Previously: Doodletown, New York.
Not too far away from Seoul, South Korea, there’s an old railway station that time forgot — sort of. It’s out of commission as a station, and has been for some time; but although the ostensibly abandoned Nungnae Station hasn’t welcomed a train to it in almost 20 years, you can still visit it, if you like.
In fact, visiting is easy — and encouraged: Nungnae Station is often included among lists of places to visit and things to do in the city of Namyangju, where it’s located. True, it’s cheerier than many abandoned locations are; it falls more on the nostalgic side of things than the eerie side. But there can be a sort of eeriness in nostalgia, depending on how you look at things — a touch of melancholy, perhaps, for a time long passed and a place that has outlived its original purpose.
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Still, though: If you’re looking for an abandoned location you can actually visit, Nungnae Station is definitely one to add to the list.
Of Slow Cities And Living Intentionally: Namyangju, Joan-myeon, And The Cittaslow Movement
Nungnae Station — sometimes rendered as Neungnae Station — is more precisely located within Joan-myeon, an administrative district within the larger city of Namyangju. Joan-myeon is distinctive for its designation as a “slow city” — the only such place in Namyangju.
The Cittaslow movement, as it’s known globally, kicked off in 1999 in Italy; inspired by the slow food movement, the idea behind slow cities is to improve quality of life for residents and tourists alike with a focus on, well, slowing things down: That is, as Heike Mayer and Paul L. Knox put it in their 2006 article “Slow Cities: Sustainable Places In A Fast Paced World,” published in the Journal Of Urban Affairs, it’s “an alternative approach to urban development that focuses on local resources, economic and cultural strengths, and the unique historical context of a town.”
For Joan-myeon, which earned the slow city designation in 2010, that translates to an emphasis on its longstanding identity as a fishing and farming area, as well as its lotus fields and other natural wonders and its upholding of traditional culture.
Nungnae Station: A Brief History
The Jungang railway line, or Central line, used to run through Joan-myeon, with service offered via Nungnae Station. Opened in 1942, the Jungang line originally connected Cheongnyangni with Gyeongju.
Nungnae Station itself opened up in 1956, and although it was unmanned at the time, it held many different identities during its operational years. In 1967, it became a regular station and operated as such for 26 years; in 1993, however, it was downgraded to a temporary station before being downgraded again 2001 to simply a signal station.
In 2008, it was officially closed; the tracks were relocated as part of a double-tracking project, and since then, the area has been serviced by Ungilsan Station on the Gyeongui-Jungang line — an extension of the Gyeongui light rail. And, for a time, it simply… sat there, a ghost station with tracks on which no trains would ever come waiting just outside the door.
A Station Reborn: Nungnae Station’s Second Life
Just a few years later, though, the station and its remains were remodeled — and now, they’re something of a tourist attraction.
One portion of the tracks themselves, for instance, is now part of a 132-kilometer bike path that’s widely considered one of the best cycling paths in South Korea; called the Namhan River Bike Path or Namhangang Bicycle Path, this route includes 27 kilometers of former railway track in the section between Paldang and Yangpyeon — along which lies the restored Nungnae Station building. There are even bike rental stands nearby, if you wanted to start your journey along the Namhan River Bike Path right there.
The station itself is typically now described as a rest area, with restaurants and picnic tables nearby. Indeed, an old train car positioned on what remains of the tracks — those not devoted to the bike path, at least — actually housed a café inside it at one point, although it’s not clear whether it’s still operating or not. (Many visitors in recent years discovered it to be closed, though they did note that they weren’t certain whether they had just caught it on an off day or if it had been closed permanently.)
Some visitors have also positioned the current version of Nungnae Station as a sort of mini-museum, with photographs from bygone years of the station, its trains, its workers, and its riders displayed inside the building. Adding to the nostalgic atmosphere are rows of the variety of chairs some visitors comment as having been the sort they used in school when they were children.
Visiting Nungnae Station
It tends to be busier during the warmer months, but Nungnae Station can be visited year-round. There are a few ways to get there: There is parking nearby, so if you have a car, you can just drive to it; or, you can take the Gyeongui-Jungang line to Paldang Station, and then either take a short taxi ride or hop on a local bus — the ride is about 20 minutes — or rent a bike and enjoy about a half-hour’s ride along the Namhan River Bike Path.
While you’re the area, there’s plenty else to do, too. You might, for instance, think about visiting Daega Farm to pick your own strawberries; you could take a walk through Dasan Ecological Park, the Namyangju Water Garden, or andeulsori Arboretum to enjoy nature at its best; you might stop by the Dasan Heritage Site, the birthplace of philosopher and poet Jeong Yak Yong, also known as Dasan; you could go to the Namyangju Organic Theme Park to get a taste (sometimes literally) of the region’s farming culture and history; and loads more.
If you’re looking for a day trip close to Seoul, Namyangju is an idyllic pick — one that makes sure the past isn’t truly forgotten.
And that includes the trains, the stations, and the people who once rode the rails.
Take a rest at Nungnae Station. You might find it restorative in more ways than one.
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[Photos via Wikimedia Commons; ArirangTV, Kwon’s Diary Vlog, ShakeJ/YouTube]
