A major part of the narrow gauge line from Suwon to Inchon ran through Ansan and surrounding area. This area was until 25 years ago country side: none of the buildings in these pictures existed at the time! Even by the end of the existence of the line, in 1995, most of this area was still country side, although most of line 4 had already been built.
This series of pictures is the line in Ansan from a point between approx. Handaeap Station (한대앞역) and the (future) Sari Station (사리역) under the Yongsingoga Road (용신고가차도) all the way to a point to the west of Gojan Station (고잔역). On the map below (copyright: Naver, this is the location of the map) this is the route of the line 4 (the light blue line) between the two red lines, starting at 1 and walking towards 5. The grey line at 6 is the old narrow gauge line running towards Suwon (the top left of the map is towards Inchon, the bottom right is the Suwon side), but during 2013 and 2014 the new commuter line is under construction here, so nothing can be found there any more.
Map of the location of the series of photos in this article (click on the map for an enlargement). The numbers refer to stations: Handaeap Station (한대앞역) (2), Jungang Station (중앙역) (3) , Gojan Station (고잔역) (4), with (1) being the starting point and (5) the end of the series.
Taken under the Yongsingoga Road (용신고가차도) at (1) on the map. Between here and the southern end of the line in Ansan the new line is currently under construction and nothing seems to have been left behind the screen. The view here is towards the south, towards number (6) on the map.View towards Handaeap Station (한대앞역) (northwest). Behind the trees is the embankment of line 4. This is the only piece of track still in situ in this area. But between the trees the old embankment can still be found.The line running northwest towards Handaeap Station (한대앞역). Not much is left, even the embankment itself is gone.After a few hundred meters the narrow gauge line joins up with the current line 4. To the right is the track coming from Sangroksu Station (상록수역), to the left is the track going to Handaeap Station (한대앞역). The view is towards the northwest/west.In between the private gardens next to the elevated line 4 the old track bed can be found again. The rails are gone here, only the ballast bed is still there.A tree had fallen over. All these trees are relatively new, photos from this area from the 1980s show an area with very few trees. The area was basically a wide open space, with a lot of agriculture going on.End of the track bed near a road. The name of the road is Imsi Road (임시도로), which translated literally means “temporary road”. It seems this road, like many of the roads following this point, are more modern than the old railway alignment.View looking back towards the east and Sangroksu Station (상록수역). The track bed can easily be seen here next to the elevated track bed of line 4.View across Imsi Road (임시도로). The small path on the embankment leads up to the old narrow gauge line.
