Friday 18 April 2008

The Panama Canal Railway

I travelled on the Panama Canal Railway in March 2008. It's a most interesting operation and the history of the railway is unusual.

History

The geography of Panama has made the area strategically important for centuries. The Spanish originally developed a mule track through the rainforest between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to allow them to bring treasure back to Spain. Despite the rigours of the passage through the jungle, this route became part of the best method of getting from the East Coast to the West Coast of North America - a ship South to Panama, a fifty mile land crossing and then another ship North.

So it was inevitable that, with the development of railways, a railway should be constructed across the Isthmus of Panama. The appalling conditions and the disease claimed thousands of lives during the construction phase but, in 1855, the single-line, 5 foot gauge Panama Railroad opened and became the first trans-continental railway in the Americas. The Gold Rush in California and the subsequent rapid development on the Pacific side of North America brought initial prosperity to the Panama Railroad. However, the Trans-continental railway was completed in the U.S.A. in 1869 and this siphoned away traffic until the Panama Railroad was virtually bankrupt.

In the 1880s, the French started to build their Canal in Panama, under the control of the charismatic Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps who had triumphed in creating the Suez Canal. The Panama Railroad was acquired by the French, but the canal construction was dogged by an initial poor choice of route and failure to learn from the experience of the original builders of the Panama Railroad the sheer scale of the problems they would face from disease and difficult engineering conditions. Eventually, the French abandoned the project and sold out to the United States of America.

The attraction of a canal to the U.S.A. was a rapid means of transferring their fleets between West and East in a time of crisis. In 1902, work re-started but the initial emphasis was on sanitation. Only when they had obtained relatively safe working conditions did they commence canal building. They also adopted the main elements of a plan originally proposed by Baron Godin de Lepinay in 1879 which had been rejected out of hand by the French canal builders. The design had the canal about 85 feet above sea level with locks lowering ships to the ocean at each end. The Chagres River would be dammed and the water level thus raised to create a large man-made lake (Lake Gatun), avoiding significant excavation. The waters of the Chagres would also power the locks. Major excavation was unavoidable to cut through the 'spine' of hills dividing the North of Panama from the South in the vicinity of Culebra. Much of the original railroad would require re-location further East to avoid the Canal and Lake Gatun - see the map below.

The railroad played a vital role in the construction of the canal but, with the successful opening of the Canal in 1914, much of its importance was lost and the railway became very run down. In 1977 the railway was transferred to the Government of Panama but continued to lose money. Eventually, in 1998, the Government gave a 50-year lease to a new Joint Venture between the Kansas City Southern Railroad and Mi-Jack Products (an inter-modal terminal operator). After the expenditure of eighty million dollars, the Panama Canal Railway opened, to passengers and freight, in November 2001. The Company has an excellent website with more historical information and a description of the modern-day operation.

A Journey on the Railway

In March 2008, I travelled on the 07:15 train from Panama City to Colon, taking a number of pictures of the railway. When the present railway was constructed after the 1998 agreement, the original line along the breakwater South of Balboa and the line into the terminus at Panama City were abandoned (refer to the map above). A new passenger station, called Corozal, was created near Balboa Port. This appears to have originally been a rail-connected transhipment building. It was used by the United States Armed Forces as a Commissary before refurbishment for its current role. The train was already waiting when I arrived, consisting of five remodelled bogie passenger coaches and a restored 1938 Southern Pacific Dome Car. The stock was top-and-tailed by two of the railway's ten 3,250 horse power F40 diesel-electric locomotives which operate the passenger service push-pull (1863 at the rear and 1861 leading).

The F40PH (I later discovered) is a General Motors Electro Motive Division B-B diesel-electric originally introduced in 1976 for use on Amtrak, using the EMD645E3 2-stroke V16 diesel engine. For use on passenger trains, Head End Power (HEP) was produced by an auxiliary generator giving 480 volts a.c. 3-phase at around 500kW, but this required the EMD645E3 to run at 900 r.p.m. even with the locomotive stationary, hence the class nickname 'screamers'. Some later variants had a separate diesel engine for HEP.

On adjacent tracks were some of the railways container wagons, awaiting loading. The Company website says that these were originally built by Gunderson and are 'articulated 5-well double-stack bulkhead rail cars'. Later in the day, I saw some of these cars loaded with two-tiers of containers, but I didn't see one of the 'fast freights' on the move. The Company can tranship containers 'in bond' across Panama.

