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Semi-Retired Foamer
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The drive down to Bais City had been sitting on my personal railway bucket list for years, which is usually a dangerous thing because expectations have a habit of growing far larger than reality.
Still, there I was, trundling along the highways of Negros toward Negros Oriental under skies that looked like they had personally declared war on dry clothing. The rain was absolutely relentless—one of those tropical downpours where the wipers on the windscreen are working overtime yet achieving roughly the same result as a damp tissue. But after years of reading about the legendary sugar tramways of the area, there was no way a little thing like biblical rainfall was going to stop this long-planned pilgrimage.
Bais itself has quite an interesting past. The town grew around the sugar industry during the late Spanish and early American colonial periods, when fertile land and a convenient coastal location made it perfect for sugar production and export. At the centre of all this was the famous Central Azucarera de Bais, one of the earliest large-scale sugar mills in the country, established in the early 1900s by American investors.
Like many sugar centrals across the Philippines, it once operated an extensive network of narrow-gauge tramways that stretched deep into the surrounding cane fields, hauling harvested sugar cane back to the mill in a steady procession of little wagons. To a railway enthusiast, this is the sort of thing that causes mild heart palpitations.
Naturally, the moment I arrived to finally see the place, the weather decided to become even worse. The rain intensified to the point where it felt less like falling droplets and more like someone tipping entire buckets of water out of the sky. I wandered around in what could generously be described as “enthusiastic dampness,” peering through sheets of rain at bits of old tramway track, industrial relics, and the sprawling mill complex. Somewhere in there was the historic system I had been dreaming about for years, although the conditions made photography about as easy as shooting through a waterfall.
Still, standing there in the rain beside the remains of the old sugar tramway, I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot. This was one of those places that had lived in my imagination for years through books, old photos, and half-forgotten railway references. Sure, I was soaked, my camera lens looked like it had been scuba diving, and the sky had the colour of old dishwater—but I had finally made it to Bais. And really, any railway adventure that ends with wet shoes, muddy trousers, and a slightly deranged smile is usually a sign that the day was a complete success.
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Jetty Area
Barangay Luca - Tanjay City
Negros Oriental
The railway wharf of the Central Azucarera de Bais at Barangay Luca in Tanjay City formed an important part of the sugar central’s transport system, linking the mill’s internal tramway network to coastal shipping routes across the Tañon Strait. When the sugar central was established in the early twentieth century by the Spanish-owned Tabacalera company, it developed an extensive narrow-gauge railway system to move sugarcane from plantations around Bais, Tanjay, and nearby farming districts to the mill for processing. At its peak, this industrial railway network stretched roughly 50 km across the surrounding sugar lands, making it one of the most significant plantation tramway systems in Negros Oriental.
The wharf at Barangay Luca served as the maritime outlet for the operation. Tank wagons and freight cars from the mill travelled along the tramway to this small coastal jetty where products—particularly molasses and sometimes other by-products of the milling process—could be loaded directly onto ships for export or transfer to other ports in the Visayas. This arrangement allowed the sugar central to bypass road transport and connect directly with sea freight, which was historically the most efficient way to move bulk cargo around the Philippine islands.
During the early decades of the twentieth century, the railway system itself evolved along with the sugar industry. Steam locomotives originally hauled the cane and freight wagons, including locomotives supplied by companies such as Baldwin. By the late 1920s these began to be replaced by internal-combustion locomotives—many of them small Plymouth diesels or alcohol-fuelled engines that used industrial alcohol produced at the mill. These locomotives hauled cane trains to the central and also moved tank cars toward the coastal wharf at Luca.
Although road transport has largely replaced plantation railways in most parts of the Philippines, the Bais system became notable for retaining parts of its traditional operation longer than most sugar centrals in Negros. The line to the Luca wharf remained especially significant because it was still used for transporting molasses by rail from the mill to ships, making it one of the last surviving examples of this once-common sugar-industry railway logistics system in the region.
