So as with all my travels its not long before I end up around and on freight trains, this trip was no different. Although I was recently in Cambodia(2011) working on a related project, these photos where actually taken back in 2009.
Its actually quite amazing just how much things have changed in only 2 short years. Although things are still far from amazing for the average person things are looking up. This also rings true for the railroad.
Ghosts of the Cambodian Railway As of right now(2009) there is no "proper" train service running in Cambodia. You can take a train from London, over to Moscow, down to Beijing, and over to Vietnam, but the trip ends there. The only thing holding up train travel on through Thailand and all the way to Singapore is...Cambodia
Why is this?
A brief
simplified history of the situation:
A while back the French took over a large portion of Asia. While there they installed an extensive rail network. Flash forward to the Khmer Rouge (if your one of the few who has heard about them, please check them out, I'll just focus on the trains for the sake of the post).
During the Khmer Rouges brutal reign they banned the use of technology, this included the trains and one sexy rail network. Subsequently the system fell to shit and the trains slowly rotted.
Of course even after the Khmer where booted from power no one really did anything to rebuild the system. Whole train yards lay abandoned and become ghost towns,
and then people moved in, box cars became box homes.
(this was home to a family of 5 and the entirety of their possessions) In other places train yards became grazing fields for live stock.
Needless to say there wasn't much much practical use for what was left. But that didn't mean the end.
The Bamboo Express 
Cambodians being the resilient people they are decided to take matters into there own hands and using bamboo and left over tank parts build their own railroad.
The rails are ill(as in not) maintained and make for a scary ride at times, but still usable. Mind you these are technically illegal but since there really isn't anyone to police it all is good.
The interesting thing with these "trains" is the fact that no sections are actually attached together. Every section sits on top of the other so it can be disassembled and reassembled easily. The reason for this is probably the answer to your first question.
What do they do when another train is coming the other way?
Well basically the train with the larger load gets the right of way. So the train with the lesser load will have to disassemble their train and move aside letting the “bigger” train pass. Once the passing train goes by the train is re assembled and on its way again.
The bamboo sits on the trucks, the engine sits on the bamboo, then a belt is connected to the rear trucks and viola. Braking is achieved by pushing a wooden board onto one of the wheels.
These trains are far from being used by the mass public and for the most part farmers will use them to get products to the local markets. Also during the rainy season when the roads are too muddy the train offers a nice ride.
Here are some shots from the yard in Phnom Phen
Definitely not a GE
NOTE: Since the 2 years I was here last they completely gutted this yard in preparation for next segment in Cambodia's rail history (I'm Assuming). I had read that the EU is investing some 11 billion into the system to get it up and running.
Thus meaning soon Thailand and Vietnam will be connected by rail and it will be soon possible to travel from the south of Asia all the way up to the far reaches of Northern Europe.
Here are some shots of the yard in Battambang along with some of the kids that hang there. It always impresses me just how energetic kids are no matter where in the world I go.
The Bamboo railway is fast becoming a tourist attraction, and as of my last trip there is now a tourist police officer located at the Battambang stop.
Now as far as what will come of the Bamboo Railway drivers once these trains start blowing through? They seam to think it wont affect them, I guess well have to wait and see.
Here's a link to a teaser we put together while filming in Cambodia(for the film we pretended like we actually had no idea if the railway or not...better for the story)
http://vimeo.com/22699858 and for footage of us riding it two years earlier as well as a few clips of the trip as a whole:
http://www.youtube...hannel_video_title 
