The pair of us have had another busy day here at Bigland Towers. Dawn’s been slaving away in her home office downstairs, having her day packed with online meetings and vast amounts of paperwork and spreadsheets. Remember the concept of the ‘paperless office’? It never happened, but at least this houshold doesn’t generate anywhere near as much as we once did.
Whilst Dee was busy downstairs I’ve been kept busy upstairs. I’ve almost finished editing and captioning my Asia travel pictures. The latest batches can be found if you follow these links to either the rail or travel images. Out of the pair of use I was the luckier one as I was able to tear myself away from my desk for an hour late this afternoon in order to complet my daily walk which I combined with a visit to our local supermarket to post some mail. I even made a detour via our local pub, the ‘Big 6’ for a quick pint. We visit infrequently nowadays. This was my first time over the threshold since I got back from Asia. Appropriately, the beer I chose was a pint of Elland brewery’s ‘Tank Engine’, a zesty pale ale at 4.8%. After a few months away where the only beer that passed my lips was lager it was lovely to taste a proper pint of bitter – but just the one mind!
When I returned home Dee was still bashing the computer keys so I took over domestic chores including cooking. Well, reheating really. I didn’t have to prepare anything fresh. Instead, we’d taken one of Dee’s home-cooked prawn and chorizo risottos out of the freezer. They’re spicy, filling and delicious! Now it’s time to switch off and relax for the rest of the evening before another busy day tomorrow. Dawn’s in the CRN office tomorrow but I’ll be at my desk in order to finish off the last few Asia pics which will leave me free to focus on other jobs next week – and even get out with the camera to catch up on the UK rail scene – although I’m not sure where I’ll go yet. There’s plenty to look at West of here, so it all depends on the weather.
Now I’ll leave you with the picture of the day, which has nothing to do with architecture or trains for a change. This time it’s flowers. I’d no idea what this particular bloom was that I’d photographed in Kuala Lumpur but it’s been identified thanks to my old friend Peter Mugridge. Here’s Cheilocostus speciosus, or crêpe ginger.
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Today was my first Monday back at work and the past two months travels already seem like a dream if it wasn’t for the fact I’ve all the pictures that prove it was real. Oh, and a tan! Jet lag is already receding. I’m still waking up early but not half-way through the night, although tiredness in the evening is still hitting me. It’s not as if I’ve been exerting myself physically as I’ve been stuck behind a desk for the vast majority of the day because I’ve been busy wading through emails and a pile of real mail that’s been accumulating whilst I’ve been away. Then there’s been the weather. We had heavy, gusting rain during the night that’s disposed of all of the remaining snow. The rain returned this morning and never really went away. Persistent precipitation meant that I didn’t even get out for a walk today – making it only the second time I’ve not hit my steps target this year. I’m hoping to make up for that tomorrow although the forecast looks bleak.
On the bright side, I’ve got a lot done today even though I’ve been trying to ease myself back in to my usual routine slowly. I’ve edited the final selection of pictures from my trip although most of them still need to have captions added. I did get a few dozen completed which you can find in the Malaysian gallery (link) on my Zenfolio website. There’s many more to follow tomorrow. Now it’s time to call it a day as the jet lag’s beginning to catch up with me and I’m planning on an early night. But, before I go I’ll leave you with a sample shot from my latest Malaysian pictures.
Homelessness is a problem in Malaysia, just as it is in the UK, although as a more developed and richer country we have even less of an excuse to allow it to happen. People find all sorts of temporary places to live. In the case of the chap in the green shirt it’s the bus station underneath the Komtar centre which provides a roof over his head (and that of several others). His belongings are hung on the rail next to him and stored underneath seats to the right. With the constant to-ing and fro-ing of buses it’s hardly the quietest or least polluted place to live, but at least it’s safe…
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There’s another rolling blog from me today as I’m on the move again. It’s time to say goodbye to KL and begin the trek back towards Singapore ready for my flight back to the UK on Saturday. Shortly, I’ll begin my journey from Pasir Seni to KL Sentral to catch train EG9321, the 12:10 to Gemas, which is the junction for the ‘jungle railway’ up the East Coast to Tumpat. It’s also the present limit of electrification so it’s where I change to a diesel-hauled service which will take me down to Johor Baru.
