Yes, Jerry, that’s right! The entire line on the Vietnam side was bombed constantly during the war, and all of the bridges were destroyed during the war. From my understanding, it was a secondary military supply route, as China built a direct standard gauge line into North Vietnam in 1962 to supply the North (and the Chinese troops there).
After the war, the line was rebuilt completely, and all of the bridges are newer Soviet-style truss bridges. After this rebuilding, the cross border link was severed again during the 1979 war between China and Vietnam. Through train service was only re-established in the 1990s. Nowadays the Vietnam side is very busy, hosting numerous passenger trains and some cross border freight.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2020 11:05PM by BenKletzer.