------------------------------------
Urgent note for regular readers.
Facebook is giving people some grief (when does it not?) with theirwebsites and YouTube channel.
as it seems Facebook is now an unreliable place to let people know of stuff.
------------------------------------
The Infrastructure Saga Continues.
PNR Infrastructure: A 2010 Time Capsule Brought to You by Sweat, Rain, and a certain amount of pointless stupidity.
Ah, the Philippine National Railways — once the clattering metal backbone of Metro Manila, now just another ghost added to the city's long list of things we almost fixed. The urban section has finally wheezed its last breath, quietly shuttered like a sad karaoke bar with too many unpaid electric bills. But fear not: while Manila mourns the death of its railway, the provinces are still hanging on — clackety-clack and all — like a vintage car on life support, stubbornly refusing to die out of spite.
This gallery, this accidental archive, is a throwback to 2010 — back when PNR in the capital still limped along the tracks like a hungover commuter, and the only thing sleeker than the trains was the layer of oil on the station floor. This was before everything started transforming into sterile glass cubes and airport-inspired terminals that no one asked for. Back when infrastructure had texture. And tetanus risk.
Let’s be clear: these photos weren’t snapped from the comfort of an air-conditioned Grab car while sipping an oat milk latte. No. They were earned. They required navigating Metro Manila traffic that seemed designed by a malicious AI, dodging jeepneys with the reflexes of a caffeinated lizard, and enduring both sunstroke and spontaneous flooding — often within a single afternoon. All to capture a disappearing world of rusted signals, crumbling bridges, and train stations that looked like they hosted more breakups than departures.
Now that Manila’s section of the PNR has been unceremoniously buried in the name of “progress” (read: demolition, delays, and PowerPoint slides), these photos have become even more precious. What was once ignored is now… well, still ignored, but with slightly more historical value.
The collection includes a delightful mix of barely operational infrastructure: tracks held together by hope and colonial hangovers, signal lights that probably haven’t blinked since the original Marcos era, and provincial stations so empty they make your soul echo. It’s chaos, it’s nostalgia, it’s… deeply unsafe. But it was ours.
So if you're someone who enjoys their history raw, rusty, and just a bit tragic — with a side of provincial resilience — you’ve come to the right place. Scroll through, squint dramatically, and pretend you're feeling something deep and profound about infrastructure. Because nothing says romance like watching a national railway slowly vanish while the provinces wave politely from 50 years in the past.
You're welcome. Again.
------------------------------------
Crossing signage on Pedro Gil street near the third Paco railway station.
Photo: Brad Peadon
Level crossing protection at the same spot.
Photo: Brad Peadon
Above and five below.
A modernised, but now closed and soon eradicated, Sucat railway station.
Photo: Brad Peadon
PRHS: Sucat Railway Station Page:
The remains of Baao station in Bicol.
I am advised that the guy in the photo is the late Sylvestre Borja (PNR Driver)
Photo: Brad Peadon
More crossing signage, this time at the crazy busy Espana crossing near the station of the same name.
Below is the same view today. Yet another elevated road transferring traffic problems elsewhere.
Photo: Brad Peadon
Above and two below.
Various scenes between Iriga City and Bato (Bicol Region) from the cab of GE U15C 918.
Photos: Brad Peadon
Above and below.
There is no doubting the beauty of the Bicol Region. Stunning sights from your train window.
A railway tourism opportunity waiting to happen. Maybe less so since wiping out the line into the capital. :-(
Photos: Brad Peadon
Above and below.
The Tutuban platforms were still quite new when these shots were taken in 2010. On my 2007 visit I remember have to climb up onto the carriage at the now wiped out Tayuman station.
Photos: Brad Peadon
Former awning supports at Ligao station (Bicol Region).
This station has since been vandali, ahhmmm, modernised.
Photo: Brad Peadon
Above and below.
Espana station looking north and south during our 2010 PRHS Railfan Day..
Photos: Brad Peadon
A view of Espana today. Line closed, tracks removed, horrid elevated roadway above.
They have been removing stations, so even that may not be there anymore.
Really quite depressing to be perfectly honest.
Photo: Brad Peadon
Above and below.
Pasay Road station during the 2010 PRHS Railfan Day.
Photos: Brad Peadon
Above and three below.
The abandoned Camalig station in Bicol.
This section of line was diverted in the mid-80s.
Photos: Brad Peadon
Above and three below.
Libmanan station, again taken from 918 on the Bicol Commuter Train.
Photos: Brad Peadon
Appears to be a new station building being constructed.
Photo: Google Streetscape
Above and below.
Libmanan bridge over the, not surprisingly, Libmanan River, in Libmanan (Bicol Region).
Photos: Brad Peadon
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------
MrX, Nhing, and Onyo.
Mark Chua (PNR & PRHS)
PNR Management & Staff.
wikipedia.org
Philippine Association of Rail Enthusiasts
Our Sister group.
Our Sister group.
Website.
Interested In All Things Philippines? We Have Heaps.
---------------------------------------------------------
Are you interested in the sugarcane tramways and industry on the islands of Negros and Panay?
No comments:
Post a Comment