of the Old Jurong Line Part 3
Adventures of the Old Jurong Line Part 2
Managing fears: I have conquered a bridge
8 comments:
PY. Pls don't thank me anymore. Once is enough. I had a great time myself. Good exercise too. Too bad Wee Kiat couldn't make it. I think it was an eye-opener for you eh? I mean to see some places that most Sporeans would not visit normally.
By the way, the part behind Faber Terrace where my friend lived; he said there are snakes there! Go thing we did not encounter any.
Is it illegel to cross the btidge? Will I be catch by the police?
PY,
Interesting post on your field trip discovery with the "old timers". It was an informative read with nice photos you have snapped. I'm not sure if we can find such information of such places that are fast disappearing. Enjoyed reading it.
Chun See: Thanks for the maps that you have sent. Are there copyright issues in publishing them the way you have sent me?
I am glad that we were lucky that day! No snakes and we had pretty good weather.
Dew: I have crossed the bridge, with many others, and nothing happened to us. Furthermore, I don't see any sign that indicates that we can't cross the bridge.
However, please cross it carefully, at your own risk, because it is afterall a railway bridge meant for trains, and not for pedestrains.
Ordinary Guy: Hi, I am glad that you have enjoyed the post. Icemoon had blogged about our field trip some time ago. My post is intended to be an account of my personal experiences, and less about the information on the railway.
Is anyone organizing a trip to the bridge via sunset way?
Dew: I am not aware if there's anyone who will be organising such a trip that you have had in mind.
If you are just interested in crossing the short bridge over Sunset Way, I could still accompany you. If you wish to cross the longer, more adventurous bridge that runs over River Ulu Pandan (i.e. the bridge you see on the first photo of this post), you may have to look for other people.
Dew: I am free for this whole month. Chun See could you bring me to the bridge above Ulu Pandan
River?
Anonymous: You could consider visiting the Ulu Pandan River on your own.
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