Colin Churcher 2020

The Danao Sugar Mill had a specially prepared locomotive, No. 7 for us.  The bagasse in the tender had been arranged theatre style so we could sit in comfort and watch the crew at work When we arrived No. 7 was being prepared so we had plenty of time to look around the railway at the mill Most of the operation was carried out by the diesels Much of the equipment had a good coat of paint. Bagasse burns quickly and can be awkward to handle A good helping of bagasse brought the pressure round quickly but it would die equally as fast if the fire was not carefully attended to. Away from the mill we stopped for several photo opportunities. We came across some abandoned equipment In  many places the residents were as interested in us as we were in the locomotive. We had a delightful time on the Danao system - our last sugar cane railway in the Philippines.  

  We visited the Lopez mill to see a three truck Shay at work We were surprised to have an armed guard accompany us on our trip into the cane fields. Turns out the reason might have been to guard us against unscrupulous young ladies. Most of the work was by diesels And we had to keep out of the way. There was a pause while we let a long train of empties go by. There was a pause while the crew decided where they would take us.  I was standing here on the road when I was approached by a nice looking young lady, maybe about twenty. She asked me in good English where I was from.  I replied that I lived in Canada. She said: "Would you please marry me and take me back with you?" I explained that unfortunately I was already married. By this time Mary had wandered up and joined us. The young lady then replied: "That's alright. Take me anyway." I made light of it by explaining that she wouldn't fit into my suitcase and she went off disappointed. It certainly gave me ...

  We spent the afternoon out in the fields I believe these were oil fired We were watching this locomotive switch a train of empty cars. There was a pause when they realized one of the cars had become derailed. A couple of the crew walked back and calmly lifted the errant car back on the rails and the job continued! It seems that all of the La Carlota Mill steam locomotives have now either been scrapped or put on display. 

  The three foot gauge La Carlota operation was pretty busy when we went to visit. We spent the morning around the mill itself then went out into the country in the afternoon, There were a number of trains coming into and leaving the yard This loaded train was following closely the train shown above. There didn't seem to be any dispatching system and train movements were basically line of sight with everything being within yard limits. A fleet of small locomotives kept the mill supplied with cane There were a number of dumped derelict steam locomotives Maintenance was in the open air. The building having fallen down or been destroyed on some manner. Ready track We were given freedom to explore. I spent some time trying to identify the specific locomotives, (i.e. trying to tie the builder's number to the road number).  Most, if not all, were Baldwins. The builders plate, shown here is a good start but this can be misleading. The motion parts, in particular, were stamped with th...

  The Talisay mill had one operational steam locoomotive in light steam There was also a lot of abandoned locomotives Talisay Not a lot of activity at Talisay We were free to roam around at Talisay At Ma Ao steam had been out of use for some time Ma Ao Ma Ao movements were all by internal combustion locomotives. Bacolod Murcia - steam locomotive on display Bacolod Murcia had a locomotive that might have been steamable The only movements we saw were diesel/gasoline Coupler hight problem on Bacolod Murcia