The End of the Line

As we rushed through "modernization", many aspects of our society have been left behind to die a natural death.  One such traditional institution that has become a victim of modernization is the old railway line and everything related to it.   Railway stations that have been built more than a century ago, can no longer serve the needs of the modern times.   Many of them were left idle, to die a natural death.  Others were not so lucky - they were demolished and new ones have been built in their place.  Yet, there are others which have disappeared without a trace.

This one above was the first to be built and the first to go.    It was the first railway station built in Malaysia for the line which linked Taiping to Port Weld.  The line was used mainly to transport the valuable tin-ore from the Larut tin mines to Port Weld where they were shipped away.  As the port lost its importance, so did the line. And today, all that remains is this board.  The station is gone and so is the line.  Even the town has its name changed to Kuala Sepetang.   Fortunately, some wise folks have decided to keep this board from the old railway station as something the future generation can feel proud of about their humble town.

This railway station too is just waiting for its time to go.  Even the signboards - the ones in white - as seen in this picture, were constructed more than a century ago and is still standing, will be replaced soon by "modern" ones in blue.  At present, the signboards at Kuala Kangsar and Taiping railway stations are already gone. 

LEVEL CROSSINGS

Along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, we are now seeing the disappearance of the old time level crossings, where gates were closed to road traffic when the train is crossing the road.  Today, gradually most of these gates or level crossings have been replaced by fly-overs.  Of course, it is more efficient this way and it also reduces the chances of accidents due to human error at these crossings. We cannot but feel a sense of loss when these level crossings are all gone.  The only ones that can still be found are along the railway line that runs along the east coast.  Along the west coast, only a few remained and these too have their days numbered.

This level crossing is at Gunung Semanggol, along the line from Taiping to Butterworth, going across the road from Kamunting to Gunung Semanggol.  This road will be closed when the fly-over is ready.  

This is the same level crossing as the above, but as you can see, construction of a fly-over is in progress.  In fact, by the time this picture is published in this blog, the level crossing no longer exists.  The fly-over has been built, this road is now closed to all traffic and the level crossing was demolished.

This level crossing is more fortunate because it will not be replaced by a fly-over so soon.. It is located at Sungai Petani, Kedah, and the construction of the double track railway will not reach there so soon.  The focus of the construction activities, at present, is centred along the the Ipoh - Butterworth line.  

FALIM RAILWAY DEPOT

 

This is the remains of the railway depot station at Falim, near Ipoh.  The place has  been razed to the ground and there is no sign of the depot except this building and a display railway wagon by its side. 

This piece of display wagon still stands on the depot ground.  I think it is a wagon that was used to carry important cargo, perhaps cash, because of its solid steal walls and doors.

There is no sign-board to tell us anything about this wagon.  On closer look, we could see that this wagon was made to the Indian Railway Standard in 1944.