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102-525: The Venice Miniature Railway was a 7,500-foot (2,300 m) long miniature railway in the 1:3 scale with a gauge of 18 in ( 457 mm ), which was in operation from July 30, 1905, to February 13, 1925, in Venice near Los Angeles in California . Trips on the loop track started at the locomotive shed at the corner of Lake Avenue and El Camino Real (now Venice Boulevard and Abbot Kinney Boulevard) in

204-639: A book of tickets for $ 1.00, which reduced the cost to only two cents per trip. At the same time, a one-way ride from Los Angeles to Venice on the Los Angeles Pacific Railway cost 15 cents. Abbot Kinney , who had designed plans for Venice of America , contracted John J. Coit to build a miniature railway in Venice Beach near Los Angeles. Coit had worked as a master machinist at the Johnson Machine Works and had already built and operated

306-764: A canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a canal across Nicaragua and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama. Bunau-Varilla , who was seeking American involvement, asked for $ 100 million, but accepted $ 40 million in the face of the Nicaraguan option. In June 1902, the US Senate voted in favor of the Spooner Act , to pursue the Panamanian option, provided the necessary rights could be obtained. On 22 January 1903,

408-688: A canal. Numerous canals were built in other countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The success of the Erie Canal through central New York in the United States in the 1820s and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America resulted in growing American interest in building an inter-oceanic canal. Beginning in 1826, US officials began negotiations with Gran Colombia (present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama), hoping to gain

510-535: A carriageway are the criteria used by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), at which a railway is no longer classed as miniature and is therefore subject to formal regulation: they may be minor railways and/or heritage railways; the concept of minimum gauge is not recognised for the purposes of regulation. There are over 1,000 miniature railways open to the public around the world, not counting private railways, with 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) gauge being by far

612-608: A clockwise direction along Mildred Avenue towards the Business District. There the trains looped around the Post Office and again followed Mildred Avenue, until they crossed several canals on Riviera and Rialto. Finally, they turned sharply onto Washington Boulevard. They used El Camino Real to get back to the Lake Avenue Station and the locomotive shed. The cost of a trip around Venice was five cents. Regular users could buy

714-523: A concession to build a canal. Jealous of their newly gained independence and fearing domination by the more powerful United States, president Simón Bolívar and New Granada officials declined American offers. After the collapse of Gran Colombia, New Granada remained unstable under constant government intrigue. Great Britain attempted to develop a canal in 1843. According to the New-York Daily Tribune , 24 August 1843, Barings Bank of London and

816-400: A concrete structure. In November 1906 Kinney tried to take over the railway while Coit was out of town. On Coit's return, Coit removed some armatures and other essential parts from the locomotives before Coit went away on another trip. Because Kinney could not get these parts machined without drawings, he could not operate the railway for the remainder of that year. He sued Coit, and it came to

918-471: A court case that was decided on November 20, 1906, at the Los Angeles County Court. Coit and his colleagues were deemed not guilty regarding the claims of vandalism and theft, but Kinney started civil proceedings against Coit, in which Kinney convinced an artitrator to make a decision in his favour on January 19, 1907. Thus Coit had to reinstall the missing parts and reimburse the cost. Subsequently,

1020-579: A high worker mortality rate . The US took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal in 1914. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for its handover to Panama in 1977. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, the Panamanian government took control in 1999. It is now managed and operated by the Panamanian government-owned Panama Canal Authority . The original locks are 33.5 meters (110 ft) wide and allow

1122-744: A scrap heap in Vernon by Al Smith (not the Orchard Supply Hardware executive who supported the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad and Swanton Pacific). He reconditioned it and used it well into the 1950s in San Gabriel and Pico Rivera . After his death it was sold to Don McCoy who overhauled it together with his sons and used it from 1972 to 1978 at the Whittier Narrows Recreational Area. Since the closure of this railway, it

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1224-611: A sea-level canal (like the Suez), but he visited the site only a few times, during the dry season which lasts only four months of the year. His men were unprepared for the rainy season, during which the Chagres River , where the canal started, became a raging torrent, rising up to 10 m (33 ft). The dense jungle was alive with venomous snakes, insects, and spiders, but the worst challenges were yellow fever , malaria , and other tropical diseases, which killed thousands of workers; by 1884,

1326-572: A sea-level canal, as had been attempted by the French and temporarily abandoned by them in 1887 for a ten locks system designed by Philippe Bunau-Varilla, and definitively in 1898 for a lock-and-lake canal designed by the Comité Technique of the Compagnie Nouvelle de Canal de Panama as conceptualized by Adolphe Godin de Lépinay in 1879. But in 1906 Stevens, who had seen the Chagres in full flood,