Tourists boarded the train early but as departure time approached, regular business travellers appeared. Right on time, the bell (which is sounded within station limits) started up, the air horn gave a blast and the train slowly moved out onto the main line, over a remote-controlled switch (turnout) and past an LED running signal showing a green. Once clear of station limits, speed increased. The first few miles are uphill to the summit near Culebra then the line is reasonably easy. The train is allowed one hour to Colon, so it does not hang about. There is one passing remotely-controlled passing loop with signals and a second loop where I couldn't determine the facilities. The train is a good way of seeing the Panama Canal, Lake Gatun and the Dredging Division at Gamboa - there are a few pictures of the railway. In some areas, you can only see the jungle through which the railway passes. At one point, there is a prison adjacent to the line.

As we approached Colon after our non-stop run, speed was reduced as we entered Station Limits and the locomotive bell started to sound. On our left extended the container port adjacent to the Canal, where I spotted the yellow open-top hopper cars used for ballast. A branch diverged to the right to the second container port, Manzanillo International Terminal (locally just called 'MIT') where the railway also has its maintenance shop. The train came to a stand at the curving platform of the Atlantic Passenger Station, Colon.

The new permanent way is in excellent condition. The rails are 136 pound 'flat bottom' from Canada, continuously welded. These are laid on concrete ties (sleepers) supplied from Columbia. The ballast came from Nova Scotia. Remote control and monitoring of switches and crossings is over a digital UHF radio channel. Train despatching uses RailComm's Domain Operations Controller (DOC), a remote, hosted service marketed as 'SaaS' (Software as a Service): see Railcomm's site but the Company is also implementing 'Train Sentinel' from Quantum Engineering.

I found the whole operation impressive and professional.

Friday 11 April 2008

The Jackass & Western Railroad

The Nevada Railway Museum at Boulder City has a diesel locomotive with an interesting history. It was built by General Electric in March 1953, makers number 31827. It's described as a 'B-B-160/160'. The customer was the United States Navy and it carries its 'Navy Plates' - 'LOCOMOTIVE DE 80 TON 56-1/2 IN GA 0-4-4-0 CLASS'. It took me a moment to realise that '56-1/2 IN GA' just meant standard gauge.

The locomotive was eventually transferred to the Atomic Weapons Testing Site in Nevada, which had its own internal railway. The lighthearted title of 'The Jackass and Western Railroad' stuck and the name appears in black on each side of the yellow-liveried locomotive.

In the Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, there is a model of the railway on the test site which seems to have been used as a training aid. I also found the 'Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity' authorising the operation of the railway on the test site. This was issued on 7th April 1975 by the Public Service Commission of Nevada and allows the Jackass and Western Railroad to operate a freight and passenger service within the confines of the Nevada Test Site. It's not thought that a passenger service was ever operated. A copy of this certificate is held at the Railway Museum at Boulder City.

On the day I visited the railway museum, the locomotive was 'stopped' due to problems with the water pump.

My pictures of the prototype, the model and the certificate.

Monday 7 April 2008

Round the World Five - Afterword

It would be nice to tell you that, after five countries in just over three weeks and a fairly demanding schedule, I took a little time out to sort out my impressions. It didn't quite work out like that.

During the holiday planning stage, after I'd already acquired some preserved railway commitments, the travel dates were put back. Instad of the short respite I'd planned between returning from my trip and working on preserved railways, having arrived home a little before 9 p.m. on Saturday, I was faced with getting up at 4 a.m. on the Sunday, to do a morning driving turn at Peak Rail. This worked out alright, but I then had to get up at 5 a.m. on the following day to do a driving turn on the 'Planet' replica at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Tuesday was just a day in the office but a client had, at a rather late stage, finally confirmed a training course we'd provisionally agreed to run in London on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. For various reasons, I decided to commute to London each day so that meant getting up at 3.30 a.m. for three days on the trot.

I survived that but I didn't do much during the following weekend, when we were blessed with about three inches of snow which made me think that my return to England had perhaps been premature! Now, I am starting to think through my conclusions after my fairly epic journey. It amazes me that such a journey is possible at all and that the arrangements made by my agents, Wexas, in general worked so well. It makes Jules Verne's fictional trip around the world look positively pedestrian.