I’ll blog throughout the day, so feel free to keep popping back and see how the trip goes. I won’t get to JB until late this evening which means there’ll be plenty to write about…
12:34.
The journey to KL Sentral was easy. The MRT station at Pasir Seni was only a couple of hundred yards away from my hotel.
First train of the day. On the MRT heading to Sentral
From there it’s one stop to Sentral which despite it’s size, is hardly a busy station as there’s so few trains at the moment due to the Klang valley double tracking project having such an impact on capacity. There’s also acres of wasted space.
Waterloo it ain’t…
Sadly, KTM have gone down the airline route of corralling passengers in waiting areas, only letting them down onto the platform a few minutes before the train’s due.
When my train turned up it was stopped short on the long platform to allow departing passengers off first. I then crawled forward to pick up the next load. Us! I can sort of see the logic in this but when you consider how most railway work this does seem a time-consuming faff.
Now I’m on-board ETS 204. One of the earlier CRRC sets built in 2014.
14:00.
A few minutes ago we left Seremban. It’s the furthest point on the KL commuter network and home depot for the SCS trainsets. It also retains one of the old station buildings, which makes it a rather attractive place.
15:15.
Despite our late departure from KL our train had no trouble making up time and delivered us to Gemas spot on 14:50. It’s a cross-platform Interchange here so I went from this…
ETS204 at Gemas, having left Butterworth this morning the set’s preparing to head back North.‘Blue Tiger’ 26113 ready to take us to Johor Baru. It’s unusual to find this class of loco working passenger trains.
17:15.
We’ve just stopped in the middle of nowhere to let a Northbound service pass. Whilst the track has been doubled at the MP 642.75 (just North of Paloh) it hasn’t been fully commissioned and only works as a passing loop. It was a great location to stop as the rather nice house on a hill was nearby, surrounded by new palm oil plantations.
There’s worse places to live, and at least you won’t get flooded…
23:30 (Malay time).
Apologies for the blogging gap. It’s been for several reasons One was because I was too busy watching the world go by, and the second was that my Singaporean friend Nicholas Lim had travelled up to Kluang to join me on the trip down to Johor Baru! What I’d missed whilst I was in KL was that the state of Johor had been hit by torrential rain this week which has led to extreme flooding. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never known it as wet this time of year, but Johor really has copped for it. When we left Gemas I saw sights around the railway like this. Low-lying land totally under water. Thankfully the railway has been rebuilt and raised otherwise there’s no way I’d have got back to Singapore by land.
The next person who tells me climate change is a myth is going to get a real mouthful. I’ve been travelling this part of the world for 31 years and I’ve never known the weather to be so unpredictable.
Fortunately, the floods were subsiding and the weather was picking up, so I could snatch the occasional picture from an open train door, although this crew were rather strict about me doing so.
Passing an up train in the middle of nowhere North of Paloh. This is a temporary loop until the double-tracking is completed.
Nick joined me at Kluang. As we’d seats reserved in different coaches we adjourned to the buffet car where we could sit together. Now, I know Mark (the man in seat 61) recommends independent ticketing companies where you pay a fee, but I’d heartily recommend the KITS app from KTM. Not only is it so easy to use but you get to choose your seat (the others don’t let you) you also get to see just how many seats are available on the train you’re looking at. Plus, you get instant confirmation that you have a ticket and you can download it straight away, or just save it in the app.
