ALBAY TYPHOON TRAGEDY

Want to HELP the victims?
See our site here.

Our thoughts are with all the people of Albay suffering following, what I am told was' the second biggest typhoon in Philippine history.
The photos coming through are just so hard to fathom.

The following photos (Cagsawa Ruins and railway) were taken by Father Joseph Salando and shared via his Facebook page.

Railway shots below from San Francisco, Guinobatan. 

An unidentified boxcar sits deep in the lahar, with, what appears to be, a rail crane in the distance.

The following photo was sent to me by Dirk Paul Celoso (thanks mate) and shows the rare CMC-366 and MC-333 that were likely nearby the location above.

No doubt, the coming days will bring more and more terribly sad stories of this tragedy.

The one thing that is clear is that they need much help.

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Photo Comp June 2020

Railway Stations

I was so happy to see some wonderful entries in the first 'Philippine Railway Historical Society' photographic competition.
The competition was an experiment, mostly to bring something new to the group during these dark virus times that have greatly slowed our hobby and heritage plans in Manila.
It is expected that the photographic competition will be bi-monthly and we welcome ideas for future topics.

Below we have the first, second and, multiple, third winners. I've also included some other 

shots that stood out.

Thank you to everyone who contributed.

WINNER: Mark Chua

With the most votes, this photo of a new INKA DMU at Alabang station.
Am happy to see PNR's newest attracting so many likes.

2nd Place: Jared
A very interesting look at the old San Pedro station.

There were numerous photos in 3rd place.

These are shown below.

Canteen LRT station.
I like this due to the imagination, and humour, that lead to it's inclusion.
Photo: Klarence Paul M Pitoc

Tutuban
Photo:Mark Leus Masangcay

I am wrapped to see the following two photos, primarily because Hondagua is my favourite Filipino railway location. The yard was huge and, most interestingly, had a large triangle that served the local flour mill.

The mill still exists, but sadly it no longer uses rail.

Jessie's photo shows the station when it still had the awning and roof.

Photo: Jessie Javier

Beautiful Hondagua, looking towards Manila, with the sea to your right.
Photo: Klarence Paul M Pitoc

The impressive Legaspi station at the end of the line in Bicol.
Photo: Ej Cel

921 and an INKA DMU at Tutuban.

Photo: Dirk Paul Celoso

INKA and ROTEM DMUs meet at Tutuban.
Photo: Mark Leus Masangcay

Finally, I want to add a couple of others that I feel should get a mention.

Please note that these are in 'no order' other than the file name when saved.

There is so much to love about this shot.
The station, while being quite big in size, is literally dwarfed by the huge maze of roads, on so many levels, above. The fact that it is a night shot, makes it even more impressive.

Photo: Regi Teopi

A very imaginative photo showing a ticket with a 1G vehicle in the original livery, with a real one at Tayuman station behind.
Mark sent in a few of these showing various operators, all of which I hope to use in a future MRT/LRT status update.
Photo: Mark Leus Masangcay

Wow!!!!
That is all I can say about this night shot of the original Tutuban station. I think we all dream of this once again being the main station.
Photo: Mark Leus Masangcay

A great general view of a modern day PNR station (Sucat), taken by a local fan who I know has great pride in his station.
Photo: Aldriene Mabale

While not a photo, I have long loved the artistic 

talent of Fremel.
Artwork: Fremel Bernal

A wonderful photo, taken at an angle that really portrays the new INKA DMU in a powerful way, thus reducing the impact of the usually overpowering freeway above.
Photo: Guillermo Karlo Angelo Juan III

.Thank you to everyone who contributed to the June photographic competition.

There is no doubt that the photographic talent in the Philippines is getting better and better.
All members of the 'Philippine Railway Historical Society', and sister group 'Philippine Association of Rail Enthusiasts (PARE)' are invited to join in with future competitions.
NOTE: Winners are judged based on the amount of likes (or similar), so everyone is encouraged to vote for their favorites.
HOWEVER: All Philippine photos are great and I consider every photographer there to be a winner.

MORE SOUTH LINE EXCITEMENT

Contributions From PRHS Members.

Wednesday, September 18th, was quite a big day for the 'Philippine National Railways. Firstly, the recently restored Kogane 59 set went for a trial run from Tutuban to San Pablo (Laguna)  and return.
Our PRHS roving reporter 'Mark Chua' arranged for some exclusive photos of this big event. From all reports, the new set went well. It certainly looks a treat.

Also, Naga based 5001 went for a run down to the southern terminus of Legaspi. This is believed to be the first train to arrive there in around two year.
Excitement is building as railfans see this as a great sign that trains may be returning to the whole of the south line.

A big thank you to Max Julius Manly, John McMarv, Jose Diego Roxas.
Special thanks to our roving reporter, PRHS moderator, and great mate, Mark Chua for keeping me updated along the way.

To keep up with all the latest news, feel free to join us on the

Philippine Railway Historical Society Forum.

Tutuban Station prior to departure. - Photo: Mark Chua

Passing Yuseco enroute to San Pablo on test. - Photo: Mark Chua

Trial passing Bicutan - Photo: Jose Diego Roxas

Kogane at Calamba - Photo: John McMarv

Los Banos Station - Photo: John McMarv

Los Banos - College Station - Photo: John McMarv

And, at the other end of the system.

Max Julius Manly went down to Legaspi station to witness the very welcome sight of Naga based 5001 arriving with CMC366 and an unidentified BC boxcar.

Does anyone know the boxcar number?

CMC-366 seen behind 5001.

The other day, while going through the process of refreshing our PRHS blog as part of an overhaul of the group in general, I got to looking at the blog statistics.
It is an interesting look into where around the planet that people take an interest in what the PRHS does, as well as the Philippine railways in general.

Keep in mind that this does not reflect the first 60,000 viewers from the earlier platform we used prior to coming to Blogger.

Overall views  - 148176
Blogger views/statistical data - 88176

The following are the top 10 visiting countries.

Philippines - 36925
USA - 13187

Russia - 8658
Australia - 2342
United Kingdom - 1963
Germany - 1830
France - 1656
Ukraine - 1508
Canada - 1104
Indonesia - 851

No huge surprises there I guess. The Philippines was always going to be far out front, with the USA likely to be in second. Russia comes as quite a big surprise, especially how far away from the fourth contender, Australia, where the PRHS has been based for 20 years.
It is also interesting to note that Indonesia has popped into the top ten for views. This is the first time I have noted this and is likely helped along by the upcoming arrival of Indonesian built trains in the Philippines.

This is probably all quite useless trivia, but it may be of interest to those who like to see the worldwide interest that exists for the railways of the Philippines.