Showing posts with label Train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Train. Show all posts

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Checheng Train Station (車埕火車站), Taichung - Taiwan

Checheng (車埕) town (N23.83384 E120.86641) is situated along our way to Sun Moon Lake. Our driver suggested to drop us here for photography session, and Yes! It was a beautiful small town!
This small town make us felt like walked into a 'time machine' that brought us back to the 50s...beside that, it has a rich history about the Last Train Station of Jiji (集集) Railway Line.

Our first visit was the Logging Museum, logging industry ushered the prosperity of the small town in the 40s - 50s. Too bad, we were late and the Museum was Just closed! What a Miss!

Logging Museum of Checheng Town


So I just snapped some photos of the Museum from the fence....

The Cafe in the Museum


We were attracted by a Enzyme and Wine shop which build by timber opposite the Museum, end up...we all bought a box of Enzyme. :)

Do you notice the old weighing machine beside the entrance? The Enzyme Shop

Friendly lady boss of the shop

Let me share some photos around the small town below...

In case you are lost...

Cafe which build by timber


The Police Station of Checheng

The restaurant, Homestay and the Brewery in one building.

The lane in the small town, Clean!
 
One of the cafe along the lane, but it was closed...

This small town was calm and peaceful, located nearby the Sun Moon Lake...according to our driver, the town will full of visitors and tourists on the weekend or public holiday. There's a tourist train to take passengers from Checheng Train Station to another tourist attraction nearby, but Not that day we visited. Too bad!

Below is the Historical Train Station of Che Cheng. The station was collapsed during the 921 Earthquake, and it was re-built by the Sun Moon Lake Tourism.

The whole station was build by timber

I like the buildings here very much! Because mostly constructed by timber...

The stage for some small musical function during the weekend

"The Checheng railway tracks have witnessed the construction of the hydropower station as well as the rise and fall of the logging industry at the Danda Forestry District. Now all we can see from those days are the coal platform, water tower, signal towel, and a few other pieces of old equipment that provide a nostalgic glimpse into those long-gone days.

The coal platform allowed workers to load coal onto the steam engines, and the unusual design of the stairs facilatied the carrying of coal up to the platform more easily and safely. The water tower provided for the transfer of water through a rubber hose into the engine's tank; from its resemblance to the long beak of the crane, it was called the "water crane".


The signal tower was moved here from Jhunan Station; in the old days, it displayed signals telling engineers how to proceed along the tracks. The old sawmill that was used to process logs has been renovated, bringing back from those early times memories that are reinforced by the workers' dormitories, other wooden structures and brick-walled, tile-roofed houese along the old streets."- by the Tourism.


The water tower with the "unusual stairs" and the coal platform. Signal tower was across the railway and the Hydropower Station at the back.


The Locomotive.

Do you know how to handle this machine?

And from the railway tracks...



We hanged around this beautiful small town for about an hour and continued our journey to Sun Moon Lake.
I wish I can put a night here in my next trip to Taiwan...

The Locomotive at Checheng Train Station (車埕火車站)

Related post :-
*  My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

Location Map of Checheng Small Town, Taichung - Taiwan


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Ipoh Railway Station, Perak

The Ipoh Railway Station is a lovely colonial-style structure built in 1917. (N4°35.851' E101°04.413') It's a Mughal style architecture of India, and it's also affectionately known as the Taj Mahal of Ipoh. It is indeed one of the more impressive landmarks in Ipoh. Today the Ipoh Railway Station houses the Majestic Hotel - previously known as the Station Hotel Ipoh. A beautifully landscaped floral garden surrounds this charming building. Source from AsiaExplorer.

Ipoh Railway Station.

The construction of the present railway station and hotel began in 1914 but was interrupted due to a shortage of materials and high costs of labour during World War I. And it was designed by AB Hubback.
The station has three platforms, commodious offices for railway staff, and a restaurant and bar. The hotel at first had 17 bedrooms opening out to the deep upper verandah; this was upgraded to 21 rooms by 1936. Source from Perak Info.