We had a great journey, with Nick giving me some very interesting historical andbackground info on Malaysian railways operations. At JB we parted company until tomorrow. I’m back in the hotel I stayed in when I first arrived but I have to say it’s not what I first experienced. I’ve now got a crap room on the 5th floor which is lacking so many things – a flushing toilet being one of them! If I was staying for more than one night I’d be kicking up merry hell, but it’s literally just a place to crash for the night. Johor Baru’s an odd place. You’d think it would be trying to mirror Singapore on the other side of the causeway – and in some (foreign investment) ways it does, but it also feels really seedy. Looking at my hotel I’m surprised they don’t rent rooms by the hour. There’s a few very unattractive ‘ladies of the night’ hanging around the main drag, although I suspect ladies may be too gender specific. There’s a backstreet off the main drag called Jalan Meldrum (no, really!) which seems to have the most life as one side of the street’s lined with restaurants. I did escape my hotel for an hour and had a rare (and bloody expensive) beer so that I could watch the world go by. Like everywhere in Malaysia all the different communities mixed freely, but it’s not a patch on Georgetown.
I don’t believe it!
Anyways. I’m off to nice, clean and even more expensive Singapore tomorrow. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the place – far from it. When I’ve been travelling the backwaters of Asia it was always a great place to dip into for a few days. I christened it ‘the land where everything works’ (even in the cheap seats). It’s just all a little more safe and sanitised.
Time to bring this blog to a close. I’m going to be up early as there’s a lot of pictures I want to get before catching the 11:30 shuttle train across the border to Woodlands.
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My final full day in Kuala Lumpur (on this trip, anyway) was one of those days where I’d no expectations so just went with the flow and the day was all the better for it. I was up early, nipped out for breakfast and was back at my desk just after nine. This prompted me to to do the research for my earlier ‘crazy anti HS2 campaigner of the week’ blog as I’d seen their nonsense on social media earlier. I do despair of the English and Welsh ‘green’ party (The Scots have their own which is far more sensible) as it’s so out of step with European green parties when it comes to railways and actual solutions to climate-change, rather than just protesting and posturing. The greens have always been much happier protesting as it means they don’t have to come up with solutions and make the compromises we need to tackle climate change. Instead they can just play ‘holier than thou’.
Having got that off my chest and edited more pictures from the past few days the day changed. Social media can be very divorced from reality. You have ‘friends’ or followers whom you’ve never met and probably never will. I’m fortunate enough to have met several and found they’re just as likeable in real life as they are on the internet. Today was a good example. Alan Bligh and I follow each other on Twitter as we share the same interests and some friends. Alan also reads this blog and following something I’d posted earlier about my enjoyment of Laksa he extended an invitation to meet up for lunch at a place in the suburbs of KL he highly recommended so that he could introduce me to Sarawak Laksa. Why would I say no?
I had a lovely afternoon. Alan was a very gracious and informative host. His parentage is a mix of English and Singaporean and his family history’s fascinating. I learned an awful lot about life here in Malaysia which I found really interesting. It’s the sort of insight you can only get by talking to someone who’s led a full life. We ended up talking for several hours – and not just about railways.
Alan with a bowl of Shrimp Laksa
Oh, by the way, the food was delicious! Laksa is a dish that has so many variations depending on where in Malaysia you are. Alan told me there’s yet another variation where I’ll be tomorrow because a previous Sultan of Johor Baru liked spaghetti so that was added to the mix. I may have to seek it out.
After being dropped off back at my hotel I’d intended to head out to get a few more rail pictures but the glorious blue skies we’d enjoyed this morning had changed to dull cloud so I opted for a wander around the area where I’m staying and ventured further afield in order to take some street-scenes. I’m glad I did because as I walked back past the local Hindu temple they were setting up for a procession – the one thing I’ve not seen on this trip. This being 2023 the two gods on tour were in rubber wheeled palanquins towed by the sort of tractor you’d have found at airports followed by a lorry carrying a generator which was hooked up through cables to power all the lights. It’s a far cry from when the gods would have been carried on several sturdy shoulders. But, when you see the physiques of some of the priests who would be carried along with the Gods, you can understand why.
The whole thing was great fun and the people were very friendly to a curious photographer like me. Here’s a short video of the procession.
Now I’m relaxing back at the hotel, writing this in-between packing as I catch a brace of trains tomorrow in order to head South to Johor Baru once more. I’ll blog about the trip as it happens. In the meantime, here’s a couple of pictures from today.
