| The American
engineers on the railroad were Law and Aspinwell, later the town of Colon
would be called Aspinwall, but the name disappeared when Colombia, which
Panama was a province of at the time, would not recognize the American
name.
The Americans
arrived in Limon Bay in 1850 and left their boats and started to cut out
the swamp and mangrove; this eventually led to tracks being laid little
by little until inmoney from New York came rolling in and the project pushed
forward at a higher speed, this happened in October-November of 1851. The
railroad made money before it was even finished. As people were so anxious
to cross the isthmus quickly. At one point the stock of the railroad was
the most valued stock on the New York Stock Exchange. A ticket in 1855
cost $25 dollars for the trip between Colon and Panama City. I paid $20
for my ticket.
The labour
for the project was a crazy mix: Irish, French, Chinese, Jamaican, and
American:
they died
like flies. The Irish are described as just dying. They just worked and
died. The Chinese on the other hand became suicidal; my traveling companion
told me that the Chinese had hung themselves on trees all around the country
by their own hair. The Chinese buried their dead in their own special graveyards
and years latter the bones of the dead would be dug up and then sent back
to the family in China. It is estimated that over
12,000 people
were killed during the construction of the railroad. What is interesting
is that today all of the communities that helped build the railroad are
still together in Panama living very harmoniously with each other.
The building
of the railroad led to the Canal. Without the train there would have been
no Canal. The train made people see that there was a way across. Another
Central American country that had a similiar experience as Panama, was
Nicaragua: there too, people came to cross and build a Canal. The French
had wanted to build a Canal under Bonaparte in 1845 either in Costa Rica
or Nicaragua; there was talk then in Europe about the city of León
in Nicaragua becoming the next Constantinople - a vital trade point in
the New World. The British and Americans sussed out an agreement in 1850
called the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The treaty set out a formal agreement
to build a Canal between the U.S. and Great Britain in Central America.
Funny thing
about the Canal is that it seems that everything was cut down in Panama
that was within what would become the Canal Zone: the land was sheared
so that all of the growth that you see along the Canal today is secondary
growth. If you see pictures during the Canal period, near the areas where
they were constructing the Canal, you never see a tree or a blade of grass.
The heroes of the Canal building days were the West Indians. They carried
all the dynamite, they were close with the Americans, lived among them,
and today are the keepers of the English language in Panama. And do they
speak and write English. Then came the Canal Zone and the colonial love-hate
relationship and now with the colonial period and invasion behind everyone,
it seems that people are more or less happy again as though some of the
history between the U.S. and Panama has finally settled.
The Ride
Across
We got to the
station a little late driving at high speeds and with a short night’s sleep,
feeling tired but not sick or exhausted. The railroad conductors are very
beautiful Panamanian women, very pretty in the way Panamanian women are,
and friendly and pleasant, no sleaze here, don’t need to think that; it
will not do you any real good. We sat down and had a cup of coffee
and read the paper. I played with my camera realizing I hadn’t bought new
batteries, to the point where I might get six shots in for the trip. The
funny thing was I knew it but wanted to gamble and think that there would
be enough left in the batteries so that I wouldn’t have to go to the store
in the middle of the night to buy them. Stupid. But I took some photos,
shook the batteries, swore under-my-breath and I took more shots then I
thought, but did miss a few good ones. There is a small lookout on the
train and you can stand there and feel the air and look at the trees and
countryside as well as Gatun Lake and Rio Chagres. My friend Cef was reading
the paper and trying out his new skills as a tour guide which both the
locals and tourists listened to with mouths agape. I paid no attention
and went outside with the other French couple who were having a great time
with the air and scenery. It was Friday morning, I thought, and 7:15 in
the morning and I am on the train to Colon in Panama – that thought left
after we arrived in Colon and ate some spicy morning sausages at the grease
covered green bus terminal in Colon; the sausage was cooked by a Chinaman
and heated up under the lights and black in colour. We took the bus back
which is also great fun. Very friendly people on the bus: Cef slept, I
slept and watched a Dolf Lunghren karate movie which had Spanish subtitles
rather than dubbing – thank god. We arrived to Panama City on a very busy
highway where there were plenty of diesel fumes, a McDonald’s and lots
of concrete and environmental destruction. Went back to the railroad station
where we had left from, got in my car and went; it was still early morning.
We had some
friends over that night – Cef was one of them as was R.M.Koster, Ron and
Jim – Koster told me about Jimmy Carter. Since Reagan died Carter has been
back in my mind and I remember two things about him: he walked to his inauguration
in 1977 and he wore sweaters in the White House because he had turned down
the heat to save on energy. Koster had gone to Carter's inauguration and
said Carter didn’t know how to throw a party and there were too many people
from Georgia around. That made sense. Carter is well liked in Panama. Reagan
is never mentioned as though he didn’t exist, neither good nor bad, just
nothing.
Do take the
railroad when you come to Panama. My advice is to get a tour: railroad
in the morning. Then a trip to the forts, either in Portobello – more to
see – or Fort San Lorenz – beautiful beyond belief. Also Colon is nice,
go to the Hotel Washington.
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