The main road north from Manila to San Fernando in the north west Philippines crosses several rivers. Here we are looking east towards the mountains. The stumps are the remains of the railway bridge which once carried trains between Manila and San Fernando. It was swept away during extreme weather and never rebuilt.

A similar fate met the Tay Bridge in Scotland in 1879, but a new bridge was built which is still in use today. Sadly much of the rail network in the Philippines has been destroyed by bad weather and lack of investment. On the southern line it is reported that thieves stole the rails to sell as scrap metal, thereby causing a derailment.

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Keywords: Railways of the Philippines, railway bridges, rivers, La Union, Philippines, holidays in the Philippines