At 1654H, the wait paid off when a C151C, 703/704, pulled into Bukit Batok, bound for JE, and I immediately ran into the train station to camp out for it to return to Marina South Pier. While camping, a couple of train enthusiasts began gathering on the platform for the excat same goal, and sure enough, at 1703H, the C151C pulled into Bukit Batok, bound for Marina South Pier, and everyone, myself included, snapped some shots of the exterior of the train before boarding.
From boarding at Bukit Batok, the train was not very packed as it was not the peak hour, but being only say 2 of its operations, there were train enthusiasts throughout onboard the train, some of which boarded with ne and some others who had either boarded at Jurong East or had been on it on the trip towards Jurong East. Everybody was busy snapping photos, majority with phones but also some with professional cameras. Many were also discussing about the train and comparing photos with one another, it was a literal haven for train enthusiasts onboard 703/704.
Near Yew Tee, one of the train enthusiasts who had boarded with me at Bukit Batok and had been observing me from the start came up to me and started chatting with me, a bit cautiously at first but as I warmed up to him, he relaxed and we chatted about the C151C as well as our hobby. He revealed that he was the only train rnthusiast among his clique of friends and he thought that it would be very hard to meet someone with the same hobby, much less be able to talk normally with someone like that. He was very friendly and him and I chatted throughout 703/704's trek, except for the secment between Admiralty and Sembawang which I was filming. We also chatted about train photography techniques as well as recording down trainset numbers(covered in this post) which he was genuinely interested in and greatly appreciated my help in guiding him in recording down the trainset number of the C151C.
Sadly, good times don't last, and all too soon we arrived at Khatib where he was alighting. We exchanged contacts, bade goodbye and thereafter the train, along with me on board, carried on towards Marina South Pier. For the remaining segment, I spent the time capturing photos of the interior of the C151C. Although largely similar to the C151Bs, the most defining feature was the tip-up seats, as well as a window on the door to the driver's cab which gave passengers a view of the front or rear of the train from inside, a first for manned trains in Singapore(Interestingly, the C151Bs have these windows as well, but for unknown reasons they are covered up with paper by SMRT.). The rest of the trip was uneventful, save for an encounter with 701/702 at Yio Chu Kang and another train(most probably 705/706) resting at Bishan Depot.
At Marina South Pier, I camped out for it 9nce again hoping to hyperlapse the route back to Jurong East; unfortunately, this was not to be as 703/704 sped past the JE-bound platform, evidently heading back to Bishan Depot; as a train captain told me. It just so happened that one of them was the C151C, ending my encounter with her for the day. However, I was still happy with the collection of photos I took on her, as well as the video from Admiralty to Sembawang, which can be found below.
Overall, with the filming of 991's route extension and now the encounter with the C151C, it had been a very interrsting day.
The link to a portion of the footage shot onboard, a short section from Admiralty to Sembawang, can be found here:
The train carriage numbers, from head-end to tail-end, is as follows:
Carriage 3703, a Trailer car(DT), facing Marina South Pier
Carriage 1703, a motor car(M1)
Carriage 2703, a motor car(M2)
Carriage 2704, a motor car(M2)
Carriage 1704, a motor car(M1)
Carriage 3704, a trailer car(DT), facing Jurong East
Thus, the formation of this train is (MSP)3703, 1703, 2703, 2704, 1704, 3704(JUR)
Tip-up seats, the defining feature of the C151Cs
703/704 approaching Bukit Batok
The window on the driver's cab door that gives passengers a view of the front or rear of the train; it has since been covered up by SMRT out of interest of safety for its Train Captains
The view into the drivers cab and the outside from the window
The driver's cab
The display showing the speed of the train as well as other important information
701/702 at Yio Chu Kang
Plate showing the manufacturer and the year of manufacture of 703/704
The cabin of carriage 3703
Side livery of the C151C
703/704 speeding out of Marina South Pier, heading towards Bishan Depot
For comparison this is the driver's cab door onboard a C151B - the window is there but it has been covered up by SMRT for unknown reasons