One of the Gods gets lifted into a cart before going for a ride around town. I couldn’t work out if the route followed some religious boundary as they crossed the river, and no-one could explain.No event like this is complete without music…
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I’ve had an enforced lazy Sunday today. It’s nothing to do with my back as that’s pretty much fixed now. The weather here in KL was gloriously sunny this morning so after finishing a few chores and nipping out of my more usual Roti Canai breakfast.
I’ll miss this! Two Roti with a variety of curry sauces and a coffee for breakfast.
Afterwards I decided to have another look at a couple of monorail locations to see if the sun was in the right place for blue sky shots. The only problem was when I got the the monorail station my prepaid card claimed ‘insufficient credit’. The ticket office was closed and the only one of three ticket machines that was working didn’t recognise my prepayment card so I was unable to top it up. So, I trekked back across to Pasir Seni, my local MRT station where the ticket office was staffed, only to find out they were ‘offline’. I then trekked across to Masjid Jamek station to the North and found out the whole ticketing system was down! Deciding someone was trying to tell me something and I was fated not to travel today I gave up and went for a wander on foot. That part of town was very busy today as Sunday’s the only day of the week the Indian construction workers have off, so most of them were out shopping or hanging out with friends. The rest of the city centre (including Chinatown) was crammed with cars. The place was virtually gridlocked which actually made crossing the roads easier as long as you kept a wary eye out for the scooters weaving through the static traffic like minnows.
Making the most of a bad job I spent a few hours editing and captioning pictures which have now appeared in my Malaysian rail and travel galleries before going for a wander around Chinatown. With it being so busy it’s been a good day for people-watching, seeing the different communities (Malay, Chinese and Indian) mixing with tourists from East and West. There’s a mélange of cultures, skin-colours and religions all accommodating each other. Scantily dressed Western or Chinese women rub shoulder with conservatively-dressed Muslim Malay women who even have their hair covered, never mind anything else. Admittedly, not all Malays dress this way, which is what makes it all so fascinating. Everyone seems to get along and no-one’s stressed about the attire of others.
Wandering home and recognising the time difference between the UK and Malaysia (8 hours) I said good morning to Dawn via Messenger before making our regular weekly video call and catch-up. After all my decades of travelling when letters were the only communication being able to talk face to face seems such a luxury – and for free! This will be our last call as next weekend I’ll be back in the UK which seems slightly surreal as 2 months seems to have flown by! Dee’s coming down to London to meet me at Heathrow, which will be lovely. I’m not used to being met at an airport!
But before then, there’s still some travelling to do and people to meet. Oh, and weather to experience. We’ve not had any rain today but we have had hours of the most intense thunder and lightning storm. So, my picture of the day is actually a video, shot from the window of my hotel…
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As with most mornings here in KL I was woken by the sound of the Muezzin’s tones as the call to prayer was announced from the local mosque which is literally only a car-park away. I don’t mind this at all, I don’t have to set my alarm-clock and the sounds are far less jarring and almost reassuring. After all, these ages old calls are so familiar to anyone who’s spent much time in a Muslim country’s. The place I normally go to for my roti canai breakfast normally has Muslim devotional music playing in the background. It’s similar to Qawwali music made famous in the UK by the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Maybe the fact I had a CD of his and I’ve always enjoyed world music has influenced my sensibilities. When I went for breakfast yesterday the younger member of staff had changed the music to techno ‘Hindi Pop’ which was far more intrusive and less easy on the ear!
I didn’t plump for roti this morning, instead I tried Mee Sarawak at a place down the road that I’d spotted the other day. ‘Mee’ means noodles whilst Sarawak is the Malaysian side of the island of Borneo that’s bigger than the peninsular. I must get there one day.
