The Sha Tau Kok railway- further information
Lawrence Tsui: I have extracted a little bit more from Paul Tsui’s Memoir:
The light rail ran three times a day shuttling between Fanling & Shataukok. The railway was narrow gauge. It followed what is now the Shataukok Road, with a passing siding at Kwan Ti [now spelt Kwan Tei]. On race days at Kwan Ti, additional shuttles were run for the punters.*
It was a three carriage train drawn by a small steam locomotive with a big funnel. It moved rather slowly. A brush “Touch Me Not” were planted extensively along both sides of this railway. They bore lovely purplish colour flowers; however, these were tarnished by the soot from the train.
A marshalling yard with workshop and a coaling platform were built right next to the Fanling Station.
Paul Tsui moved from Hong Kong Island to live in Fanling in 1925 when he was around ten. He spent his teenage years before the War growing up in Fanling, travelling daily on the KCR to go to Wah Yan College at Nelson Street in Mongkok.
* HF adds: Of interest, though not industrial, is this reference to the Fanling Hunt and Race Club. This was established in 1926 as Paul Tsui says at Kwan Ti a little NE of Fanling. The club held a number of different types of horse events including, flat racing, steeplechases, hurdling and hunting activities. For more information and photographs have a look at:-
http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/hkjc/All_Items/Images/201201/t20120130_48463.html
This article was first posted on 29th January 2014.
See:
- The Sha Tau Kok railway
- Sha Tau Kok branch railway – Absorbing 1986 account by RJ Phillips
- Wo Hop Shek Spur Line