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Manila Railroad Company
The Manila Railroad Company (MRR) was a Filipino state-owned enterprise responsible for the management and operation of rail transport in the island of Luzon. It was originally established by an Englishman named Edmund Sykes as the private Manila Railway Co., Ltd. on June 1, 1887. British engineer Horace L. Higgins was then assigned as its first general manager in Manila. On July 7, 1906, a separate private entity named the Manila Railroad Company of New Jersey was established. The two companies continued to own the Luzon railroad network until February 4, 1916 when the Insular Government acquired both companies and absorbed them into the new Manila Railroad.
The MRR was the largest single railroad operator in the Philippines of its time. It owned 1,140 kilometers (710 mi) of track at its peak in the late 1930s, approximately one-fifth of all the rail network in the country by 1939. It also had various types of rolling stock from the early tank locomotives and boxcars of the 1890s to the diesel-electric GE Universal Series and Japanese-built steel-bodied railcars of the 1950s. Aside from rail transport, the railroad also invested in buses, the water transportation industry and the hospitality industry.
The Manila Railroad was then reorganized into the Philippine National Railways on June 20, 1964.
The first proposals for a railroad system in the Philippines was enacted by King Alfonso XII of Spain on June 20, 1875. It directed the Office of the Inspector of Public Works of the Philippines to submit a layout for future railroads in Luzon, the largest island in the Spanish East Indies. Public works chief Eduardo Lopez Navarro then submitted the General Plan for Railroads in the Island of Luzon on August 6 which was approved by the King Alfonso later that month. In 1882, a detailed design was made for the Ferrocarril de Manila a Dagupan leading to Pangasinan. Bids were laid out on January 26, 1885. The sole bidder was led by Englishman Edmund Hett Sykes' Manila Railway Company, Limited, known to the Spanish as Don Edmundo. His bid was awarded on June 1, 1887 but Sykes transferred the ownership of the consortium to Carlos Bertadano on July 8.
English engineer Horace L. Higgins was assigned as the overall general manager in the Philippines. Spanish officer José Gago y Palomo was also invited to oversee the overall security operations during the construction of the line. However, Palomo refused and instead joined the expeditionary forces of Governors-General Valeriano Weyler and Ramon Blanco against the Moro people, where he served as an engineer in what is now Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur. Construction began on July 31, 1887.
Rolling stock acquisition began almost immediately with the five Manila class light-duty tank locomotives built in 1885 and 1886, though its operations were initially handed over to the Manila Tranvías. Soon after, the first mainline locomotives were ordered in the form of 30 Dagupan class locomotives from Scotland. Passenger cars were also ordered from the Metropolitan Carriage Company, later Metro-Cammell of Britain. These initial sets were quite short compared to those used in Europe and only accommodated first- and second-class passengers with 24 seats each, the third-class passengers were put into modified boxcars.
During the Philippine–American War, the railroads were rather neutral having supported both Filipino and American forces. Most notably, the Manila Railway was the primary route of escape for then-president Emilio Aguinaldo and his cabinet from the advancing American forces towards Central Luzon. Higgins himself was also involved in the sabotage of a bridge during the Battle of Calumpit. Not long after, the American forces also took control of the company after Aguinaldo completed his escape.
Despite being initially in Filipino hands, the American occupation of the Manila Railway and the Tranvía became instrumental in accelerating the decline of the First Philippine Republic and eventual capture of Aguinaldo in Isabela. Insurgencies came afterwards for the remaining Filipino forces during the war. American forces marked the rolling stock with various military company insignia until the insurgencies in Luzon ended in the mid-1900s.
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Manila Railroad Company
The Manila Railroad Company (MRR) was a Filipino state-owned enterprise responsible for the management and operation of rail transport in the island of Luzon. It was originally established by an Englishman named Edmund Sykes as the private Manila Railway Co., Ltd. on June 1, 1887. British engineer Horace L. Higgins was then assigned as its first general manager in Manila. On July 7, 1906, a separate private entity named the Manila Railroad Company of New Jersey was established. The two companies continued to own the Luzon railroad network until February 4, 1916 when the Insular Government acquired both companies and absorbed them into the new Manila Railroad.
The MRR was the largest single railroad operator in the Philippines of its time. It owned 1,140 kilometers (710 mi) of track at its peak in the late 1930s, approximately one-fifth of all the rail network in the country by 1939. It also had various types of rolling stock from the early tank locomotives and boxcars of the 1890s to the diesel-electric GE Universal Series and Japanese-built steel-bodied railcars of the 1950s. Aside from rail transport, the railroad also invested in buses, the water transportation industry and the hospitality industry.
The Manila Railroad was then reorganized into the Philippine National Railways on June 20, 1964.
The first proposals for a railroad system in the Philippines was enacted by King Alfonso XII of Spain on June 20, 1875. It directed the Office of the Inspector of Public Works of the Philippines to submit a layout for future railroads in Luzon, the largest island in the Spanish East Indies. Public works chief Eduardo Lopez Navarro then submitted the General Plan for Railroads in the Island of Luzon on August 6 which was approved by the King Alfonso later that month. In 1882, a detailed design was made for the Ferrocarril de Manila a Dagupan leading to Pangasinan. Bids were laid out on January 26, 1885. The sole bidder was led by Englishman Edmund Hett Sykes' Manila Railway Company, Limited, known to the Spanish as Don Edmundo. His bid was awarded on June 1, 1887 but Sykes transferred the ownership of the consortium to Carlos Bertadano on July 8.
English engineer Horace L. Higgins was assigned as the overall general manager in the Philippines. Spanish officer José Gago y Palomo was also invited to oversee the overall security operations during the construction of the line. However, Palomo refused and instead joined the expeditionary forces of Governors-General Valeriano Weyler and Ramon Blanco against the Moro people, where he served as an engineer in what is now Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur. Construction began on July 31, 1887.
Rolling stock acquisition began almost immediately with the five Manila class light-duty tank locomotives built in 1885 and 1886, though its operations were initially handed over to the Manila Tranvías. Soon after, the first mainline locomotives were ordered in the form of 30 Dagupan class locomotives from Scotland. Passenger cars were also ordered from the Metropolitan Carriage Company, later Metro-Cammell of Britain. These initial sets were quite short compared to those used in Europe and only accommodated first- and second-class passengers with 24 seats each, the third-class passengers were put into modified boxcars.
During the Philippine–American War, the railroads were rather neutral having supported both Filipino and American forces. Most notably, the Manila Railway was the primary route of escape for then-president Emilio Aguinaldo and his cabinet from the advancing American forces towards Central Luzon. Higgins himself was also involved in the sabotage of a bridge during the Battle of Calumpit. Not long after, the American forces also took control of the company after Aguinaldo completed his escape.
Despite being initially in Filipino hands, the American occupation of the Manila Railway and the Tranvía became instrumental in accelerating the decline of the First Philippine Republic and eventual capture of Aguinaldo in Isabela. Insurgencies came afterwards for the remaining Filipino forces during the war. American forces marked the rolling stock with various military company insignia until the insurgencies in Luzon ended in the mid-1900s.