In the early hours of Monday, December 7th, 1959

In the early hours of Monday, December 7th, 1959. A special train carrying US sailors departed Colon southbound derailed because of a landslide that affected the tracks 2.5 miles north of Gamboa. The train was led by Alco RSC-3 PRR 902 had three first class coaches, three second class and one freight car. The engine and the first coach completely derailed and crash to each other. In this accident, three people came out with injuries: Charlie Sammons, train engineer, Joseph Anderson, firefighter, and Andrés Payan one of the sailors.

The first two were admitted into Gorgas Hospital in Panama City. The train service was reestablished after 40 hours. It is important to note that at the same time the Transisthmian highway was also affected by the landslides which meant that Colon was completely uncommunicated by land with the rest of the country.