Ride the rails of the Thailand-Burma Railway in this fun quiz. Make sure you’ve watched SECRETS OF THE DEAD: “Bridge on the River Kwai,” or read the articles on this site, or you probably won’t do well on the quiz.

Altabba’s technical expertise has led him to work as a consultant on documentaries about historic engineering feats, such as the construction of the ancient Rainbow Bridge in China, cathedrals in Normandy, and now the Thailand-Burma Railway.

While it may be surprising that wood has the strength to support thousands of pounds of rail cars and cargo traveling over steep mountain passes, it is really just a simple matter of good engineering.

Under harsh conditions, POWs, along with thousands of Asian laborers, were ordered by the Japanese to complete a railway linking Thailand and Burma while the US military was developing a new weapon — a “smart bomb.”

As early as 1939, the Japanese had drawn up plans to build the railway, which was to provide a supply line capable of transporting 3,000 tons of supplies per day to support their frontline troops in Burma.