1428-691: A self-educated engineer who had built the Great Northern Railroad . Stevens was not a member of the ICC; he increasingly viewed its bureaucracy as a serious hindrance, bypassing the commission and sending requests and demands directly to the Roosevelt administration in Washington, DC. One of Stevens' first achievements in Panama was in building and rebuilding the housing, cafeterias, hotels, water systems, repair shops, warehouses, and other infrastructure needed by

1530-583: A settlement began and resulted in the Torrijos–Carter Treaties . On 7 September 1977, the treaty was signed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos , de facto leader of Panama. This mobilized the process of granting the Panamanians free control of the canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the canal. The treaty led to full Panamanian control effective at noon on 31 December 1999, and

1632-632: A smaller model gauge, although this is rare. 'Miniature railways' are railways that can be ridden by people and are used for pleasure/as a pastime for their constructors and passengers. In the US, miniature railways are also known as 'riding railroads' or 'grand scale railroads'. The track gauges recognised as being miniature railways vary by country, but in the UK the maximum gauge is 350 mm ( 13 + 25 ⁄ 32  in ). A ' minimum-gauge railway ', which generally starts at 15 in ( 381 mm ) gauge,

1734-581: A treaty, in the name of the Société civile internationale du Canal interocéanique par l'isthme du Darien headed by general Étienne Türr, with the Colombian government, known as the Wyse concession, to build an interoceanic canal through Panama. The first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia's province of Panama began on 1 January 1881. The project was inspired by the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps , who

1836-649: Is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean , cutting across the Isthmus of Panama , and is a conduit for maritime trade. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake , an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level , created by damming up the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for

1938-638: Is generally 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm )/ 5 in ( 127 mm ) gauge on raised track or as 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm )/ 10 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 260 mm ) on ground level. Typically portable track is used to carry passengers at temporary events such as fêtes and summer fairs. Typically miniature lines are operated by not for profit organisations - often model engineering societies - though some are entirely in private grounds and others operate commercially. There are many national organisations representing and providing guidance on miniature railway operations including

2040-665: Is kept in the private collection of the McCoy family in southern California. The 2-Spot was by chance found and rescued at the last hour before its planned export to be scrapped in Japan by Billy Jones , who purchased it, reconditioned it, and used it on Sundays to entertain the neighbors’ children on his ranch. It is now regularly used at the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad in Los Gatos, California . In Harold Lloyd 's 1917 movie By

2142-506: Is one that was originally conceived as a commercial railway with small gauge track, with a working function as an estate railway, an industrial railway, or a provider of public transport links, such as the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway , Fairbourne Railway or the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway . In the UK, a gauge of 350 mm ( 13 + 25 ⁄ 32  in ) [or above] or crossing

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2244-402: Is sometimes misinterpreted as the "99-year lease" because of misleading wording included in article 22 of the agreement. Almost immediately, the treaty was condemned by many Panamanians as an infringement on their country's new national sovereignty. This would later become a contentious diplomatic issue among Colombia, Panama, and the United States. President Roosevelt famously stated, "I took

2346-472: Is the world's oldest private miniature railway , with a track gauge of 9 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 241 mm ). The railway was built and opened in 1925 under the guidance of Geoffrey Hoyland (Headmaster) as a 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) gauge railway, for the principal purpose of education. The railway is located within the grounds of The Downs Malvern , a private school in Colwall , near

2448-540: The Culebra Cut , valued at about $ 1.00 per cubic yard. The United States also paid the new country of Panama $ 10 million and a $ 250,000 payment each following year. In 1921, Colombia and the United States entered into the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty , in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia $ 25 million: $ 5 million upon ratification, and four $ 5 million annual payments, and grant Colombia special privileges in

2550-584: The Eastlake Park Scenic Railway with a gauge of 18 in ( 457 mm ) in Eastlake Park (now Lincoln Park ). John J. Coit owned the oil-fired steam locomotive No. 1903 of the 2-6-0 type with an overall length above the couplings of 19 feet (5.8 m). This locomotive made use of some technical innovations such as controlling the valves without an eccentric, which made it easier to adjust and maintain them. It had been successfully used on

