Ron,
South American electircal wiring would give a US electrician the heebie jeebies! In several of the towns along the line there were a number of low hanging wires crossing the streets that the G&Q ran along. Generally the other riders on the roof would warn people of impending wires, but perhaps the Japanese tourists didn't understand Spanish.
A friend was riding on the tender of a loco in Argentina and a wire that scraped across the cab roof dropped down and caught him, throwing him off the tender. He was pretty banged up but survived. You need to realize that safety standards in the rest of the world may not be what you are used to and to always be alert.
Michael Allen