• That at $295 a share, the Panama Railroad was at one time the highest-priced stock on the New York Stock Exchange?

• That the Panama Canal Railway was the most expensive (per mile) railroad ever built? It cost 8 million dollars and took 5 years to b

• That in 1913 the Panama Railroad transported 2,916,657 passengers and hauled 2,026,852 tons of freight across the Isthmus. At this time it was reported to have the heaviest per-mile traffic of any railroad in the world.

• That at US$25.00 in gold, for 47.5 miles, the Panama Canal Railway was the most expensive railroad (per mile) to travel?

• That more than 12,000 people died in the construction of the Panama Railroad?

• That disposing of the dead was becoming such a problem, that the Panama Canal Railway started “pickling” the bodies in barrels and selling them to medical schools? The proceeds were then used to build a hospital for the railroad.

• That forty-seven and a half miles of railroad required 170 bridges and culverts of 15 feet or more, and 134 bridges and culverts of less that 15 feet?

• That during the first 12 years of its operations, the Panama Railroad carried over $750,000,000 in gold dust, nuggets, and gold and silver coin and collected a quarter of one percent on each shipment.

• That the Panama Canal would have been impossible to build without the Panama Railroad?

• That the Panama Railroad was instrumental in bringing about the independence of the Republic of Panama?

• That the Panama Canal Railway gave birth to the city of Aspinwall, now called Colon.

Random Facts courtesy of Panama Canal Railway Company

This post is also available in: Spanish