2652-534: The Eastlake Park Scenic Railway , but at 8,000 lb (3,629 kg) lacked the weight and power for the planned activity at Venice. Therefore, Coit ordered a 9,260 lb (4,200 kg) oil-fired steam locomotive of the 2-6-2 (“Prairie”) type at his former employer, the Johnson Machine Works, into which his innovations had to be integrated. The new, nearly-identical steam locomotives No. 1 and No. 2 were called 1-Spot and 2-Spot . After Coit had issued

2754-752: The Hay–Herrán Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Colombian Chargé Tomás Herrán . For $ 10 million and an annual payment, it would have granted the United States a renewable lease in perpetuity from Colombia on the land proposed for the canal. The treaty was ratified by the US Senate on 14 March 1903, but the Senate of Colombia unanimously rejected the treaty since it had become significantly unpopular in Bogotá due to concerns over insufficient compensation, threat to sovereignty, and perpetuity. Roosevelt changed tactics, based in part on

2856-593: The Illinois Central Railroad , as chief engineer of the Panama Canal Project. Overwhelmed by the disease-plagued country and forced to use often dilapidated French infrastructure and equipment, as well as being frustrated by the overly bureaucratic ICC, Wallace resigned abruptly in June 1905. The ICC brought on a new chairman, Theodore P. Shonts , and a new chief engineer was appointed, John Frank Stevens ,

2958-589: The Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty of 1846, and actively supported the separation of Panama from Colombia . Shortly after recognizing Panama, he signed a treaty with the new Panamanian government under terms similar to the Hay–Herrán Treaty. On 2 November 1903, US warships blocked sea lanes against possible Colombian troop movements en route to put down the Panama rebellion. Panama declared independence on 3 November 1903. The United States quickly recognized

3060-582: The Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty , negotiated between the US and New Granada, granted the United States transit rights and the right to intervene militarily in the isthmus. In 1848, the discovery of gold in California , on the West Coast of the United States, generated renewed interest in a canal crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. William Henry Aspinwall , who had won the federal subsidy to build and operate

3162-659: The Ordnance Survey map circa 1880 does not show the railway itself, it does show two tunnels and two signal posts. However, the online map archive of the National Library of Scotland includes a map of 1914 from the 25 inches to the foot series (Derbyshire XLV.9) that shows the full extent of the railway. Sir Arthur wished to explore the possibilities of minimum gauge railways for mining, quarrying, agriculture etc. He believed that they would be relatively easy to build, and to move. He saw possibilities for military railways behind

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3264-533: The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) assumed command of the waterway. The Panama Canal remains one of the chief revenue sources for Panama. Before this handover, the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25-year contract for operation of the container shipping ports located at the canal's Atlantic and Pacific outlets. The contract was not affiliated with the ACP or Panama Canal operations and

3366-525: The Republic of New Granada entered into a contract for the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien (Isthmus of Panama). They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal, and it was a wholly British endeavor. Projected for completion in five years, the plan was never carried out. At nearly the same time, other ideas were floated, including a canal (and/or a railroad) across Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec . That did not develop, either. In 1846,

3468-535: The cargo ship SS  Ancon . The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 caused a severe drop in traffic along Chilean ports due to shifts in maritime trade routes, despite the closure of the canal for nearly seven months after a landslide in the Culebra Cut on 18 September 1915. The burgeoning sheep farming business in southern Patagonia suffered a significant setback by the change in trade routes, as did

3570-776: The 30 million cu yd (23 million m ) excavated by the French. As quickly as possible, the Americans replaced or upgraded the old, unusable French equipment with new construction equipment that was designed for a much larger and faster scale of work. 102 large, railroad-mounted steam shovels were purchased, 77 from Bucyrus-Erie , and 25 from the Marion Power Shovel Company . These were joined by enormous steam-powered cranes, giant hydraulic rock crushers , concrete mixers , dredges , and pneumatic power drills, nearly all of which were manufactured by new, extensive machine-building technology developed and built in

3672-702: The Americas in order to ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru. The Spanish were seeking to gain a military advantage over the Portuguese. In 1668, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne speculated in his encyclopedic work, Pseudodoxia Epidemica , that "some Isthmus have been eaten through by the Sea, and others cut by the spade: And if the policy would permit, that of Panama in America were most worthy

3774-574: The Australian Association of Live Steamers and Southern Federation of Model Engineering Societies. The first miniature railroads were built in the United Kingdom , as actual methods of transportation, such as the Jaywick railroad. The Duffield Bank Railway was built by Sir Arthur Percival Heywood in the grounds of his house on a hillside overlooking Duffield, Derbyshire in 1874. Although