The species of 'Epau' tree (antiaris toxicaria), where the name of 'Ipoh' comes from, can be found in front of the railway station. Source from Malaysia Budget Hotel.

I love this colonial structure very much. We had a walk around the station after the MFM Gathering which was held at Dome Cafe of the Hotel...

The entrance before the ticket counter and waiting area.

The ticket counter.

You can check the Time Table and the Fees here.

The Platform

Too bad there was no train at that moment.




View Larger Map

Our Ipoh Trip (Aug 2009)
* New Caspian Budget Hotel at Ipoh, Perak (D1)
* Lou Wong Bean Sprout Chicken Rice at Ipoh, Perak. (D1)
* Tuck Kee Noodle Restuarant at Ipoh, Perak (D1)
* Chang Keong Dim Sum at Ipoh (D2)
* Perak Cave at Ipoh, Perak. (D2)
* The Lost World Of Tambun, Perak (D2)
* Tat Seng Salted Chicken at Ipoh, Perak (D2)
* Yee Fatt Dry Curry Noodle in Ipoh, Perak (D3)
* Yong Tau Foo under 'The Tree' in Ipoh, Perak. (D3)





MY TRIPS - Home

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Funicular Train Station at Penang Hill, Ayer Itam - Penang

Me and Lau went for the tickets booking on 12.30pm.
This Tourist Spot had been changed a lot! My last visit was 25 years ago....

The Penang Hill Funicular Train Station

The History of the Railway Station :-
* Construction of the railway took place between 1906 to 1923, at a cost of 1.5 million Straits dollars. The railway was opened to the public on October 21, 1923. The 2,007 m (1 mile 435 yard) journey takes about half an hour and the train may stop at intermediate stations upon request.

On the left, there is the Entrance of the Railway and also the ticket counter.

The Ticket Counter building. (Left after the main gate)

There are many Souvenirs shop on the right....

Souvenirs Shop on the right.

The queue was really Long when we were there...it's took us about 30 minutes to get our 5.00pm tickets. The timing was just right during that time, because others tickets was sold! We got our Last 4 tickets and the following ticket was 5.30pm onwards.

Ticket for the Funicular Train to Penang Hill :-
MYR4.00 for adults
MYR2.00 for children (Below 12 years old)

The train operating hours was from 7.00am to 11.15pm. Extend due to Festive Season, normally the last train is 10.00pm.

We have our rest at the coffee shop beside 1926 Heritage Hotel....and also fill up our stomach.
We started to to drive from the Hotel on 3.30pm. Because of the heavy traffic jam, we don't wanna miss the train. (The total journey from the Hotel to the Penang Hill Station is 7.4km)

The timing was just right when we reached. Everyone were anxiously waiting for the train...

The railway of the train.

After about 15 minutes waiting, the train finally arrived....(The interval was 15 minutes...)


And it's packed with peoples....looks like sardin!


The Control Cabin of the Train.

We choose the last cabin which you can enjoy the view from behind...

Do you think it's 'Creative' enough to hang the 2 table fans like this way?!!

Scenic view along the way....there's a staircase beside the railway, I don't think it's not for hiker....maybe it's maintenance.


The cable which is pulling the train and release on the other train...
The local called 'Cable Car' instead of Funicular Train...

The Famous Red Swiss made Funicular Train can carry up to 80 passengers per trip, and manufactured by Habegger Engineering Work on the year of 1977. (Empty weight : 7.5 tons)

It passed by many small station along the way....that are for those residents who stayed around the hill.

Claremont Station

We need to change to the other train in the middle of the journey. Every passengers were rushing to the other train during that time, while I took out my camera....they all already inside the other train...
Before it reach the peak, it went through one tunnel which is constructed many years ago. There's not enough time for me to capture the year that embossed on the wall.
The total journey took almost 30 minutes.

