Pay Car

The pay car trains: In 1904, with the start of the construction of the Panama Canal, all employees were paid in cash in a weekly manner. To optimize the payment process, the Panama Railroad enabled some modified passenger cars to work as pay cars. These cars were heavily guarded due to the large quantity of cash that they carried. The interior was fitted as a bank teller sections with 3 or 4 per wagon. There were pay cars for either Gold Roll or Silver Roll and other for both with different entrances for each roll.

The pay car train schedules were published weekly in The Panama Canal Record publications. The pay cars started their downfall while the banking system started to modernize and the introduction of check payments and direct deposits. There is not exact date when the pay cars were last used but is assumed that they were retired some time in the 1940s. By 1939, the Panama Railroad only had one pay car.