The Panama Railroad Steamship Line

When people talk about the Panama Railroad, the image is almost always the same: a locomotive crossing the jungle of the isthmus. But few know that the company never settled for just rails. From its very first day of commercial service, the railroad also sailed.

On January 28, 1855, when the first train crossed Panama from ocean to ocean, the Panama Rail Road Company already understood that its 77 kilometers of track would be of little use if passengers couldn't reach them. That same year, the company launched its maritime service between New York and Aspinwall, now Colón. The formula was as simple as it was revolutionary: steamship from the US east coast to the Caribbean, train across the isthmus, and another steamship bound for California.

In the following decades, the steamships went from being a complement to becoming an essential part of the business. In 1896, the service was reorganized and officially named the Panama Railroad Steamship Line. When the United States purchased the concession and took over Canal construction in 1904, the fleet passed to the government along with the railroad, but kept its mission.

The crown jewel of the fleet arrived in the late 1930s. In 1939, three sister ships entered service — Panama, Ancon, and Cristobal — named after locations along the railroad's own route. Built by Bethlehem Steel and designed with steel hulls, they were promoted as the safest ships in the world.

World War II temporarily converted them into troop transports; the Ancon, nicknamed "Mighty A," witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. After the war, they returned to the Panama route and the line opened to tourism for the first time. But the Canal Treaty of 1977 marked the beginning of the end: the Canal Zone would close, and with it the fleet's reason for being. On September 4, 1981, the Cristobal — the last ship of the line — sailed from New Orleans to Panama for the final time.