Rails to Parks

Back in 2007 I discovered the old Banyawol train station. As I've mentioned before, Banyawol is the neighborhood of Daegu in which I live. The train station (and the tracks which it had once serviced) sat abandoned, a mere five minute walk from the school where I worked. (A new train line and station about a ten minute dive to the south-east had taken its place.) Now, I have a bit of an affection for all things train - especially all things *old* train - and I totally loved the ambience of the old station. Here's one of the photos I took back then:

However, in the years that I was gone from Korea, development has overtaken sleepy Banyawol. The unused rail-line has been torn up to make way for apartment complexes and planned shopping and business facilities. Gwen's brand new apartment complex is entered by driving through what once was the old Banyawol train station.

However, the train station itself was not destroyed, merely relocated. About a 15 minute walk south of its previous location (about a five minute walk from the Banyawol E-Mart) a new park has been created along the old rail-bed. The old train station is the centerpiece of the park, although the building is locked up tight and closed to visitors. I'm thrilled that the station itself was saved although the park is definitely lacking in the ambience of the old station: