Panama Railway

The 1855 line across the isthmus, the world's first transcontinental railway and the canal's forerunner.

Overview

Opened in 1855, the 77 kilometer railway from Colon to Panama City caught the California gold rush, carrying tens of thousands of crossers a year who preferred a day's ride to the deadly overland or around-the-Horn alternatives. It charged what the traffic would bear and paid extraordinary dividends. Disease, mainly yellow fever and malaria, killed thousands of workers before the mosquito connection was understood. The railway later provided the route survey and logistics base for the French canal attempt and was rebuilt under the American canal project as Gatun Lake flooded sections. Today it shuttles containers between the canal's ports.