Last train to Hondagua
Published Nov 11, 2022 12:05 am
SENIOR BYAHERO
The trolley slowed down before it came to a full stop. “We are here, sir,” announced the trolley driver and then he turned off the motor. After travelling for almost an hour on a wooden trolley which the locals call “skate” I was finally looking at the old train station of Hondagua.
My journey to this small barangay on the cove of Lamon Bay wasn’t planned at all. Less than two hours earlier, I was just talking to the person manning the local museum in Gumaca. He was an old man, about my age, and we were talking how people in Gumaca travelled in the past using the old Philippine National Railways train system. I mentioned that I was able to visit the old Gumaca train station early that day, and I was told by a man cutting off the grass on the railway track that the train may soon return to the part of Quezon. The guide mentioned that there’s another beautiful train station overlooking a picturesque bay in the next town of Lopez and it can be reached by riding on a “skate.”
I was originally planning to go next to Atimonan on my way back to Manila, but the possibility of seeing a train station by the bay made me all very excited. “How to get there?” I asked. “Easy. Just get on a jeepney bound for Lopez and ask the driver to drop you off at the terminal for tricycles going to 'skate' terminal,” the guide replied.
A few minutes later, I found myself dragging my companion and boarding the jeepney bound for Lopez. It took a while for the jeepney to be filled with passengers. I asked the driver to drop us off at the area where I can get tricycle to “skate” terminal. The mention of “skate” made several passengers look at me with curiosity. Not everyday that you see an old man getting excited over riding a “skate.”
Upon arriving in Lopez, one of the passengers hailed a tricycle to take us to the “skate” terminal. “Skate,” he simply said and he was gone before I could say thank you. Five minutes and ₱15 later, I was already standing in a makeshift train terminal filled with dozens of “skates.”
The “skates” are products of Filipino ingenuity. The residents of Lopez have created a trolley made from wood and steel with bearings that roll on the rail track. A bicycle pedal is usually attached to drive the trolley on the track but for longer distance and heavier load, a small motor is now used. In physics, a bearing is a machine element that constrains relative motion to only the desired motion, and reduces friction between moving parts. They are similar to the rollers on the skates, thus this mode of transportation became known as “skates.”
As soon as we saw a vacant “skate” on the track, we asked the driver if it’s going to Hondagua. He nodded. Forty pesos to get there he said. We took our place on the bench seat and waited for our trolley to be filled.
Fifteen minutes later, we started rolling. As we started moving, we were treated to a beautiful countryside scenery rarely seen by many. We saw endless fields of greens planted crops like rice and bananas. We saw beautiful native houses peeking through rows of coconut trees. We saw school children coming home from school waving at us and smiling.
As we rolled near Hondagua, the view changed to a beautiful bay lined with coconut trees. As we approached the end of our “skate” ride, we finally saw its train station. We paid our driver, got off our trolley and started walking around the old train station. The station building is now without any roofing, windows and doors but the old ticketing window is still there. I started imagining how many people had bought tickets there to take on a new life in the city. I also saw the old abandoned train rusting on the track but still standing proud of its glorious past that this now forgotten station was once a busy transport hub.
After finishing our tour of the old station, we took shelter from the noon day sun at the nearby carinderia. We ordered lunch, and as we were eating, the owner of the store started chatting with us. He told us that the station was built around 1910s and was once a terminus (final point) for the train to Quezon. It brought progress to that part of the province, and also provided jobs to the people of Hondagua. Sadly, when the train stopped, progress stopped as well, he said.
He mentioned that his store once served as a canteen for train passengers, but is now catering to the students at the nearby school. Life is not easy for the people of Hondagua now, particularly for students who travel long distance by foot, by boat, by “skates” just to study. He said that he tried to make his meals affordable to students, giving free soup to those who can only afford the ₱10 rice.
To the people of Hondagua, train is progress. They are looking forward to that day when the train returns and the station will again be bustling with activities. The day will come for those young students who are surviving on rice and free soup to get on the first train out of Hondagua to a better life.
(The author is a senior who recently retired. His taste for adventure has not kept him from travelling, usually via not-so-usual routes.)
