The Phnom Krom railway was a gauge

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railway that ran approximately 6 miles (9.5 km) from the town of

Siem Reap Siem Reap ( km, សៀមរាប, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. Siem Reap has French colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old F ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

in the north to the temple hill of

Phnom Krom Phnom Krom ( km, ភ្នំក្រោម, lit. "downstream hill") is a 140 m high hill close to Siem Reap city, Cambodia. There is a temple on the top which derived its name from the hill, Prasat Phnom Krom ( km, ប្រាសាទភ្� ...

in the south. Very little historical evidence remains about this railway, its original purpose, date of construction or date of closure.

Historical evidence

The primary source of historical evidence for the existence of the Phnom Krom railway is its appearance on a number of maps. For example, a 1962

US Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

map of the area shows the railway clearly marked, and its demarcation is as a ‘narrow gauge’ railway, as opposed to standard gauge (which, in keeping with the standard gauge of Cambodia and much of South East Asia, is listed as 1 metre). The railway also shows up in the same position on a number of other maps of

from the 1960s.

Description of route

The railway ran 6 miles (9.5 km) in a south-westerly direction from what was then the western side of Siem Reap town, in a straight line to

. According to the available maps, the northern terminus of the railway was just north of National Highway 6, in what was then a military area.

Conjecture on origin, use and removal

Though no evidence is known to exist on the origins and use of the Phnom Krom railway, it is possible to hazard some guesses based on the pattern of French colonial railway construction in the rest of South East Asia, and remaining physical evidence on the ground.

Origin and use

It is most probable that the railway originated as a quarrying railway, transporting stone from extensive

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

on the north eastern and south eastern faces of

(which are still evident, though now defunct) to provide material for the construction of the French colonial administrative centre at Siem Reap. It is impossible to speculate when the railway was constructed, but most likely it would have between around 1890 (when the French were, among other things, undertaking extensive construction in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

which also included the use of

narrow gauge railways A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

) and perhaps as late as the 1920s, when work on the Grand Hotel D'Angkor was being undertaken (a project which would have required large quantities of building materials).

Removal

Some maps from the 1960s with the railway marked mark it as disused, as it would almost certainly have been by that time. Again, it is possible the tracks were lifted a lot earlier, and the maps of this time are merely marking a railway that had long since disappeared on the ground, by compiling and copying information from earlier maps. If the track did survive in situ into the 1960s, it would have certainly been removed during the 1970s and the conflict that swept over Cambodia during that decade.

Surviving evidence

Trackbed

The

trackbed The track bed or trackbed is the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links. According to Network Rail, the trackbed is the layers of ballast a ...

survives largely intact. Starting at

, most likely the southern terminus of the railway was in a cluster of buildings that are now used by the

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

, under an old quarry face on the southern side of the hill. It then runs on the road leading to the

Tonlé Sap Tonlé Sap (; km, ទន្លេសាប, ; or commonly translated as 'Great Lake'; vi, Biển Hồ, Chữ Hán: 湖海/壺海) is a lake in the northwest of Cambodia. It belongs to the Mekong, Mekong River system. It is the largest fres ...

for a short distance, before turning off to the north and taking a more direct route into Siem Reap. The majority of the length of the trackbed is a raised, red earth embankment, though no original bridges seem to have survived. It enters Siem Reap from the south, where the trackbed becomes a nameless street leading in a straight line leading due northwest, and passes in front (i.e. to the east) of what is now the Angkor Night Market. At the extreme northern end, it seems that the trackbed has been converted through a recent construction project into an open

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...

for rainwater run-off, this runs as far as National Highway 6. Where the railway might once have terminated just north of the highway, the modern Hotel Sokha now stands.

Rails

itself is a winding road leading up to a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, and an Angkorian temple. Lining this road are a series of old

lampposts A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

, no longer functional, with cast concrete bases and rails providing the pole. These rails, still extant in 2011, are consistent with {{RailGauge, 600mm, lk=on gauge

rails, and are at any rate far ‘lighter’ than that used for the Cambodian standard gauge of 1 metre. It is impossible to conjecture whether the rail-lampposts were placed there by the railway itself (perhaps an attempt to develop

as a tourist location), or by another party after the railway had ceased to function.

External links

1962 US Army Corps of Engineers map of Siem Reap with the Phnom Krom railway marked
Railway lines in Cambodia 600 mm gauge railways in Cambodia