Anyway, Mee Sarawak consists of noodles (obviously) with slices of pork and chicken, accompanied with a fiery chili dip and a broth made from the meat and noodle water with added spring onions. This being Asia nothing is wasted which means the pork hasn’t had the fat removed. Instead you have a fine layer of crackling atop it. It’s delicious but perhaps not the thing if you’re counting calories. As I walk around 17,000 steps and only eat two meals a day I’m not that bothered!
After eating a sizeable chunk of my day was spent getting picture of and exploring the city’s only monorail system from end to end. Looking through my picture archive I’d realised I’d not done this since 2012. In which time the size of the trains has doubled and the stations have increased in size. to cope with ’em. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll do a blog dedicated to the network in the future, now I have the updated pictures to do a ‘now and then’.
Another place I visited today was a beautiful clan-house/temple dedicated to the those Chinese with the surname ‘Chan’. It’s a fascinating place as it explains the origins of the name and how the Chans have spread. I have a passing personal interest in this as the first Chinese people ever I met when I was growing up in Southport were a Chan family who moved in next to my maternal Grandmother way back in the 1960s. There’s a story to tell there, but that’s for another day…
Now I’m relaxing back at my hotel whilst editing pictures and watching crap on Netflix. It being Saturday Chinatown’s packed with people, so I’m happy to be out of the way. I much prefer it during the week when it’s not choked with people and cars.
To finish my blog here’s a few pictures from the day.
This wonderful piece of craftwork is displayed above the door of the Chan temple.
Part of the informative displays inside the temple/clan house.
Do the maths. Each one of these 4-car monorail trains can carry up to 430 passengers. How many of the cars below only contain 1 person? Oh, spot the breakdown which has made matters worse!
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I’ve had another slow day back here in KL, catching up on work and dodging the rain showers and thunderstorm that have been growing in frequency and intensity throughout the day. Most of my morning was taken up with planning and booking the last part of my trip. My back’s no longer a concern and I’d loved to have done a side trip to a beach somewhere, but I’ve simply run out of time. Instead I’m going to stay in KL for a few more days in order to visit a few more rail sites to record the changes here, then retrace my steps to Johor Baru for a night. It’s not my favourite place, but the rail scene’s going to change quite a bit over the next 12 months, therefore I want to record some of the changes. The fact a hotel in JB’s a third of the cost of Singapore and I don’t arrive until 19:45 as there’s only one train a day from KL may have helped influence my decision!
Whilst much of my day’s been taken up with picture editing (you can find maritime shots here and Malaysian railways here) I have nipped out several times, firstly for my roti canai breakfast – calorific but delicious, then for something I’d promised myself, which was a couple of hours exploring photo ops on the KL monorail system.
Very few cities have monorails. Mainly because they’re low capacity and pretty inflexible. But KL’s will be 20 years old in August. It’s not long – just 5 miles with 11 station between Kuala Lumpur Sentral station and Titiwangsa where it connects with the MRT and LRT networks. Essentially, it’s an eastern loop line that passes over roads that bisect some big modern shopping and hotel areas like Bukit Bintang. Originally 3 lines were planned but only 1 was ever built. Operated as a 40 year concession by the KL Infrastructure Group it never paid its way so the line was taken over by the government in 2007. They’ve operated it ever since.
It’s fun to take a trip on and photograph, but when you do you start to realise the limitations and complexities of such systems (think escape). For example, steel wheels don’t burst then catch fire! I’ll cover those drawbacks in my next blog as I’ll be having another play tomorrow now I’ve worked out a few good photo locations. In the meantime, here’s a few shots from today.
A monorail train bound for KL Sentral passes along Jalan Sultan Sulaiman.A monorail bound for KL Sentral beats the traffic at Maharajalela station.Two monorail trainsets pass each other just outside Raja Chulan station.