The trolley slowed down before it came to a full stop. “We are here, sir,” announced the trolley driver and then he turned off the motor. After travelling for almost an hour on a wooden trolley which the locals call “skate” I was finally looking at the old train station of Hondagua.
My journey to this small barangay on the cove of Lamon Bay wasn’t planned at all. Less than two hours earlier, I was just talking to the person manning the local museum in Gumaca. He was an old man, about my age, and we were talking how people in Gumaca travelled in the past using the old Philippine National Railways train system. I mentioned that I was able to visit the old Gumaca train station early that day, and I was told by a man cutting off the grass on the railway track that the train may soon return to the part of Quezon. The guide mentioned that there’s another beautiful train station overlooking a picturesque bay in the next town of Lopez and it can be reached by riding on a “skate.”
I was originally planning to go next to Atimonan on my way back to Manila, but the possibility of seeing a train station by the bay made me all very excited. “How to get there?” I asked. “Easy. Just get on a jeepney bound for Lopez and ask the driver to drop you off at the terminal for tricycles going to 'skate' terminal,” the guide replied.
A few minutes later, I found myself dragging my companion and boarding the jeepney bound for Lopez. It took a while for the jeepney to be filled with passengers. I asked the driver to drop us off at the area where I can get tricycle to “skate” terminal. The mention of “skate” made several passengers look at me with curiosity. Not everyday that you see an old man getting excited over riding a “skate.”
Upon arriving in Lopez, one of the passengers hailed a tricycle to take us to the “skate” terminal. “Skate,” he simply said and he was gone before I could say thank you. Five minutes and ₱15 later, I was already standing in a makeshift train terminal filled with dozens of “skates.”
The “skates” are products of Filipino ingenuity. The residents of Lopez have created a trolley made from wood and steel with bearings that roll on the rail track. A bicycle pedal is usually attached to drive the trolley on the track but for longer distance and heavier load, a small motor is now used. In physics, a bearing is a machine element that constrains relative motion to only the desired motion, and reduces friction between moving parts. They are similar to the rollers on the skates, thus this mode of transportation became known as “skates.”
As soon as we saw a vacant “skate” on the track, we asked the driver if it’s going to Hondagua. He nodded. Forty pesos to get there he said. We took our place on the bench seat and waited for our trolley to be filled.
Fifteen minutes later, we started rolling. As we started moving, we were treated to a beautiful countryside scenery rarely seen by many. We saw endless fields of greens planted crops like rice and bananas. We saw beautiful native houses peeking through rows of coconut trees. We saw school children coming home from school waving at us and smiling.
As we rolled near Hondagua, the view changed to a beautiful bay lined with coconut trees. As we approached the end of our “skate” ride, we finally saw its train station. We paid our driver, got off our trolley and started walking around the old train station. The station building is now without any roofing, windows and doors but the old ticketing window is still there. I started imagining how many people had bought tickets there to take on a new life in the city. I also saw the old abandoned train rusting on the track but still standing proud of its glorious past that this now forgotten station was once a busy transport hub.
After finishing our tour of the old station, we took shelter from the noon day sun at the nearby carinderia. We ordered lunch, and as we were eating, the owner of the store started chatting with us. He told us that the station was built around 1910s and was once a terminus (final point) for the train to Quezon. It brought progress to that part of the province, and also provided jobs to the people of Hondagua. Sadly, when the train stopped, progress stopped as well, he said.
He mentioned that his store once served as a canteen for train passengers, but is now catering to the students at the nearby school. Life is not easy for the people of Hondagua now, particularly for students who travel long distance by foot, by boat, by “skates” just to study. He said that he tried to make his meals affordable to students, giving free soup to those who can only afford the ₱10 rice.
To the people of Hondagua, train is progress. They are looking forward to that day when the train returns and the station will again be bustling with activities. The day will come for those young students who are surviving on rice and free soup to get on the first train out of Hondagua to a better life.
(The author is a senior who recently retired. His taste for adventure has not kept him from travelling, usually via not-so-usual routes.)