Modern railcars are not my greatest interest when it comes to railways, whether in the Philippines, or down here in Australia.
However, I was very privileged to have been invited to be part of the early days of the ROTEM railcars around Manila, including the unloading off the ship and testing around Pasay Road.
Since then, I have aimed to photograph each power and trailer car while they were still in good condition.
This decision has turned out to be a good one, with only one of the six sets (Set 5: DMR-02 ITR-05 DMR-10) still in operation.
Considering it's age at the time, it is surprising that the first, DMR-11, was written off within a year of these photos following a collision with a Coca Cola truck. Despite talk that a new front was coming, it does not appear to have ever arrived. The car has sat around ever since.
In 2010 there was also talk of more Rotem sets, of a differing design, to be delivered to PNR. These also never eventuated.
The years since have not been kind to the six Rotem sets, collisions and derailments taking their toll, with the vast majority of the fleet laying idle around Manila at the time the local operations were suspended for five years.
At this time it is expected that the surviving operational set will be transferred by road to be used on the remaining l\narrow gauge line from Calamba to Legaspi.
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I didn't get all the ITR type trailer cars on this trip, however some can be found by searching this website, while many other shots will appear in the future.
ITR-03 - Espana Station.
Photo: Brad Peadon
ITR-04 - Espana Station.
Photo: Brad Peadon
ITR-04 - Tutuban Station.
Photo: Brad Peadon
ITR-06 - Tutuban yard.
Photo: Brad Peadon
Rotem set arrives at Paco station.
Photo: Brad Peadon
David 'MrX' Xuereb gunzelling the near new Rotem sets at Tutuban.
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