Panama Canal Railway

Can anybody who has been to Panama recently inform me on how the P.C.R.R. is operating? I got the chance to see it in July 2001 just as the siding into Balboa harbour was being finished. How are freight operations running? Are the passenger trains being used for commuting, or are they mostly tourist trains? I remember reading that the market they were aiming for were business travelling between Panama City and the Free Trade Zone in Colon. If anybody could help me I’d be much obliged.

Have you had a chance to read the article on it in a recent TRAINS magazine…It seemed rather informative.

QM

I was there for the inaugural run in November.
I’ve written an extensive report on it that will be published in the National Railway Bulletin (NRHS) later this year.
There’s also an older article, written by Gene Hull, on the old Panama Railroad, Vol. 64, No. 5, 1999. Check it out!! Quite good.
Hank Morris