Believe it or not, this is what Ipoh’s first railway station looked like in the late 1800s (before the present Taj Mahal-like structure).
Amazing isn’t it? It is interesting to note that:
“…the first section [railway construction in Perak] was an eight-mile line running between Taiping and Port Weld….[which] opened for traffic in June 1885. The construction was carried out by two divisions of Ceylon Pioneers, lent by the Government of Ceylon.
The first through passenger train from Perak was that conveying H.H. the Sultan of Perak and suite from Kuala Kangsar to Kuala Lumpur on July 17th of that year [1896] to attend the Conference of Chiefs of the Federated Malay States.”
The above quote and picture were taken from the book Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources.
Click here if you wish to see a coloured postcard and short history of Ipoh’s first railway station.