3876-520: The Canal Zone. In return, Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation. The US formally took control of the canal property on 4 May 1904, inheriting from the French a depleted workforce and a vast jumble of buildings, infrastructure, and equipment, much of it in poor condition. A US government commission, the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC), was established to oversee construction; it

3978-485: The Chagres River above Gatun Lake. Completed in 1935, the dam created Madden Lake (later Alajuela Lake), which provides additional water storage for the canal. In 1939, construction began on a further major improvement: a new set of locks large enough to carry the larger warships that the United States was building at the time and planned to continue building. The work proceeded for several years, and significant excavation

4080-586: The Colombians being unable to put down the Panamanian rebellion and expel the United States troops occupying what today is the independent nation of Panama. On 6 November 1903, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, as Panama's ambassador to the United States, signed the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty , granting rights to the United States to build and indefinitely administer the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses. This

4182-479: The French manager of the New Panama Canal Company, eventually managed to persuade Lesseps that a lock-and-lake canal was more realistic than a sea-level canal. The Comité Technique, a high level technical committee, was formed by the Compagnie Nouvelle to review the studies and work—that already finished and that still ongoing—and come up with the best plan for completing the canal. The committee arrived on

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4284-696: The Isthmus in February 1896 and went immediately, quietly and efficiently about their work of devising the best possible canal plan, which they presented on 16 November 1898. Many aspects of the plan were similar in principle to the canal that was finally built by the Americans in 1914. It was a lock canal with two high level lakes to lift ships up and over the Continental Divide. Double locks would be 738 feet long and about 30 feet deep (225 m × 9 m); one chamber of each pair would be 82 feet (25 m) wide,

4386-407: The Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia: The New York Times described the support given by the United States to Bunau-Varilla as an "act of sordid conquest". The New York Evening Post called it a "vulgar and mercenary venture". The US maneuvers are often cited as

4488-559: The Pacific mail steamships at around the same time, benefited from the gold discovery. Aspinwall's route included steamship legs from New York City to Panama, and from Panama to California, with an overland portage through Panama. This route with an overland leg in Panama was soon frequently traveled, as it provided one of the fastest connections between San Francisco, California, and the East Coast cities, about 40 days' transit in total. Nearly all

4590-512: The Pacific side is about a third of a degree east of the Colón end on the Atlantic side. Still, in formal nautical communications, the simplified directions "southbound" and "northbound" are used. The canal consists of artificial lakes , several improved and artificial channels, and three sets of locks . An additional artificial lake, Alajuela Lake (known during the American era as Madden Lake), acts as

4692-419: The Panama Railway) to cross the isthmus; it opened in 1855. This overland link became a vital piece of Western Hemisphere infrastructure, greatly facilitating trade. The later canal route was constructed parallel to it, as it had helped clear dense forests. An all-water route between the oceans was still the goal. In 1855, William Kennish , a Manx -born engineer working for the United States government, surveyed

4794-401: The Sad Sea Waves his character pretends to be a beach lifeguard in order to be more attractive to the ladies. The movie concludes when Harold and his newest conquest Bebe Daniels ride off into the sunset aboard the Venice Miniature Railway. In his movie Number, Please? of 1920 he is less lucky, as he loses the girl, and rides off on the train all by himself. The Century Comedy Kids run

4896-400: The US army troops that were supporting the Panamanian rebels. The reason an army of conscripts was sent was that it was the best response the Colombians could muster, as Colombia still was recovering from a civil war between Liberals and Conservatives from October 1899, to November 1902, known as the " Thousand Days War ". The US was fully aware of these conditions and even incorporated them into

4998-483: The United States to hand over the canal to Panama increased after the Suez Crisis in 1956, when the United States used financial and diplomatic pressure to force France and the UK to abandon their attempt to retake control of the Suez Canal , previously nationalized by the Nasser regime in Egypt. Panamanian unrest culminated in riots on Martyr's Day , 9 January 1964, when about 20 Panamanians and 3–5 US soldiers were killed. A decade later, in 1974, negotiations toward

5100-496: The United States. The railroad also had to be comprehensively upgraded with heavy-duty, double-tracked rails over most of the line to accommodate new rolling stock . In many places, the new Gatun Lake flooded over the original rail line, and a new line had to be constructed above Gatun Lake's waterline. Between 1912 and 1914 there was a controversy about the tolls for the canal . In 1907, Stevens resigned as chief engineer. His replacement, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt,

