The Insular Lumber Company (ILCO) Train 7 is probably the most famous Iron Dinosaur in Negros. It is known as the Legendary Siete because of stories surrounding it and its significance to the lives of those it once served. The history of Siete crosses path with the lumber and sugar industries, two industries which fueled the economy of Negros and also caused tragedies and crises.
The Insular Lumber Company, considered the world’s largest hardwood mill, established their sawmill in Barangay Fabrica around 1907. The company built a railway line from the mountains down to Fabrica where steam locomotives were used to transport the logs.
Siete was built in 1925 by the American company Baldwin Locomotive Works. It was used extensively in the lumber industry in the United States before it was brought to Fabrica, Sagay City in the 1930’s to be used by ILCO.
During its days with ILCO, Siete hauls thirty-two cars weighing 30 tons with boiler pressure of 280 lbs per square inch and was hailed to be the most powerful steam engine in Negros Island.
Although I could not find a document to confirm it, I heard stories that it was Siete which careened down a mountainside on September 2, 1954, killing 82 workers. It was considered one of the worst train accidents in Philippine history.
Most environmentalists consider ILCO as the reason why Negros lost most of its forests. When there’s no more timber to cut from the forest of Sagay, ILCO vacated the area in 1976 and transferred to Hinoba-an, the southernmost town of Negros Occidental. Much of the land vacated by ILCO was used for sugarcane plantation.
The Lopez Sugar Corporation which has a mill near the ILCO sawmill in Fabrica, connected their railway system to the ILCO line in order to serve the sugarcane fields from the land vacated by ILCO. Disputes between the farmers and the Lopez management later on lead to the eventual removal of the railway connection with the ILCO line.
After decades of service in the lumber and sugar industries, Siete suffered the same fate as most Iron Dinosaurs, it was left as junk at a sugar central’s compound. However, Siete was rescued from a sad fate by Edgar and Sonia Sarrosa who purchased the steam locomotive and donated it to the city government of Sagay in 1997.
Siete is currently on display at the Sagay Public Plaza, attracting tourists who are curious about this legendary steam locomotive and Sagaynons who consider Siete a significant part of their history.