Panama Railroad Reduced Isthmus Transit From Eight Days to Four Hours

Summary: In 1855 replacing dugout canoes and mule teams with the Panama Railroad reduced transit time of the Panamanian isthmus from eight days to four hours.

Prior to the opening of the Panama Railroad Sunday, Jan. 28, 1855, crossing the Isthmus of Panama entailed an arduous, eight-day-plus journey via two-stage transport by dugout canoes and mule teams; "Crossing the Isthmus in the Olden Time," illustration, page 102, in Robert Tomes, Panama in 1855 (1855): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

The mid-19th century completion of the Panama Railroad reduced the transit time across the Isthmus of Panama from the eight days-plus logged by the previous two-stage transport via dugout canoes and mule teams to the railroad's approximately four to four and one-half hours.

Prior to the construction of the Panama Railroad, a two-stage transport by dugout canoes and mule teams conveyed travelers across the Isthmus of Panama (Spanish: Istmo de Panamá). The Panama route was one of three options for bicoastal travel of the east and west coasts of the United States. A second option rounded Republic of Chile's (República de Chile) stormy Cape Horn (Spanish: Cabo de Hornos), the meeting place of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The third option, which was routed overland, followed wagon trails across the continental United States.

Interest in improving the time and transit mode for crossing the Panamanian isthmus spiked with the Gold Rush precipitated by the Monday, Jan. 24, 1848, discovery of gold flakes in the South Fork American River at Sutter's Mill, California, by American carpenter and sawmill operator James Wilson Marshall (Oct. 8, 1810-Aug. 10, 1885). American businessman William Henry Aspinwall (Dec. 16, 1807-Jan. 18, 1875) tackled the increased demand for mail and passenger ships between the Pacific coast of the Panamanian isthmus and the U.S. west coast's Territory of Oregon (Aug. 14, 1848-Feb. 14, 1859) by founding the Pacific Mail Steamship Company Tuesday, April 18, 1848, in New York. Less than one year later, on Saturday, April 7, 1849, he co-founded the Panama Railroad Company in New York. American lawyer, Maya civilization rediscoverer and writer John Lloyd Stephens (Nov. 28, 1805-Oct. 13, 1852) and American businessman Henry M. Chauncey (April 3, 1795-April 28, 1863) co-incorporated with Aspinwall.

Panama was under the sovereignty of the Republic of New Granada (Spanish: República de la Nueva Granada; Oct. 20, 1831-April 11, 1858). On Monday, April 15, 1850, one year eight days after incorporation, the Panama Railroad Company finalized with the government of New Granada a 49-year contract for the exclusive right to establish a canal, highway or railroad across the Isthmus of Panama.

"Running the Lines," illustration of dense fauna through which crews of the Pacific Railroad Company laid tracks, by American physician, urology pioneer, art collector, author and U.S. Mail Steamship Company and Pacific Mail Steamship Company's ship surgeon (1853-1861) Fessenden Nott Otis, in Illustrated History of the Panama Railroad (1862; page 20): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

The daunting project confronted a plethora of such challenges as overgrown flora, swampy hydrology and rugged terrain of the Isthmus of Panama's local physical geographies. Additionally, the tropical climate obstructed progress with constant, heavy rainfall-induced floods annually from June to December. Tropical diseases threatened debilitating and fatal illnesses from the climate's ferocious fauna, such as malarial mosquitoes. Other potentially negative scenarios with Panama's animal kingdom included encounters with alligators, scorpions and tarantulas, as noted by British journalist and railway historian Christian Wolmar (born Aug. 3, 1949) in The Iron Road (2014; pages 112-113).