5202-457: The attempt: it being but few miles over, and would open a shorter cut unto the East Indies and China". Given the strategic location of Panama, and the potential of its narrow isthmus separating two great oceans, other trade links in the area were attempted over the years. One early example of this was ill-fated Darien scheme , launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up an overland trade route. Generally inhospitable conditions thwarted

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5304-404: The canal was completed in 1914, 401 years after Panama was first crossed overland by the Europeans in Vasco Núñez de Balboa 's party of conquistadores . The United States spent almost $ 500 million (roughly equivalent to $ 15.2 billion in 2023) to finish the project. This was by far the largest American engineering project to date. The canal was formally opened on 15 August 1914, with the passage of

5406-401: The canal. In 2017, it took ships an average of 11.38 hours to pass between the canal's two outer locks. The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World . The earliest record regarding a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was in 1534, when Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a survey for a route through

5508-406: The canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200,000,000 L (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts. The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous route around

5610-489: The classic example of US gunboat diplomacy in Latin America, and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage, "Speak softly and carry a big stick [and] you will go far." After the revolution in 1903, the Republic of Panama became a US protectorate until 1939. In 1904, the United States purchased the French equipment and excavations, including the Panama Railroad , for US$ 40 million, of which $ 30 million related to excavations completed, primarily in

5712-470: The construction of tunnels and locks. A second Isthmian exploratory visit began on 6 December 1877, where two routes were explored in Panama, the San Blas route and a route from Bahía Limón to Panama City, the current Canal route. The French had achieved success in building the Suez Canal in the Middle East. While it was a lengthy project, they were encouraged to plan for a canal to cross the Panamanian isthmus. Wyse went to Bogotá and on 20 March 1878, signed

5814-441: The continental divide to connect Gatun Lake to the Pacific Panama Canal locks . On 10 October 1913, President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph which triggered the explosion that destroyed the Gamboa Dike. This flooded the Culebra Cut, thereby joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal. Alexandre La Valley (a floating crane built by Lobnitz & Company and launched in 1887)

5916-410: The death rate was over 200 per month. Public health measures were ineffective because the role of the mosquito as a disease vector was then unknown. Conditions were downplayed in France to avoid recruitment problems, but the high mortality rate made it difficult to maintain an experienced workforce. Workers had to continually widen the main cut through the mountain at Culebra and reduce the angles of

6018-407: The economy of the Falkland Islands . Throughout this time, Ernest "Red" Hallen was hired by the Isthmian Canal Commission to document the progress of the work. In 1914, steam shovels from the Panama Canal were purchased and put to use in Chuquicamata copper mine of northern Chile. By the 1930s, water supply became an issue for the canal, prompting construction of the Madden Dam across

6120-479: The effort, and it was abandoned in April 1700. In 1788, Americans suggested that the Spanish should build the canal, since they controlled the colonies where it would be built. They said that this would be a less treacherous route for ships than going around the southern tip of South America, and that tropical ocean currents would naturally widen the canal after construction. During an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for construction of

6222-455: The engineering and excavation work into three divisions: Atlantic, Central, and Pacific. The Atlantic Division, under Major William L. Sibert , was responsible for construction of the massive breakwater at the entrance to Bahía Limón , the Gatun locks , and their 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (5.6 km) approach channel, and the immense Gatun Dam. The Pacific Division, under Sydney B. Williamson (the only civilian member of this high-level team),

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6324-463: The engineering drawings, he contracted the Johnson Machine Works for the manufacture. The boilers were made and supplied by the Pacific Coast Boiler Works in Los Angeles and were fit for a pressure of 175  psi (1,210  kPa ) (12 bar ). The locomotives had a Walschaerts valve gear and cost $ 4,510 (equivalent to $ 152,939 in 2023) each. They were painted in black with polished brass bands and silver lettering. The only difference between them

6426-412: The ensuing scandal, known as the Panama affair , some of those deemed responsible were prosecuted, including Gustave Eiffel . Lesseps and his son Charles were found guilty of misappropriation of funds and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. This sentence was later overturned, and the father, at age 88, was never imprisoned. In 1894, a second French company, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama,

6528-423: The finest examples of its type, the railway is now private but still attracts thousands of visitors from the UK and abroad during its two public charity events each year. A ' model railway ' is one where the gauge is too small for people to ride on the trains. Due to the use of mixed gauge tracks, passengers may ride on a miniature railway which shares the same gauge as, and is pulled by, a large model locomotive on

