~~ ALONG DA RILES MAGAZINE ¬¬

Free E-Zine

I have often been asked to do an electronic version of 'Along Da Riles' for easier and distribution to interested people worldwide.



Being still a lil old fashioned I have been reluctant to take this step with the magazine in the past.
However time marches on and the steady growth in interest and demand has made the publication a more expensive and time consuming project. Also the postage cost/size limitations has made it hard to do the occasional larger issues.


The 'Philippine Railway Historical Society' (Originally Philippine Railways SIG) was set up in 1999 to be a non-profit group, mostly internet based, and mean't for exploring and promoting the Philippine railways. 'Along Da Riles' magazine was borne as part of a ill-concieved attempt to help a society we started in Manila.


Despite the failure of that project, the magazine continued to be of much interest to readers and continued on under our PRHS banner.



Now we are trialing an e-zine version of the publication which will allow us more flexibility with colour, photography and size. It is even planned to expand into other transportation modes on a limited basis.



To get every FREE issue there are two ways to put your name down on the mailing list.

Visit the ALONG DA RILES mailing list website.

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Attacks/Rumours - The Society.

One of the weirder side effects of voluntary work in the railway hobby is the amount of trouble and hate one attracts along the way.
Sadly, it does seem a national past-time of many railfans, Australian, Filipino or elsewhere, to deride the efforts of all who give of their free time and money to share back with the railfan community.
Indeed some railfans do go out of their way to encourage it, building empires of imaginary power, trying to benefit financially from others, making ludicrous claims and the like.

But overall, many a railfan gives of their free time out of pure generosity and a desire to help. It does not matter the cost, or the efforts gone to, they are the true volunteers.
At least until all the backstabbing, lies and attacks finally make them wonder why.

Sadly the society has been target for many problems in recent times, all seemingly coming from the Philippines, presumably coming from somewhere that is railfan related and seeking to cause problems, or at best, our demise.

It sounds like the script of a James Bond action thriller, but spies, informants, betrayal and deceit has been the order of the day in recent months. People posing as friends to both societies, but at the same time working against them and trying to cause mayhem.
Followed recently by removal from Wikipedia any traces of the society and its websites, as well as general censorship on the Facebook group 'PNR LRT MRT in the Philippines'.
Indeed, despite our group policy of any member being able to join any other group he/she feels like joining, involvement in our group has reportedly been banned by at least one group.

People are asked to do themselves a favour. Find out both sides of any story. Listening to, and believing, one side of any story not only leaves a person ignorant, it also makes you look like a fool in front of the person you believe.

The PRHS will always remain as a voluntary society open to helping and sharing information, it will never dictate which other organisations others can join and it WILL ALWAYS treat all members as equals.

I'm frightfully sorry if this is not what people wish.

~~ TANKS A LOT ~~

Hi all, some discussions on the Philippine National Railway tank cars have been occuring on the PRHS 'Philippine Modelling Yahoogroup'.

As a result I have been going through some of my more recent shots of the prototype and prowling the internet for possible items in which to base a reasonable model.

Walthers model.

No idea who makes this tanker.

This tanker by Model Power looks like it may have much potential.

The difference that stands out most between them is the dome height, which always seems somewhat taller than the PNR version.

This could always be fixed by chopping a bit out of the dome should you be truly fussed.

For more ideas, a Google search for HO Tank cars gives a lot of different types.

And

If you are interested in modelling anything Philippines, whether it be trains, buses, planes, buildings, ferries or just scenery, we would welcome your ideas on the Philippine Modelling Yahoogroup. Discussion without the bitterness that has invaded our main PhilippineRailways Forum.

~~ YOU NOW HAVE A CHOICE ~~

The PRHS now has a second main Yahoo chat forum for people to join.

The new group is set up as a companion to our original, 11 year old, Yahoogroup and will return us back to the societies roots and what the forum was really mean't to be.

It is not a replacement group, it has a far different outlook and approach to that of the original group nowdays.

It will not be a group for everyone - its based more on making friends and having fun within the hobby, rather than pure train discussion all the time. Please, if fun is important, please check us out at PhilRail-SIG.

PhilRail-SIG Yahoogroup

The fun and friendship side of the Philippine transportation hobby.

PhilippineRailways Yahoogroup

The serious side of the Philippine Railway hobby.

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Some more Panay historical guff.

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The Quirino-Lopez Bridge
By Dr. Vic Pido

A view from the Quirino Bridge.Well folks, we’re just a few days before December. The weather is fast changing. Traveling around will be good because we’re going to have a cool weather while we’re in traveling togs and shoes.

This time, we tackle the Iloilo River from the Quirino-Lopez Bridge.

Last issue, we learned that the Arroyo Fountain lady faces due east, which is where we get our sunshine. But nowadays, the sun rises from the east-south direction, which is exactly the area where we look at the Iloilo River, exactly on top of the Quirino Bridge. As you can see in the photo, the sun is at our back.

Nicolas Loney the man responsible for the construction of the Muelle Loney in 1926.As for the river, we are standing on the deeper part of it, which explains why the sea-going vessels are parked along its banks.

It would be crazy for seafarers to go down northward towards the rest of what we call the Iloilo River. Puzzling, isn’t it?

The story’s like this. In 1926, a guy named Loney, a sugar planter from Iloilo, built a canal from the south harbor of Panay, going due north. The canal ended just right under the Quirino Lopez Bridge. This canal served as a port for sea-going vessels, to ferry out the sugar cane of Loney. The sugar cane was brought in by Loney’s railway, which we used to call the Panay Railways. Remember that? Thus the birth of the Iloilo port and railway systems.

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