Walking home in time for a well-deserved (and needed) shower I downloaded my pictures and did some more work before heading out for my evening meal. Earlier I’d spotted a place down the road from where I’m staying which was advertising ‘Mee Sarawak’ (Mee being noodles and Sarawak a part of Malaysia), they looked really good but by the time I got there they were closed so I ended up at my old favorite where you can mix and match with the possibility you’ll see something you’ve never tried before. That’s what happened to me tonight. I saw a dark meat dish in a rich sauce and thought – let’s give it a go…
11:00 is cow lung. 13:00 is Tempe. 18:00 is mixed veg. The rest is a bed of rice with a couple of extra curry sauces thrown in. This is self-service. You load your plate and show it to the staff who then decide what to charge you. This was 5 ringitt- less than a quid.
It was chewy but full of flavour and the sauce was divine. Afterwards I asked one of the staff what it was I’d been eating. Cow lung, apparently. Well, there’s always a first!
Now I’m back in the comfort of my hotel typing this before switching off to watch an intriguing Icelandic film noir series I’ve discovered on Netflix. Talk about a small world…
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I’ve had a busy but easy day here in KL, if you count the fact I’ve only moved from my hotel to get food (delicious Roti Canai and a coffee for breakfast) and ensure I still get my daily quota of 12,500 plus steps uner my belt. That nearly proved to be a challenge as we’ve had another wet day in the city. Nowhere near as bad as yesterday but the morning was filled with showers. The afternoon brightened up with periods of intense sunshine which was rather handy as it allowed me to get my washing dried! The rest of the day was spent editing and captioning pictures to start to clear the hundreds I have in the queue. Now after a determined day both collections from Thailand are up to date. You can find the travel pictures here and the railway ones here. I’ve also finished editing all the Malaysian shots I’ve taken, all they need now are captions.
There’s been other work too. Dealing with picture requests from the UK, chasing up a few work enquiries and also trying the clean up my email inbox which has become ridiculously cluttered now I’ve not been able to log on as much through my phone and the fact the site’s had a redesign which has taken some getting used to. Today I spent several hours browsing and/or deleting a four-figure sum – and there’s still many more to do.
This evening the rain returned. Thankfully, it waited until after I’d nipped out to for a substantial evening meal of rice, curried Jackfruit and Tempe at a local Malaysian street-food establishment I’ve been frequenting for some time. This feats cost me 5 ringgit (less than £1). I’d just made it home before we were treated to several hours of thunderstorms and heavy rain with some impressive lightening too. Tomorrow’s forecast isn’t looking great either but we’ll see how much I get done earlier in the day as I mght still venture out later.
In the meantime, here’s a taster of the pictures I’ve added today, plus a cute KL cat picture!
At one time, Bangkok MRT’s ‘blue line’ train ran almost its entire length underground. Now extensions at either end which have carried it across the Chao Praya river mean there’s substantial elevated sections, like this one looking West from Tao Poon station. A dozing KL street cat asleep on a pavement without a care in the world…
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Much as I’d liked to have lingered longer in Georgetown it’s time to hit the road and begin my journey south towards Singapore. I’ll miss this place, but I know I’ll be back again sometime. This is such a fascinating multicultural place with rich history I could never tire of it. Add in the fantastic food and the fact it’s a crossroads for so many travellers, what’s not to like?
The weather’s overcast making it a good day to travel. I didn’t want to risk my back (or the wheels on my case) so I got a taxi from Star Lodge to the ferry. terminal – well worth the 12 ringgit (just over £2) it cost me). With the limited capacity ferries only running hourly now I’ve arrived in plenty of time to get to the front of the queue for the 11:30 ferry before catching the 12:45 train from Butterworth.
For once, I’m going to write a rolling blog throughout the trip. I’m travelling ‘Platinum’ class this time, which is the Malaysian version of 1st which should make for a relaxing trip. It takes just over four hours to reach KL Sentral nowadays, a great improvement on the past. The only shame is that services aren’t more frequent with just five ETS trains a day linking the two cities.
There’s more than a dozen other Europeans in the queue for the ferry. I suspect most of them will be doing the same as me as the trains the best way to travel. Plus, Standard class only costs £16!
11:22. The ferry has disgorged the inbound passengers, now it’s our time to board. These ex-Langkawi boats are nowhere near as much fun as the old ferries but at least they get you there (most of the time).
