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The Panama Canal Railway is a railway line that runs parallel to the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near Panama City). It is operated by Panama Canal Railway Company (reporting mark: PCRC), which is jointly owned by Kansas City Southern and Mi-Jack Products.〔(Kansas City Southern Company Profiles )〕 The Panama Canal Railway currently provides both freight and passenger service. The infrastructure of this railroad (formerly named the Panama Railway or Panama Rail Road) was of vital importance for the construction of the Panama Canal over a parallel route half a century later. The principal incentive for the building of the rail line was the vast increase in traffic to California owing to the 1849 California Gold Rush. Construction on the Panama Railroad began in 1850 and the first revenue train ran over the full length on January 28, 1855.〔For a detailed history of its construction and subsequent history, see Grigore, Julius. "The Influence of the United States Navy Upon the Panama Railroad." (1994).〕 Referred to as an when it opened,〔''A Great Enterprise'' The Portland (Maine) Transcript (), February 17, 1855〕 it was later also described by some as representing a "transcontinental" railroad, despite only transversing the narrow isthmus connecting the North and South American continents.〔(The Panama Rail Road ), retrieved 2008-06-06.〕〔(The Panama Railroad (Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum) ), retrieved 2008-06-06.〕〔(Engines of our Ingenuity, Episode No.1208: THE PANAMA RAILROAD ), retrieved 2008-06-06.〕〔(Britannica, The New Panama Railroad: World’s Ninth Wonder ), 2007-04-17.〕 == History of earlier isthmus crossings and plans == While the Camino Real trail, and later the Las Cruces trail, built and initially maintained by the Spanish, allowed some cargo and passengers to be carried across the Isthmus of Panama for over three centuries, by the 19th century it was becoming clear that a cheaper, safer, and faster alternative was required. As railroad technology developed in the early 19th century and given the cost and difficulty of constructing a canal with the available technology, a railway seemed the ideal solution. President Bolívar of La Gran Colombia (Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Colombia) commissioned a study into the possibility of building a railway from Chagres (on the Chagres River) to the town of Panama City. This study was carried out between 1827 and 1829, just as railroads were being invented. The report stated that such a railway might be possible. However, the idea was shelved. In 1836, US President Andrew Jackson commissioned a study of proposed routes for interoceanic communication in order to protect the interests of Americans travelling between the oceans and living in the Oregon Country. This resulted in the United States acquiring a franchise for a trans-Isthmian railroad; however, the scheme was a victim of the business panic of 1837, and came to nothing. In 1838 a French company was given a concession for the construction of a road, rail, or canal route across the isthmus. An initial engineering study recommended a sea-level canal from Limón Bay to the bay of Boca del Monte, west of Panama; but the scheme again collapsed for lack of technology and funding needed. Following the US acquisition of Upper California and the Oregon Territory in 1846 and the prospective movement of many more settlers to and from the West Coast, the United States once again turned its attention to securing a safe, reliable, and speedy link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In 1846 the United States signed a treaty with Colombia (then the Republic of New Granada) by which the US guaranteed Colombian sovereignty over Panama and was authorized to build a railroad or canal at the Panamanian isthmus guaranteeing its open transit. In 1847, a year before gold was discovered in California, Congress authorized subsidies for the running of two lines of mail and passenger steamships, one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific. The Atlantic lines ran from New York, Havana, Cuba, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to Panama's Chagres River on the Caribbean Sea at a $300,000 subsidy. The proposed Pacific line ran with three steamships from Panama City, Panama to California and Oregon in the Pacific at a $200,000 subsidy. None of the steamships in the Pacific was built before the mail contract was let. In 1847, the actual east–west transit across the isthmus was by native dugout boats (and later by modified lifeboats) up the often dangerous Chagres River, and then by mules for the final over the old Spanish trails. The trails had fallen into serious disrepair after some 50 years of little or no maintenance and up to of rain each year in the April–December rainy season. A transit from the Atlantic to the Pacific or vice versa would usually take four to eight days by dugout canoe and mule. The transit was fraught with dangers and disease. William H. Aspinwall, the man who had won the bid for the building and operating of the Pacific mail steamships, conceived a plan to construct a railway across the isthmus. He and his partners created a company registered in New York, the Panama Railroad Company, raised $1,000,000 from the sale of stock, and hired companies to conduct engineering and route studies. Their venture happened to be well-timed, as the discovery of gold in California in January 1848 created a rush of emigrants wanting to cross the Isthmus of Panama and go on to California. The first dual paddle steamer plus three masts powered steamship used on the Pacific run was the $200,000 ''.''〔Steamship California () accessed 27 Aug 2009〕〔SS California picture specs () accessed 27 Aug 2009〕 It was in length, in beam, and deep, with a draft of , and grossed 1,057 tons; when it sailed around the Cape Horn of South America, it was the first steamship on the west coast of South and North America. When it stopped at Panama City on , it was besieged by about 700 desperate gold seekers. Eventually, it managed to leave Panama City for California on , with almost 400 passengers, and entered San Francisco Bay, a distance of about , on February 28, 1849 — 145 days after leaving New York. There, nearly all its crew except the captain deserted and were stranded for about four months until a new supply of coal and a new (much more expensive) crew could be hired. The route between California and Panama was soon very actively traveled, as it provided one of the fastest links between San Francisco, California, and the East Coast cities — about 40 days' transit. Nearly all the gold that left California went over the fast Panama route. Several new and larger paddle steamers were soon plying this new route. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Panama Canal Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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