6630-419: The gold that was shipped out of California went by the fast Panama route. Several new and larger paddle steamers were soon plying this new route, including private steamship lines owned by American entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt that made use of an overland route through Nicaragua, and the unfortunate SS Central America . In 1850, the United States began construction of the Panama Railroad (now called

6732-429: The isthmus and issued a report on a route for a proposed Panama Canal. His report was published as a book entitled The Practicability and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . In 1876, Lucien Napoléon Bonaparte Wyse and his chief assistant Armand Réclus, both officers and engineers of the French Navy , explored several routes in the Darien-Atrato regions and made proposals including

6834-402: The line, with financial backing by Sir Wavell Wakefield , Member of Parliament (MP) for Marylebone and owner of the Ullswater Steamers . In September 1960, the society made the winning bid and saved the railway from closure. Control of the railway passed to a new private company, with the backing of the preservation society, an arrangement that is still in place. The Downs Light Railway

6936-493: The lines carrying ammunition and supplies. The original Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway was a 3 ft ( 914 mm ) line opened on 24 May 1875 to transport hematite iron ore from three mines near and around the village of Boot to the Furness Railway standard gauge line at Ravenglass. In the early 1880s, a tramway was built between Beckfoot and another mine at Gill Force. Locals and railway enthusiasts formed Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway Preservation Society to save

7038-2300: The most numerous. Many layouts have dual-gauge track combing two, three or even more different gauges. 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 64 mm ) 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 64 mm ) 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 64 mm ) 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 64 mm ) 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 64 mm ) 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) Mixed raised gauges: 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) Torrance , California 2 ⁄ 2 in (64 mm) 3 ⁄ 2 in (89 mm) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 5 ⁄ 32 (145 mm) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) 2 ⁄ 2 in (64 mm) 3 ⁄ 2 in (89 mm) 5 in ( 127 mm ) 7 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 184 mm ) Panama Canal The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá )

7140-409: The new nation. This happened so quickly that by the time the Colombian government in Bogotá launched a response to the Panamanian uprising US troops had already entered the rebelling province. The Colombian troops dispatched to Panama were hastily assembled conscripts with little training. While these conscripts may have been able to defeat the Panamanian rebels, they would not have been able to defeat

7242-453: The other 59 ft (18 m). There would be eight sets of locks, two at Bohio Soldado and two at Obispo on the Atlantic side; one at Paraiso, two at Pedro Miguel, and one at Miraflores on the Pacific. Artificial lakes would be formed by damming the Chagres River at Bohio and Alhajuela, providing both flood control and electric power. At this time, US President Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Senate were interested in establishing

7344-493: The passage of Panamax ships. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded waterway began commercial operation on 26 June 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, Neopanamax ships. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons . By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through

7446-486: The planning of the Panama intervention as the US acted as an arbitrator between the two sides. The peace treaty that ended the "Thousand Days War" was signed on the USS Wisconsin on 21 November 1902. While in port, the US also brought engineering teams to Panama with the peace delegation to begin planning the canal's construction before the US had even gained the rights to build the canal. All these factors would result in

7548-563: The project. After two years of extensive work, the mosquito-spread diseases were nearly eliminated . Despite the monumental effort, about 5,600 workers died from disease and accidents during the US construction phase of the canal. Besides healthier and far better living conditions for the workers, another benefit given to American citizens working on the Canal was a medal for two years of service. Additional bars were added for each two-year period after that. Designed by Victor D. Brenner and featuring

7650-425: The railway occurred on June 3, 1910. Locomotive No. 2 had just been through a refurbishment and chief engineer W.J. Markham was "trying her out" that morning before regular operations. After cresting a bridge the locomotive, which was running light (not pulling any passenger cars) at the time, collided with a grocer's wagon, causing the wagon to crash onto its horse. The wagon was parked on the track because its operator

7752-472: The railway was recommissioned. Coit left the company and did not get reinvolved with its business. Coit was killed in a railway accident on September 21, 1910, while helping to build the Panama Canal . The railway was regularly used for another 18 years until the early 1920s, when it lost its attraction due to increasing auto traffic. It was even seen as a nuisance by locals and visitors. The first accident on

7854-455: The railway, which was to prove crucial in transporting millions of tons of soil from the cut through the mountains to the dam across the Chagres River. Colonel William C. Gorgas had been appointed chief sanitation officer of the canal construction project in 1904. Gorgas implemented a range of measures to minimize the spread of deadly diseases, particularly yellow fever and malaria , which had recently been shown to be mosquito-borne following

