Thursday, September 11, 2014

Old Clementi Railway

Old Clementi Railway is an abandoned railway. This railway is the former Jurong line which is 14KM in length. What is left of it now is just a few sections of decaying rail tracks. This trip does not try to trace the complete 14 KM. The effort is just to try some section of it along Ulu Pandan PC.

Due to convenience sake, the trip starts at a bus stop near Nan Hua Primary along Commonwealth Ave West. A walk to Jln Lembing then Faber Dr with the intention to find one section still indicated in OpenStreetMap (OSM). Unfortunately it is totally not accessible. I have no choice but continue through a park to climb up a staircase to access to Faber Heights an thereafter to the Ulu Pandan PC.

The first plant seems new to me. I guess it is a Memecylon but could be a Syzygium instead. Unless the flower blooms, it is very hard to judge. This plant is at Faber Walk.


Along Faber Walk, there are quite a number of Red Powderpuff trees with bees flying around. I did not take any picture as the flower is relatively small and not so nice.

There are quite a number of private housing along Faber Heights. I saw this Starfruit tree with flowers and fruit.



At Ulu Pandan PC, there is an opening at the undrepass of Commonwealth Ave West. It seems to be quite close to the rail track. I walked over it and did see the track in front and behind me. I walked backwards towards the west to see where it leads and to my dismay it only last a couple of meters before disappearing totally but I can still see an opening in front. Since the distance backwards is quite short, I decided to continue forward to the east instead.

One thing to note is that I am not keen to take pictures of the rail. The trip is basically a flora fauna photography trip. http://remembersingapore.wordpress.com/singapore-railway/ has a much better documentation on the track.

A short distance after the underpass, the track actually goes underground. It is probably due to land fill near the Singapore Buddhist Youth Mission. I strayed into a garden to the left and talked to a old gentleman who is tending to the garden. He kindly told me that the rail is indeed under ground. He suggest me to continue walking above the land fill and the track will be further down the opening.

From the map it is indeed a walking path indicated instead of a rail track. I took the advice and continues the trip. The track appears near underpass at Clement Ave 6. To the right of it is some sort of garden or farm. To the left it seems to be an abandoned building site.  I tried the right hand side when I reached a crossing where a path leads to HDB Blk 305.

The abandoned building looks weird. It is more like a cemetery site but without any tomb stones. It looks like a Muslim burial site but I can't make out the tombs thus backed out of the place.

I went to the right into the farm/garden. There is a sign board that says it is a temporary garden.   Here I took a few pictures of a Passion fruit.


A spider egg nursery is found but I just can't find any information besides that it is probably a Jumping Spider egg sac.


There are, of course, some other plants but they are too common to warrant a picture of it. I contined the track and came to an end before an overpass across the PC and the river. The crossing is probably too dangerous for people so it was blocked up. Just before the overpass, the rail actually hangs above ground with its sleepers still attached. This is probably to the land sunk in below it.

Luckily there is a foot path leading down to the PC. I continued down the PC to cross the river further down.  This Cockspur Coral Flower along the river looks too nice to miss.



After crossing the river, I go back towards the rail. There is no footpath that leads to the rail so I just had to make one. Managed to take a picture of the rusty rail crossing.


Right after I reached the rail that I realize there is another blocking of the rail overpass above Sunset Way. I had no choice but to walk towards it then climb down by the side to reach Sunset Way. Crossing the road, I tried again to climb up to the rail as there is again no footpath leading up. Had to resort to all four limbs just to do that.

To my dismay, a few meters down the rail and the path ended with a "No Trepassing" sign board. Being a law abiding citizen, I had to end the trip right here. I would very much like to continue to the Green Corridor but resisted from doing so.


Just before I turned off, I saw a blue dragonfly.



Walking along Sunset Way,  I took a picture of a Malayan Eyebright out of boredom.


The trip is a disappointment. Not much nature pictures available and a lot of obstacles and detours. I would not encourage others to follow my footstep thus both the album and track info are omitted. Anyhow, the route is 3.9 KM. The actual track is probably 1/4 of it.

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