PTERC Train Clean

A few members of my 'Philippine Railway Historical Society' (sister group to my SMUT group), were recently involved in a train clean in Manila.

Organised by my friend Mark Chua, congratulations for helping raise the profile of the railfan hobby in the country. 

MRT3 Depot at Trinoma, taken during an official RHS visit. 

Former Japanese DMU donated to the Philippines.
52 121

5001 shunting a former Japanese sleeping car. These carriages are used on the long distance 'Bicol Express' service to Legaspi when it is operating. At the current time, the line is being reaired again.

Asistio Avenue station on the rebuilt, but never used by passenger trains, line to Caloocan station.

5005, 5010 and 911 all in various states of repair.
Caloocan Workshops.

This beautiful bird had only three more years ahead of her, being 

placed into storage in 2014.

2017.1 PT2

Kumusta, and welcome to the second part of our series on Manila in 2017.
Given that six years had elapsed between trips to the Philippines, I found myself catching up on both the situation there and the lack of photos over the years.
I also got to catch up with a number of old friends and met new ones at the same time. Some of these people will be seen in future instalments of this series.

Living along EDSA for a week is a dream come true for any bus fan.
No matter what time of day, EDSA is chock full of them, coming from parts of southern Manila, or further afield out in the provinces.
While I have long believed the provincial buses should not enter so far into Manila itself, preferring the idea of a bus/rail intermodal hub at Calamba, they do make for a busy couple of hours for one's camera.

Pasig River view from the GO Hotel.
Alas the ferries do not currently ply the route, however their return

 is regularly discussed.

MRT spotting near Boni station. 

Chaos, as only EDSA can deliver.
Boni Station (MRT3)

Stay tuned for Part 3.
Another exciting installment in the series.

2017 .1

Over the next few months, I am going to catch up with images from all three Philippine trips in 2017.

I have been holding off as there was the prospect of a fourth visit before the new year, but this now seems quite unlikely.
To start off with we shall look at March, a short one week visit that saw us stay along EDSA in Mandaluyong, an extremely busy location (where in Manila isn't?), but paradise for the transport fan. Request the right room and you can drool over all the road and rail action 24/7.
Our choice of accommodation was the GO Hotel, a reasonably priced hotel that provides for little other than the bed, A/C and shower. No fridge is supplied, in fact, your not supposed to consume anything in your room. Quite a laughable rule in a country that has the biggest eaters in the world :-)
However, besides the abundance of transport (I guess that is not as appealing to others as it is for me), it is situated next to a Robinsons Mall (these are always run down but handy) and, on certain nights, a huge street food setup is 

right behind the hotel.
Totally recommended, though their online booking is the dog's bollocks and you will normally find yourself needing to ring.

Photos are in no particular order.

The Philippine Jeepney.
Smoke producing, traffic causing, gas guzzlers. Who could not love them?
Well, apparently lots don't and there appears to be a constant push to rid them from the streets.
It would be a sad day should they ever be successful.

Awaiting the next Alabang train at Pasay Road.

Pasay Road is a major station on the metro railway south to Alabang. Not only a passenger station but also the location of some railway offices. There were recent rumours of it being closed, but given the distance between the two nearest stations, it would seem unlikely.
U15C #922 is seen arriving with a morning service to Alabang. These big General Electric locomotives see the bulk of passenger work on the PNR, although railcars and smaller GE hauled trains do regularly see use.

U15C #917 and one of the train crew at the main terminal of Tutuban.
Thats one of the train crew on the loco and the main railways head office behind.

DMR-11 picked a fight with a Coke truck many years back. :-(

Now we warp backwards in time to when we sat at Sydney Airport awaiting our Cebu Pathetic flight to Manila. These weird, bug looking, double ended buses haul passengers around the airport.

Vietnam Airlines VN-A864 has been pushed out and will soon be taxiing 

down to the Bay Runway.

The latest version of the QANTAS livery is being towed to the terminal.
A few planes now carry this.

The MRT3, and it's Sydney Harbour Bridge like structure, make for some
great shots at Mandaluyong.
These were all taken quite early in the morning and the lighting was still quite difficult.

If your cup of tea is buses, then a day on EDSA should fill the biggest of SD card.
More metro and provincial operators/buses than you can poke a stick at.

In more recent years the Philippine Railway Historical Society has been branching out into other transport areas like buses. We have a growing group here should you be interested.