7956-445: The railway. It was taken out of service on February 23, 1925, when an order had been issued which prohibited its further use. The railway's ceremonial final run was in May 1925, just before local residents teamed up to volunteer in an "old-fashioned bee " to remove the tracks because there was no provision made by law to manage the expense of the line's removal. The 1-Spot was acquired from

8058-413: The rainy climate. In France, Lesseps kept the investment and supply of workers flowing long after it was obvious that the targets were not being met, but eventually the money ran out. The French effort went bankrupt in 1889 after reportedly spending US$ 287,000,000; an estimated 22,000 men died from disease and accidents, and the savings of 800,000 investors were lost. Work was suspended on May 15, and in

8160-419: The remainder were painted in cherry red . Each of them had twelve seats, and they were typically assembled to unicoloured trains. After a good start there was an increasing animosity between Kinney and Coit. Kinney insisted on his two very young sons being involved in the rail road. The eight-year-old Carleton was nominated as VMR President (at the time he was lauded as being the youngest railroad president in

8262-501: The slopes to minimize landslides into the canal. Steam shovels were used in the construction of the canal, purchased from Bay City Industrial Works, a business owned by William L. Clements in Bay City, Michigan . Bucket chain excavators manufactured by both Alphonse Couvreux and Wehyer & Richemond and Buette were also used. Other mechanical and electrical equipment was limited in capabilities, and steel equipment rusted rapidly in

8364-655: The southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage , the Strait of Magellan or the Beagle Channel . It is one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. Colombia , France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of lack of investors' confidence due to engineering problems and

8466-406: The then-current president they were popularly known as The Roosevelt Medal. A total of 7189 were ultimately issued, with a few people receiving as many as four bars. Certificates are available today. In 1905, a US engineering panel was commissioned to review the canal design, which had not been finalized. In January 1906 the panel, in a majority of eight to five, recommended to President Roosevelt

8568-492: The thousands of incoming workers. Stevens began the recruitment effort to entice thousands of workers from the United States and other areas to come to the Canal Zone to work. Workers from the Caribbean—called " Afro-Panamanians "—came in large numbers and many settled permanently. Stevens tried to provide accommodation in which the workers could work and live in reasonable safety and comfort. He also re-established and enlarged

8670-663: The town of Malvern, Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is owned by the 'Downs Light Railway Trust. It is maintained and operated principally by the school children, aged between 7 and 13 years. It is part of the Heritage Railway Association membership. The Jaywick Miniature Railway was built by FC Stedman, who owned the Jaywick Sands Estate on the Essex coast just south of Clacton-on-Sea. This railroad

8772-416: The track is commonly raised above ground level. Flat cars are arranged with foot boards so that driver and passengers sit astride the track. The track is often multi-gauged, to accommodate 5 in ( 127 mm ), 3 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 89 mm ), and sometimes 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 64 mm ) gauge locomotives. The smaller gauges of miniature railway track can also be portable and

8874-645: The train on behalf of their sick father in the silent movie Speed Boys , which was released in Holland as The New Engine Driver . Other Keystone Kid Pictures productions were also filmed on the railway. 33°59′21″N 118°27′47″W  /  33.989077°N 118.463186°W  / 33.989077; -118.463186 Miniature railway Typically miniature railways have a rail track gauge between 5 in ( 127 mm ) and under 15 in ( 381 mm ), though both larger and smaller gauges are used. At gauges of 5 in ( 127 mm ) and less,

8976-588: The water from the lake. Gatun Lake would connect to the Pacific through the mountains at the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut. Unlike Godin de Lépinay with the Congrès International d'Etudes du Canal Interocéanique, Stevens successfully convinced Roosevelt of the necessity and feasibility of this alternative scheme. The construction of a canal with locks required the excavation of more than 17 million cu yd (13 million m ) of material over and above

9078-496: The work of Cuban epidemiologist, Carlos Finlay and American pathologist, Walter Reed . Investment was made in extensive sanitation projects, including city water systems, fumigation of buildings, spraying of insect-breeding areas with oil and larvicide, installation of mosquito netting and window screens, and elimination of stagnant water. Despite opposition from the commission (one member said his ideas were barmy), Gorgas persisted, and when Stevens arrived, he threw his weight behind

9180-474: The world) and the twelve-year-old Innes as Chief Engineer , which dishonored Coit's actual position. When Kinney wanted to get more control over the day-to-day business in Venice, he tried in 1906 to take over the railway from Coit, although they had both signed a five-year contract. He forced the railway to close down for six months during the summer, allegedly because one of the wooden bridges needed to be replaced by

