Between June 1942 and October 1943 the POWs and forced labourers laid some 258 miles (415 km) of track from Ban Pong, Thailand (roughly 45 miles [72 km] west of Bangkok), to Thanbyuzayat, Burma (roughly 35 miles [56 km] south of Mawlamyine).
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The Death Railway starts at Nong Pladuk, a junction on the Bangkok to Singapore main line some 80km west of Bangkok. The line heads northwest to Kanchanaburi, over the Bridge on the River Kwai, along the Kwae Noi ('Little Kwai') and over the Wampo Viaduct to Nam Tok, the current terminus for passenger trains.
Construction began in June 1942, under the direction of the Imperial Japanese Army's 5th and 9th Railway Regiments. Gradually more forces were sent to Burma and Thailand ; in total more than 60,000 prisoners of war were transported to the railway project during 1942-3.
The best bit is Wang Pho viaduct. This is an original wooden trestle bridge that clings to the steep cliff-face high above the river. Make sure you are sitting by a window on the left side of the train (or on the right-hand side on the return journey) – otherwise you won't see much.
The Middleton Railway is the world's oldest continuously working railway, situated in the English city of Leeds. It was founded in 1758 and is now a heritage railway, run by volunteers from The Middleton Railway Trust Ltd. since 1960. Main station building on Moor Road.
1830. 15 September – United Kingdom – William Huskisson becomes the first widely reported passenger train death. During the ceremonial opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, while standing on the track at Parkside, he is struck and fatally injured by the locomotive Rocket.
From October 1942 to October 1943 the Japanese army forced about 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) – including 13,000 Australians and roughly 200,000 civilians, mostly Burmese and Malayans – to build a railway linking Thailand and Burma.
The work was backbreaking and highly dangerous. Approximately 1,200 died while building the Transcontinental Railroad. Over a thousand Chinese had their bones shipped back to China to be buried.
1. Begunkodor Railway Station, West Bengal. Located in a remote village in West Bengal, this station is reportedly haunted by a white-sari draped spectral, the ghost of a lady who was run over by a train there.
You only need to walk a short distance along the track from Thamkrasae station to see the bridge and Wong Po viaduct snaking round a cliff. Krasae Cave is about one minute walk. This part of the Death Railway is about 30 miles west of Kanchanaburi.
Worst accidentsThe worst accident was the Quintinshill rail disaster in Scotland in 1915 with 226 dead and 246 injured. Second worst, and the worst in England, was the 1952 Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash, which killed 112 people and injured 340.
Worst accidentsThe worst accident was the Quintinshill rail disaster in Scotland in 1915 with 226 dead and 246 injured. Second worst, and the worst in England, was the 1952 Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash, which killed 112 people and injured 340.
On 27 March 1963, under orders from Marples, Beeching published his report on the future of the railways, entitled The Reshaping of British Railways. He called for the closure of one-third of the country's 7,000 railway stations.
The Metropolitan line is the oldest underground railway in the world. The Metropolitan Railway opened in January 1863 and was an immediate success, though its construction took nearly two years and caused huge disruption in the streets.