12:45. (Malay time).
We’re off! Platinum class in these new ETS sets is rather good..
Almost as soon as we’d left we were served lunch. It may have been prepared and served in a plastic tray, beut the quality of the chicken, bamboo shoots and green rice was rather good.
These particular ETS sets are from the second batch supplied by CRRC Zhuzhon Locomotive Ltd but assembled in Malaysia in 2018. Like most Chinese rolling stock quality (or rather the lack of it) and attention to detail are the issues. Despite only being only five years old the sets are fraying at the edges. Some of the windows have blown so are full of condensation, paintwork’s flaking and nothing really seems to have been made to last. That said, what did KTM specify in the contracts – and was there a warranty? At least they’re doing a bit better than the SCS Komuter sets.
Build quality aside, they ride well. We’re currently bowling along at 139kph so the PIS screen above the doors tells me. Oh, and they don’t leak – which is just as well as it’s chucking it down outside as we approach Taipeng.
13:55 (Malay time)
We’ve just passed through one of the new tunnels between Taipeng and Padang Rengas that were bored as part of the line’s modernisation back in the 2000s. The old British built single track line used to stagger through these jungle-clad hills – which was great fun if you were a railway enthusiast, but not if you were an ordinary passenger keen to get to their destination.
This part of Malaysia is very attractive because its so hilly. Whilst the lowlands around the railway are cultivated by palm oil and rubber plantations and the occasional fish farm, the high hills with their lush jungle are mostly left untouched.
14:40 (Malay time).
We’ve just left the town of Ipoh. Its an interesting place I’ve visited a couple of times. I was another colonial centre famous for mining so not only does it have an impressive Edwardian station building it also boasts an attractive old town centre. I’ll post a couple of links to pictures later. This area provides the railway with a lot of freight traffic due to the massive rail-served cement plant at Tasek. The size of the rail yards around the town reflect this.
Next stop after Ipoh was Batu Gajah which has become a railway centre nowadays. The new depot and associated sites which include a CRRC plant replaced the old British-built Sentul works which was Malaysia’s Crewe, employing thousands of people. Batu Gajah’s far more up to date, built to maintain diesel and electric fleets – not steam!
As soon as we departed the staff fed us again, this time with a snack box containing peanuts, a kitkat and a carton of apple juice to accompany a hot drink (I plumped for coffee) as well as a Danish pastry and cupcake.
15:40 (Malay time)
We’ve arrived at Tanjung Malim which is the Northernmost extremity of KL’s ‘Komuter’ network. There’s a few stabling roads here, one of which contains two badly damaged cars from set SCS06. They’ve clearly been in a collision, but what with I wonder? No-one appears to be in a hurry to do anything with them as I passed them on my way North over a month ago. I’ve just Googled these class 92s and found out this set was badly damaged at this location way back in October 2018! 6 clearly isn’t a lucky number as this was the 2nd accident the set was involved in, and it was hit by a Class 26…
16:30 (Malay time)
We’ve crawled into Sungai Buloh which is the start of single line working through to KL Sentral whilst the second line’s being re-laid and rebuilt. It plays hell with capacity in the Klang valley and I’m hoping to have a closer look at work whilst I’m here.
21:30.
Time to round up the day from ‘Bigland Towers’ KL branch! My train arrived into KL Sentral spot on time. A one stop hop on the MRT system to Pasir Seni got me back to the City Lodge Hotel on the edge of Chinatown where I stayed earlier. I now have a room next door to my old one!
The rain that’s followed me all the way from Penang had remained over KL all day so I’ve not been tempted to venture out. Instead it been a case of getting my new ‘office’ set up. I like the rooms here as they have good desk space by a window with plenty of power sockets. Looking at the forecast the weather’s going to be the same tomorrow but I’m happy to have a day working, catch up on picture editing and UK stuff whilst having the odd wander for food. Here’s not as sociable a place as Georgetown so there’s no distractions in that way.
