Motor Cars

Motor Cars or Motorized Railcars:

Like other services, transportation for Panama Canal workers was carried out in a segregated manner using railcars. While Silver Roll laborers were transported in open or flat railway cars, white workers traveled in regular passenger cars; executives, directors, and important personnel, on the other hand, traveled in motorized railcars. The first motor cars were manufactured and purchased for the railway in 1907. They were powered by diesel engines, had a compact design, and carried between four and eight passengers each. By 1915, when the community of Balboa was established as the administrative center and residential area for white Canal Zone residents, a special shed for this type of railway equipment was built to the right of the passenger station. Similarly, in 1917, a similar facility was built in Colón. Between 1927 and 1929, the railway modernized this form of transport and acquired three new motor cars. These newer models were larger and could carry up to 50 passengers. In the 1940s, the operation was carried out using tandems of these railcars, enabling travel for up to 100 people. By 1951, with the arrival of more powerful diesel locomotives and the manufacture of luxury passenger railcars, the motorized railcars were retired.