Union of Myanmar

Before the fact, I had doubts about my visit on two counts: Would I be safe? Was I providing support to an unacceptable regime? It was a well-organised, high quality tour so the time when I would be alone was limited but I went off on my own when I could. At all times, I felt safer than at home. I discussed the issue of providing support for the regime with people in the territory whom I respected. Whilst there is major corruption, I was told that the tourist industry is too diffuse for government control and that the majority of the tourist dollar actually gets to ordinary people and does some good. There's certainly poverty in Myanmar - I was impressed with the charitable initiatives that the 'Road to Mandalay' ship is involved in covering education and medicine. I came away feeling hopeful. Although life is tough for many people, there is a real sense of spiritual belief (Buddhism is very strong) and there is a cheerfulness I didn't expect. Kipling wrote "Burma is different from anywhere you have ever seen" and in his poem 'Road to Mandalay' he describes how the country draws you back. He was right - I intend to return to Myanmar.

First of a number of posts on Myanmar.
My collection of pictures of this trip to Myanmar.

Las Vegas, Nevada

I didn't expect to like Las Vegas and, for once, I was right. At least, I've been to see for myself. A city which bills itself as "Sin City", with the sub-title "Everything to Excess" is hardly likely to commend itself to me. The city might have been merely 'naughty' but I had a sense of a darker undercurrent. The city also delights in its rather inelegantly expressed promise - "What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas", which seems to invite the suspension of normal standards of behaviour. On every street corner, men push 'flyers' with telephone numbers to ring for a bewildering range of sexual services. At each intersection, there are long rows of bins with free newspapers with titles such as 'Barely Legal Asians, Blondes and Personals' and 'Young Blondes to Your Room'. The disclaimer that "All models are at least 18 years old and where applicable comply with 18 U.S.C. 2257" did not console me. Listening to the conversations of regular visitors on the bus, it was clear that most people don't share my distaste. Indeed, one of my friends in England thinks that Las Vegas is his favourite place on earth. Just in case I was over-reacting, I purchased a book about the city by Sally Denton and Roger Morris called 'The Money and the Power' (ISBN 0-375-70126-5) which had received good reviews. This book is harsher than even I could imagine in indicting the city. However, I got to see the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam and met some very nice people at the State Railway Museum, Boulder City.

First of a number of posts on Las Vegas and Nevada.
My collection of pictures of the United States, including sets covering Las Vegas and Nevada.

Chichen Itza, Mexico

I'd enjoyed my previous visit to Mexico and I enjoyed this trip, staying at the 'Mayaland' resort next to the ruins of the Mayan city of Chichen Itza, but I was surprised at how different the Yucatan is from the area North of Mexico city I'd visited before. But, be warned, Chichen Itza gets very busy with tourists during the day.

First of a number of posts on this trip to Mexico.
My collection of pictures of Mexico, including sets for this trip.

Cuba

Another surprise. Having visited a few Communist states, I didn't expect to enjoy Cuba, but I loved it. I enjoyed wandering around Old Havana and Old Trinidad on my own and felt perfectly safe. Parts of the country are very dilapidated and many people are poor but education and medical facilities appear to work. One person I talked to suggested that adopting communism was a ruse at the time to get support from the Soviet Union. Certainly, there's not much sign of people embracing communist ideals although I believe that the informer system typical of communist states is still in place and that 'bad things' do happen. The people do seem genuinely proud of their struggle for freedom, but if I'd suffered under the Spanish for generations, only to have those colonists replaced by the 'Americanos', I think I might be proud of finally gaining independence. The freedom of religious worship appears genuine, but the hold of the church does not seem very strong. But music (if not live, then from a 'Ghetto-Blaster') and dance is everywhere, day and night. The trip I made one evening on the local train from Trinidad has left me with powerful memories of the life of people in that part of the country.

First of a number of posts on Cuba.
My collection of pictures of Cuba.

Panama

The Canal was the appeal for me - I'd always wanted to see it and it did not disappoint. I'm currently working through an excellent and detailed history of the Canal by David McCullough, 'The Path Between the Seas' (ISBN 0-671-24409-4). But the earlier, colonial history of the country is so much more complex and interesting than I had realised. Once again, the Spanish held the country for strategic reasons for generations and one third of the world's gold passed through Panama. The transcontinental railway opened as early as 1855 (a 5-foot gauge affair) and transformed the passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It was clear that a canal would follow but the French attempt failed and it was the Americans who triumphed in 1914, with their own strategic objectives in mind, of course. The Americans retained the Canal and the 'Canal Zone' until the riots of the 1960s, after which the Canal was transferred to Panama. Panama is now a bewildering mix of different influences, ancient and modern.

First of a number of posts on Panama.
My collection of pictures of Panama.

Many of my friends find my rather intensive trips a bit odd, but I find them stimulating and educational and I intend to continue as long as I am able. If you want some 'serious reading', selecting 'RTW5' (Round The World Five) in the "Labels" list at the top right of the Blog will display all the posts describing this trip.