First Train Across Panama Isthmus

On May 18, 1853, the Panama Railroad Company operated its first through train from Aspinwall (Colón) to Panama City, completing a 47-mile line across the Isthmus of Panama. Built through swamps and mountains during the California Gold Rush, the project cost over $7 million and claimed thousands of lives to disease. Engineer George M. Totten oversaw construction using American locomotives and British rails. The line slashed cross-isthmus travel from weeks to hours, boosting global trade until the Panama Canal opened in 1914.