Travelers also experienced discomfort inherent in their transport by canoe and by mule. The traveler ". . . who has once undergone the trials of a journey across the Isthmus during the days of the now obsolete mule and canoe . . . . will recall the long days and nights upon the Chagres river, and the hard ride over the rough road to Panama . . . . He will recollect the struggle with his thronging fellow-travelers for the scant boats ; and if he had the good luck to secure a foot-rest in a crowded canoe, he will not forget how eagerly he sprung from the shore infected with pestilence and vice. He will recollect the three days and nights of his wearisome ascent of the ever-bending river, the never-ceasing monotonous cries of the Negro boatmen, as they toiled along the banks, tugging at the over hanging foliage, startling the chattering monkeys, putting to flight the noisy parrots, and disturbing the sleepy alligators, which slided their huge, black, slimy bodies from the mudreefs into the water. With the tedious monotony of his slow progress by day, and no rest at night, in his contracted canoe, shared with coarse adventurers, and no relief in the exorbitantly-paid entertainment at the hovels which stretched their mud-floors, and dispensed their stringy pork, muddy coffee, and wretched brandy by the wayside, for the refreshment of the traveler, he will recollect how spiritedly he took to mule at Cruces, and sped joyfully on until, soon jaded by the hard ride, he at last reached Panama, fatigued and dispirited, where, perhaps, if with powers of endurance equal to every trial, he slept, or if not, tossed restlessly about on his hard cot in the early agonies of fever," as described by American physician, diplomat and writer Robert Tomes (March 27, 1817-Aug. 28, 1882) Panama in 1855 (1855; pages 100, 103).

The railway project began in May 1850 with the clearing of a mangrove-choked, swampy spot on the western end of Manzanillo Island (Spanish: la isla de Manzanillo). The emergence of harbor facilities and the railroad's Caribbean, northern terminus created the new town of Aspinwall, named in honor of the Pacific Railroad's first president, William Henry Aspinwall. In 1890 the government of New Granada renamed the town Colón in 1890 in honor of late 15th and early 16th century explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Cristóbal Colón; ca. 1446/1451-May 20, 1506), who had explored Panama's Caribbean, northern coast during his fourth and last voyage to the Americas (May 9, 1502-Nov. 7, 1504).

The railway project was completed in approximately four years eight months. At midnight, Saturday, Jan. 27, 1855, the last rail was laid at Culebra, the summit of the Continental Divide of the Americas (Spanish: Divisoria continental de las Américas), also known as the Continental Divide (Spanish: Gran Divisoria). Mountainous Culebra's location was near the Pacific, southern terminus at Panama City's northern suburb of Playa Prieta. Culebra lay ". . . distant from the Atlantic terminus thirty-seven miles, and eleven miles from the city of Panama," as recalled by American physician, urology pioneer, art collector and author Fessenden Nott Otis (March 6, 1825-May 24, 1900) in Isthmus of Panama: History of the Panama Railroad (1867; page 36).

Robert Tomes received an invitation, dated Thursday, Jan. 25, 1855, for a complimentary trip on the Panama Railroad from American banking and railroad businessman David Hoadley (Feb. 13, 1806-Aug. 20, 1873), who had become the railroad's president in November 1851 (pages 14-15). On Sunday, Feb. 18, 1855, Robert Tomes boarded the train at Aspinwall (page 69) and disembarked at Playa Prieta. "Our watches tell us we have been only four hours and a half in making the transit of forty-eight miles from ocean to ocean" (page 95).

"Terminus at Panama," illustration of the Pacific, southern terminus of the Pacific Railroad, by American physician, urology pioneer, art collector and author Fessenden Nott Otis, in Isthmus of Panama: History of the Panama Railroad; and of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (1867), page 128: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

Prior to the opening of the Panama Railroad Sunday, Jan. 28, 1855, crossing the Isthmus of Panama entailed an arduous, eight-day-plus journey via two-stage transport by dugout canoes and mule teams; "Crossing the Isthmus in the Olden Time," illustration, page 102, in Robert Tomes, Panama in 1855 (1855): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/panimain185500tomerich/page/102/mode/1up

"Running the Lines," illustration of dense fauna through which crews of the Pacific Railroad Company laid tracks, by American physician, urology pioneer, art collector and author Fessenden Nott Otis, in Illustrated History of the Panama Railroad (1862; page 20): Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/histoillustrated00otisrich/page/20/mode/1up

"Terminus at Panama," illustration of the Pacific, southern terminus of the Pacific Railroad, by American physician, urology pioneer, art collector and author Fessenden Nott Otis, in Isthmus of Panama: History of the Panama Railroad; and of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (1867), page 128: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/isthmusofpanamah00otisrich/page/129/mode/1up

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