Tuesday, June 8, 2010

KTM (OF OLD POSTERS AND MEMORIES)

I was accompanying a friend to get his ticket at the railway station (which is located not too far from my house) a few months ago when I stumbled upon these two old posters. They were lying on the old dusty floor and I could not help but took them home. There was something about them that made me want to have them (I am not a chronic hoarder but I like to collect certain stuff). The old railway station holds a lot of memories for me and my parents. My younger brothers used to take the 'Senandung Malam' and the 'Sinaran Pagi' (one was working in Langkawi and the other one was studying in Port Dickson) and as usual, my late father (may Allah bless his soul) and mother would send them to the old railway station. That was almost 20 years ago and I am not even sure if the 'Senandung Malam' and the 'Sinaran Pagi' services are still available or not. There was even a small canteen at the railway station where the food was cheap but good. Now the canteen is dilapidated, deserted and dusty. I would sit alone (I was a loner and did not have a lot of friends) on the bench at the railway station in the evening watching the trains go by each and every time I went back during the school holidays. That was my favourite pastime back then. The railway station was old and after a while, some people forgot that it was even there. The number of passengers who boarded the train from the station kept getting less and less and sometimes, there was none at all. The quarters for the employees were slowly abandoned and tall grasses started to grow around the area. It was such a sad sight. Now, it has undergone a face lift and a new modern structure has taken the place where the old warehouse used to be. Yet the old part of station is still retained. I have also noticed that there are more and more students from the TAR College using the train service to either go back to their hometowns or campus. I am sure these students are going to have some wonderful memories of their own 15, 20 or 25 years from now.

p/s I didn't have a scanner big enough to scan these posters so I had to use my already outdated digital camera to take these pictures. I had to do some minor adjustments and editing to them since they are no longer in pristine condition.