Today I’m still not entirely sure what the actual situation is with this part of the system. In fact, if anything, the visit managed to achieve the impressive feat of raising far more questions than it answered. For a railway exploration, that’s always a reassuring outcome—you travel all that way expecting clarity and instead leave with a head full of confusion and damp socks.
The rollingstock sitting near the wharf in these photos certainly didn’t look like it had been doing a great deal of work lately. I’ve seen photos of the same vehicles floating around for years and, rather suspiciously, they seem to appear in exactly the same positions every time. Either they’re the most punctual and disciplined pieces of rollingstock in the Philippines, or they simply haven’t moved since the last time anyone bothered taking a picture.
That said, the line itself was technically operational during our visit. A locomotive was spotted about halfway down the jetty where some workers appeared to be carrying out repairs to a light. I can’t say with absolute certainty whether the locomotive was actually assisting with the job or merely providing moral support, but it was definitely there, which is more activity than the wagons seemed to be managing.
As for the photos of CAB9 on the jetty, there aren’t many and the quality leaves a bit to be desired. This is largely because it was absolutely belting down with rain while I was attempting to photograph things from the back of a motorbike that was travelling along a narrow jetty with a rather alarming drop on one side. By the time I returned I was completely drenched—“slightly damp” would be about as accurate as describing the Pacific Ocean as “a bit moist.”
Above and two below.
The second loco noted here was CAB15 which appeared to be a smaller Plymouth possibly used to shunt the warehouse and wharf at some time, if not still.
Thought to be Plymouth of 1964 of 6395.
Above and below.
Not sure if this was either for sprinkling water to reduce dust, or weedkiller to reduce growth, though I would hazard a guess that it is the later.
Indeed, it could well be neither. :-)
It was the only one I saw on the day though, and sort of reminded me of the water one that is preserved (assuming it survived the fire) at the Richmond Vale Railway Museum (New South Wales, Australia)
Photos: Brad Peadon
Molasses tank #8 at the transloader station.
I assume the molasses was removed from the tankers here and piped to the ships.
Looked not to be used anymore, but am open to updates and corrections.
Photos: Brad Peadon
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Central Azucarera De Bais Mill
Bais City
Negros Oriental
Above and three below.
Photos: Brad Peadon
Another of those delightful unanswered mysteries only really became apparent during this visit, namely the situation with the tramways running north of the mill. The photos here very clearly show that the lines heading north out of the mill have been completely cut and removed, which would normally suggest that trains are no longer venturing in that direction. Simple enough—except, of course, nothing about this place seems to be simple.
On the drive into town I happened to notice a short rake of cane trucks sitting quietly in a paddock, which immediately complicates the story somewhat. Then, just to add an extra layer of confusion, the final photo below, showing the large bridge over the Bais River shows at least one loaded truck sitting on the southern side of the structure. Now, unless these wagons have recently developed the ability to teleport, they must surely have to get back to the mill somehow.
I did not see any indication of cane trucks on the back of road based trucks for transfer.
I did not see any indication of cane trucks on the back of road based trucks for transfer.
Naturally, I later did what any modern railway detective does and had a good stare at satellite imagery on Google Earth. Unfortunately this exercise did absolutely nothing to clarify matters. As far as I can see, there isn’t any other northern entrance into the mill complex that would explain how those wagons reached the mill from where they were sitting.
So at this stage the entire situation remains something of a mystery. The track appears to be gone, the wagons appear to exist, and the laws of physics are hopefully still operating as normal. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess what is actually going on.
If anyone can answer all these questions I would very much love to hear from you.
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The Bais River bridge which will be covered in a future installment.
In the distance you can just make out a loaded cane truck.
I wasn't game enough to walk across it to see how many were there. But the fact there was even the one has caused me much confusion given the seeming inability to rail stuff back to the mill.
Photo Above: Brad Peadon
Photo Below: Google Earth
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