The Cabooses of the Panama Railroad

In 1978, the Panama Railroad acquired two caboose-type cars from the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis at a cost of role="main" tabindex="-1"5,000 each.

The first was reconditioned and put into service on May 30 of that year in a ceremony presided over by Charles R. Clark, Director of Terminals and Transportation, as this car held special significance: it was painted in tricolor, numbered 98, and named Jeanne B in honor of Ethel Jeanne Bensen, the woman with the longest service record in the railroad division who rose to become the director's assistant. This car was used to transport up to 16 people on mixed freight trains and to ease passenger services. Unfortunately, this first car could not be recovered and was sold as scrap in the late 1990s.

The second car of this type kept its original red color and was used for special trips and transport of Canal Zone executive personnel between the railroad's terminal cities. After the railroad passed to Panamanian hands in 1979, the car fell into disuse. However, in 1987, through the efforts of Professor Rafael Candanedo of the School of Social Communication at the University of Panama, it was relocated to the Octavio Méndez Pereira campus, its interior completely reconditioned with new wood paneling and furniture to become the editorial offices of the university newspaper Campus.

Although a piece of railroad equipment may not belong on a university campus, thanks to this initiative, this small treasure from a golden era of the Panama Railroad has been preserved — equipment that under other circumstances would have ended up as scrap with its history lost.