My new office…
Thankfully my back problems didn’t cause any problem with travelling. Maybe it’s finally on the mend which will be a relief – especially with the fact in 10 days I’m going to be spending an awful lot of time glued to aircraft seats!
Right, now it’s time to get on with a few others bits. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s rolling blog. One thing I haven’t explored on this trip is KL’s monorail. I intend to put that right before I leave…
To end the day, here’s a couple of pictures from Butterworth. The ‘new’ ferries may be lousy for taking pictures from compared to their counterparts, but the new shopping complex adjacent to the ferry terminal has a multi-story car park above it. Here’s the view from the 8th floor.
Class 25 number 25109 removes empty container flats from the North terminal. Vosco Unity is a Vietnamese bulk carrier. Built in 2004 by Imbari shipbuilding the ships gross tonnage is 29,963. After unloading she sailed to Prai (Malaysia) earlier today.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today’s my last full day in Georgetown – at least on this trip, although I did nip over to the mainland for several hours to amass some more railway pictures. As is often the case my timing wasn’t brilliant and the fates conspired against me. I was up early but wanted to get a local breakfast so I wandered up to the Komtar bus station to buy some Nasi Lemak. I struggled to find it where I was staying in KL but then the opposite’s true here. I love Roti Canai to start the day with but the place I used to get it for breakfast here’s closed down. Funny old world…
Suitably fed and watered I scanned the skies and thought a trip over to Bukit Tengah, the first station out of Butterworth would be worth doing as I could spend a couple of hours taking pictures before coming home. As the ferries are only hourly now I even had time for a wander and buy some ‘clackers’ for a friend. Remember ‘clackers’? They were a 1970’s child’s toy phenomenon. Two plastic balls on the end of some twine that you bounced up and down until they ricocheted off each other in an endless cycle like a devilish Newton’s cradle (with half the balls). Well that was the idea, most people lost control after a minute or so and got a hefty clout on the wrist. It was a passing fad, but here in Penang they’re back.
My diversions meant the first ferry I could catch was the 11.30 which was fine, I arrived early, found a hard plastic seat next to a fan, logged on the the free wifi and waited. The seat was a bad idea, because as soon as I tried to stand up my back/bum muscle problems returned. I’d been doing so well up to that point too – bugger!
Despite the setback I continued with my trip, catching the ferry to Butterworth before walking up to the station to buy a 2 ringgit return to Bukit Tengah, the first station up the line but which is the location of the new depot which services locomotives, multiple units and wagons. Photographically, it’s far better than Butterworth, but there’s not a lot going on outside the station, so if you were tempted to visit, bring your own snacks. There’s a big petrol station outside if you’re desperate, but the choice of food’s limited, expensive and not very healthy. Anyways here’s a sample of the pictures I took.
‘Dalian’ 29106 powers around the curves at Bukit Tengah en-route to Butterworth.
Right now I’m enjoying my last night in a town I love. I’d planned to have a drink in one of the old bars I photographed in the past but found somewhere far mor interesting. After the rain had come and gone I went for a walk and passed what the Aussies would call a ‘bottle shop’. Only this bottle shop provided seating and gradually took over the road outside. A shout from a chap I’d bumped into earlier led me to sitting with a mixed group. He was from New Zealand, but the woman next to him was from South Korea. Also present was a local Indian guy as well as a bloke from Catalonia, who was keen to emphasise he wasn’t Spanish! It turned out to be a lovely group. We asked a lot of questions of each other and covered a lot of political and social ground.
The ‘secret’ International bar. It springs up some nights apparently and its clients are far more interesting and communicative than the ‘posh’ bars nearby. Here people talk, they don’t sit and stare at their smartphones
Now I’m back at home, packing and preparing to move on tomorrow. I can’t think of a better ending to my time here and I’ll certainly return, one day. Happy places are so rare…
On my way home I passed the Hong Kong bar (est 1920) on Lebuh Chulia which used to be packed. But fashions have really changed and the fleet’s no longer in. Instead there’s one lonely lady left staring at her TV, surrounded by old mementoes of better, busier times.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 