Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

D.I.Y. Trains

Jesse Walker | 7.6.2006 3:10 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hooray for human ingenuity.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Will Voters Feel Big Love for Mormon Mitt?

Jesse Walker is books editor at Reason and the author of Rebels on the Air and The United States of Paranoia.

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (22)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. Pro Libertate   19 years ago

    I think we've found the solution for Amtrak.

  2. jp   19 years ago

    I thought you were going to get that server fixed once I subscribed?

  3. Pro Libertate   19 years ago

    I know why they won't give up the slow server! It's the one Spock built out of stone knives and bearskins back in the 1930s. Reason keeps it out of sentiment.

    Hey, that's the best explanation that I can come up with.

  4. smacky   19 years ago

    They have created their own rail service using little more than pieces of bamboo. The locals call the vehicles "noris"

    Another testament to the sheer awesomeness that is Chuck Norris.

  5. Jake   19 years ago

    Egads! No safety features, no driver training, no licenses? Why DO the Cambodians hate children so much? 😉

    Jake
    (who says more power to em!!!)

  6. SR   19 years ago

    "Another testament to the sheer awesomeness that is Chuck Norris."

    Did you know Chuck Norris once single-handedly towed a line of 500 coal cars from Wyoming to his home in LA so that he could hold a BBQ for all of his friends?

  7. jf   19 years ago

    I wonder if these railroads allow pandas.

  8. mike in ftw   19 years ago

    Sweet, I wonder if BNSF would mind if I built a motorcycle that ran on rails so I could avoid speeding tickets and DWIs. I live quite near the tracks...

  9. AC   19 years ago

    Sweet, I wonder if BNSF would mind if I built a motorcycle that ran on rails so I could avoid speeding tickets and DWIs.

    There's an interesting thought. You would still technically be DWI, but it would be difficult to harm anyone but yourself--it's not like you could swerve into traffic and kill someone. Plus, it would really spice up some engineer's evening.

  10. M'   19 years ago

    MONORAIL!

  11. Rex Rhino   19 years ago

    When I was in Phnom Penh, I witnessed a family of 5 sharing a little motor scooter. Husband, wife, and 3 little ones.

  12. Isaac Bartram   19 years ago

    When I was in Phnom Penh, I witnessed a family of 5 sharing a little motor scooter. Husband, wife, and 3 little ones.

    And I'll bet none of them had helmets on.

    Oh, the humanity!! 🙂

  13. Rex Rhino   19 years ago

    There's an interesting thought. You would still technically be DWI, but it would be difficult to harm anyone but yourself--it's not like you could swerve into traffic and kill someone. Plus, it would really spice up some engineer's evening.

    Even if it's safe, it is still sinful.

  14. Larry A   19 years ago

    The moral of this story is if we had a couple of pieces of bamboo we could run rings around the server squirrel.

  15. cynical bastard   19 years ago

    Actually, motorcycles (OK, motorcycle-engined carts - called "beshenaya taburetka") that run on rails are not unusual in the Russian northwest where you find a network of abandoned narrow gage lines. Heck, if you trust newspapers, those people even spontaneously developed a signal system.

  16. Stevo Darkly   19 years ago

    Every time Chuck Norris posts to Hit and Run, his comment goes through on the first try.

    (And never more than once.)

  17. Eddy   19 years ago

    If only I knew of this when I visited Cambodia. It would have been a wonderful experience. Now... what do they serve on the dinner train?

  18. Pro Libertate   19 years ago

    I don't believe in Chuck Norris.

  19. Horn Dog   19 years ago

    Drat! I thought that this was D.I.Y. Trannies!

  20. Anon   19 years ago

    I've read about these trains before. The BBC article doesn't mention it, but undoing the Khmer Rouge's work did not simply involve clearing the tracks, but also clearing the land mines placed along/around the tracks. Not just an ingenious effort, but a downright brave one.

    Anon

  21. Stevo Darkly   19 years ago

    I wonder if they ever have problems with guys in black bamboo tophats and twirly bamboo mustaches who tie bamboo damsels to the bamboo tracks because they can't pay the mortgages on their bamboo houses...

  22. Pro Libertate   19 years ago

    Stevo, don't underestimate the power of the bamboo. Professor Roy Hinkley was able to build a generator entirely of bamboo, after all.

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

Americans Celebrate Independence Day Less Proud of Their Country Than Ever

J.D. Tuccille | 7.2.2025 7:00 AM

Brickbat: Take a Bite out of Crime

Charles Oliver | 7.2.2025 4:00 AM

Trump's 'Giant Win' Does Not Validate His Unconstitutional Birthright Citizenship Order

Jacob Sullum | 7.2.2025 12:01 AM

Trump Says the Courts Have No Business Questioning His Dubious Definition of 'Alien Enemies'

Jacob Sullum | 7.1.2025 5:40 PM

Medicaid Work Requirements Are a Short-Term Fix to a Long-Term Problem

Tosin Akintola | 7.1.2025 4:18 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!