Farewell, Tanjong Pagar Railway Station

The last train rolled into Tanjong Pagar Railway Station last night  (June 30). Hundreds of people crowded the historic building yesterday, for their last chance to see trains arriving at the tracks. If we count the many others who have streamed in over the past month, the figure would probably be closer to thousands, or even tens of thousands.

Although I was on afternoon duty yesterday, I’d toyed with the idea of heading out to the King Albert Park area to grab some shots of the 8am train headed for Johor. However, I had worked the late shift the night before, and stayed up till late to finish up the previous blog post. I decided that I would be too tired to work if I went. As it turned out, it rained cats and dogs in the morning, and I would have been drenched from head to toe, and dead like zombie at the office if I had gone.

Anyway, here’s the best of the other photos I took during my visit there earlier this week. All photos on Kodak Portra 160VC, taken with the Nikon F6 and AFS 24mm f1.4.

A train driver on the walkie talkie as the train pulls out of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.

A peek into the ticket office.

A Thank-You note from one of the stallholders in the station.

The black-and-white TV in the cafeteria.

Cafeteria staff taking photos for keepsake.

Plenty of business at the burger stall, judging from the trays of eggs readily stacked up there.

Clearing out the furniture from the Quick Baggage office. It was still in operation when I visited last December.

Cleaners mopping the floor after passengers for the 8am northbound train have gone onto the platform.

The empty waiting area, after the passengers for the morning train have cleared out. The next train was at 1pm.

One of the station masters walking from the platform to the office after the morning train has departed.

That’s one expensive T-shirt at $25! I’m sure there are plenty of takers though. Unsurprisingly, I heard that the keychains were the best sellers.

A life-sized cutout welcomes you to the platform. A little windy here eh?

A train worker taking a puff as he waits for the train to pull out of the station back to Malaysia.

One of the few photographers I spotted during my ride on the northbound train.

An eager shooter taking pictures from outside the platform.

Under the warm evening sun, a KTM train parked in the station, ready to depart.

Will the memories of the station fade away?

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a train buff, but I do like taking trains. Maybe it’s got to do with my year-long university exchange stint at Waseda University in Japan, during which I had travelled extensively by the country’s very efficient and punctual train services.

Somehow, despite the downpour yesterday morning, I wished I had gone down to the tracks to take some photos. It’s rather ironic that I used to study in a school located so close to the tracks at Bukit Timah Road, and yet had never spotted a train pass by. (I was in Hwa Chong Junior College) I’d actually thought the tracks were not in use anymore!

I guess I can take consolation that I did visit the train station twice before it closed for business, and took the train once. I’d also had a glimpse of the Orient Express train arriving at the station. (I later found out that there are only a few trips every month.)

Here’s hoping that the authorities do a classy job of preserving the building and the memories behind it.

Links to my December visit: part 1 here, and part 2 here.