9282-455: Was US Army Major George Washington Goethals of the US Army Corps of Engineers . Soon to be promoted to lieutenant colonel and later to general, he was a strong, West Point -trained leader and civil engineer with experience in canals (unlike Stevens). Goethals directed the work in Panama to a successful conclusion in 1914, two years ahead of the target date of 10 June 1916. Goethals divided

9384-586: Was able to raise considerable funds in France as a result of the huge profits generated by his successful construction of the Suez Canal . Although the Panama Canal needed to be only 40 percent as long as the Suez Canal, it was much more of an engineering challenge because of the combination of tropical rain forests, debilitating climate, the need for canal locks, and the lack of any ancient route to follow. Lesseps wanted

9486-495: Was built in order to transpoirt indiviudal potential buyers to view the homes for sale. It was built in 1935, by Miniature Railway & Specialists Engineering, of Terminus Road, Eastbourne. Stapleford Miniature Railway is an historic steam locomotive -hauled 10 + 1 ⁄ 4  in ( 260 mm ) gauge railway at Stapleford Park , Stapleford near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire , England. Considered one of

9588-495: Was carried out on the new approach channels, but the project was canceled after World War II. After World War II, US control of the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it became contentious; relations between Panama and the United States became increasingly tense. Many Panamanians felt that the Zone rightfully belonged to Panama; student protests were met by the fencing-in of the zone and an increased military presence there. Demands for

9690-593: Was created to take over the project. A minimal workforce of a few thousand people was employed primarily to comply with the terms of the Colombian Panama Canal concession, to run the Panama Railroad , and to maintain the existing excavation and equipment in salable condition. The company sought a buyer for these assets, with an asking price of US$ 109,000,000. In the meantime, they continued with enough activity to maintain their franchise. Phillipe Bunau-Varilla ,

9792-588: Was familiar with the area and had concluded that the railway doesn't normally run in the morning. The wreckage was cleared and the locomotive was deemed operable enough to be used for its regular use later that day. Later in the same month, on June 30, the last car of the train was struck by a car in a hit and run accident in which only minor injuries were sustained. The driver of the car was deemed at fault and agreed to pay for repairs. When Kinney died in November 1920, his adopted son Thornton Parillo continued to operate

9894-412: Was given control of the Panama Canal Zone, over which the United States exercised sovereignty. The commission reported directly to Secretary of War William Howard Taft and was directed to avoid the inefficiency and corruption that had plagued the French 15 years earlier. On 6 May 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed John Findley Wallace , formerly chief engineer and finally general manager of

9996-572: Was similarly responsible for the Pacific 3-mile (4.8 km) breakwater in Panama Bay , the approach channel to the locks, and the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks and their associated dams and reservoirs. The Central Division, under Major David du Bose Gaillard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers , was assigned one of the most difficult parts: excavating the Culebra Cut through

10098-501: Was summoned to Washington; he declared a sea-level approach to be "an entirely untenable proposition". He argued in favor of a canal using a lock system to raise and lower ships from a large reservoir 85 ft (26 m) above sea level. This would create both the largest dam (Gatun Dam) and the largest human-made lake (Gatun Lake) in the world at that time. The water to refill the locks would be taken from Gatun Lake by opening and closing enormous gates and valves and letting gravity propel

10200-415: Was the first self-propelled vessel to transit the canal from ocean to ocean. This vessel crossed the canal from the Atlantic in stages during construction, finally reaching the Pacific on 7 January 1914. SS Cristobal (a cargo and passenger ship built by Maryland Steel , and launched in 1902 as SS Tremont ) on 3 August 1914, was the first ship to transit the canal from ocean to ocean. The construction of

10302-535: Was the shape of the windows of their cabs: 1-Spot had rectangular windows with rounded corners at the top and the upper part of 2-Spot's windows was crescent-shaped. The maximum speed was 30 mph (50 km/h). The railway used ten passenger coaches in an elaborate Venetian style with lion's head ornaments on their sides, which had been supplied by the J.G. McLain Company for $ 400 (equivalent to $ 13,564 in 2023) each. Five of them were painted in royal blue while

10404-491: Was won by the firm Hutchison Whampoa , a Hong Kong–based shipping interest owned by Li Ka-shing . While globally the Atlantic Ocean is east of the isthmus and the Pacific is west, the general direction of the canal passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific is from northwest to southeast, because of the shape of the isthmus at the point the canal occupies. The Bridge of the Americas ( Spanish : Puente de las Américas ) at

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