To be continue....

Penang Trip - Chinese New Year 2009 :-
* Dengkil R & R (RSA) Area - Selangor
* Sing Tat Garden Hawker Center, Butterworth
* Blossom Seafood Steamboat at Auto City, Butterworth
* The Nine Emperor Gods Temple (九皇大帝) at Jalan Raja Uda, Butterworth
* Long House Seafood Restaurant, Batu Kawan - Butterworth
* Auto City of Juru - Butterworth
* 1926 Heritage Hotel at Burmah Road, Penang
* Top of Penang Hill (Flagstaff Hill), Penang
* David Brown's Restaurant, Penang Hill - Penang
* Bellevue Hotel at Penang Hill, Penang
* Famous Tau Sar Pneah of Penang
* My CNY Penang Trip





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Monday, January 12, 2009

Kluang Railway Station Coffee, Johor

We enjoyed the ride, the train journey took exactly 70 minutes from Kempas to Kluang.
Once the train reached Kluang, the situation surprised me! The station (N2°02.000' E103°19.055') was full of passengers, and I saw we are the only group get down from the train, others were got up to the train and travel to North. (The train only stop for One minute)


You won't be surprise that there are many backpackers on the train...

After one minute, the line was clear!

And the station is back to peace and quite...

Kenny was the first one to 'jump' into the ticket counter to buy the return tickets. But due to unforeseen circumstances, it was unexpected fully booked! Without any choices, we decided to buy Express Bus ticket back to Johor Bahru.

Despite any status of the return ticket, we still need to fill up our stomach at this Famous Kluang Rail Cafe (since 1938). This is one of our purpose to Kluang. It's situated exactly in the Railway Station, and this 'small' cafe was so crowded on the Sunday morning.

The queue at the entrance...

After 15 minutes queue, we managed to get a table. What we did was 'fill' up the table as we can! Haha!


The reason was...we wanna taste everything which sell by the shop! :)
The packs on the table are Nasi Lemak and Mee-Siam. I will advise you to take those mee-siam which is in the plastic container, it was really good! And don't forget to order the Toasted Bread, it's serve with the homemade 'Kaya' and butter...Nice! (Pictures below...)

Mee-Siam in the plastic container.

Toasted Bread. It's grilled on 'charcoal', different taste from those oven toasted. Must try!

Importantly, don't forget to order a cup of the well-known hand roasted coffee. The aroma of the coffee was amazing! You will like it especially if you are a coffee lover.

Beside that, the half boiled eggs is also part of the breakfast.

We were really enjoy our breakfast at this Kluang Railway Cafe. Especially the 2 kids, they having their breakfast without any noise! :)

Some are busy taking photos....and some are busy with their bread...


The face expression from the little girl tell you how good the toasted bread was! She is my little princess...

The cafe is existed since 1938, before the Independence of Malaya. Until now, the third generation of the Lim's family is running the business. The setting is still the same since the cafe started...today, it goes with the name - "Kluang Rail coffee".
The franchise business of this cafe are everywhere within Malaysia today. But many customers still come back here for the original taste of the Coffee & Toasted Bread.

Business Hour :-
Friday to Wednesday
7.00am - 12.00pm
2.30pm - 6.00pm
Close on Thursday

The history of the cafe is witness by the patrons everyday...


The boss is busy brewing the coffee...

I will not say the foods and drinks serve by this cafe is heavenly fantastic, but it's special!
Experience your breakfast at this rustic ambience coffee shop, and don't forget to walk around this simple and classic train station...

Once our stomach full, we continue our journey...

Kluang Day Trip 4th JAN 2009 :-
*
Kempas Railway Station (KTM), Johor Bahru
* Kluang Fire Department, Johor.

* Kluang Bus Terminal, Johor
* Sam Kee BBQ Place, Kluang - Johor






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