How it began
The Panama Railroad Company was chartered in New York on April 7, 1849, by William H. Aspinwall, John Lloyd Stephens and associates, after Aspinwall had bought the United States mail contract between Panama and Oregon. Construction across the isthmus, then part of New Granada and today Panama, began in 1850 under engineer George M. Totten. On January 28, 1855, a train ran from the Atlantic to the Pacific for the first time. The line was built by a United States company on what is now Panamanian territory.
Before it existed
Before the railway, crossing the isthmus typically took four to eight days. Travelers went up the Chagres River in dugout canoes and then rode mules for about 20 miles over the old Spanish trails to Panama City. Local boatmen and muleteers made their living from this traffic, which grew sharply once the California Gold Rush began in 1849.
How it works
The original line was a single track about 47 miles long running from the Atlantic port of Colón to Panama City on the Pacific. Building it meant laying track across swamp, bridging the Chagres River at Barbacoas and digging a cut at the summit. The work cost about 8 million dollars and, by common estimates, the lives of 5,000 to 10,000 workers, many of whom died of tropical fevers.
What changed first
The railroad gave Gold Rush emigrants, mail and gold shipments a fast route between the eastern United States and California. It also displaced the muleteers and boatmen who had carried the traffic before, and it increased imports and trade through Panama. Its shipping dominance fell after the transcontinental railroad across the United States was completed in 1869.
What lasted
The line became the backbone of Panama Canal construction, hauling workers, equipment and excavated spoil, and it was rebuilt between 1904 and 1912 with part of its route moved to make way for Gatun Lake. A University of Florida exhibit describes it as having tied Panama to a long and difficult relationship with the United States.
Where it stands today
After a period of neglect, the railway was rebuilt and reopened in 2001 to carry containers between the oceans. It operates today as the Panama Canal Railway, running double-stack container trains and a limited passenger service between Panama City and Colón.
