Trouble's Tribune: End of the Line

Regis thought I should name this post as such, which is fairly accurate really since it is the end of the train line for Singapore. This train line runs from the southern most tip of Singapore to the northern most point, where it runs into Malaysia and then Thailand. The line through Singapore has now been closed and the rail line is being reclaimed and incorporated into a big project offering trails through Singapore. So for this month, the now-closed rail line has been open to the public to walk along the tracks before they are removed. This probably doesn't seem like a very exciting prospect to you, especially if you live anywhere in the middle of America where train tracks would be readily accessible. However, if you grew up in Singapore, there is a good chance that you have never had the opportunity to walk along train tracks.

Since Adrienne falls into this latter category, and since she is almost two and everything is exciting to an almost 2-yr old, we thought it would be a fun outing to walk the 3km tracks open from Rifle Range Rd to the Rail Mall. Seeing as this was the last weekend that the tracks were open and that it was a FREE event, we anticipated throngs of people to come marching out. However, we were pleasantly surprised with a nice walk and not too overly-crowded to enjoy (Although there is one guy that is totally ruining my picture of Adrienne posted here. Any suggestions on how to crop him out?). You can tell that Adrienne enjoyed herself; I think she was really getting in touch with her American roots. Regis didn't want her laying on the tracks but I thought it made for a cute picture, and besides, it can't be worse than half the things she normally tries to lay on, lick, rub her hands on, etc...

As a side note, I cannot walk along train tracks without feeling a 'Stand by Me' moment. Its probably because my siblings and I watched that movie over 100 times growing up. I kept expecting a train to come while we were crossing the bridge and for someone to say "Chopper, Sic'em boy!". Incidentally, I think we taped and watched the TV version over and over. Later in life I saw the unedited version... the train tracks in these photos have nothing compared to the dirt on some of those lines!