CPKC

[lock4244]

I can see CP jettisoning the Panama Canal Rwy... not part of their core business.

[learmoia]

I can see CP jettisoning the Panama Canal Rwy... not part of their core business.

Soon the F40s could be in @sirenwerks favorite paint sheme...

[nkalanaga]

Traffic for Mexico from Panama, probably little to none.  But a standard gauge line through Central America would probably handle at least some import/export business from the other countries.  Not everything goes in containers, even today.  And traffic wouldn't be limited to Mexican destinations.

[Tristan Ashcroft]

Between Mexico and Panama there's a pretty big gap with no standard gauge and a lot of active tectonics.  I don't expect anyone with CPKC's budget would even consider an undertaking that massive.

[jagged ben]

Wonder what the new paint Scheme will look like.

If they really wanted to rub it in CN's nose, they'd copy that North America silhouette that CN had a few years back and add it to their current scheme.

[nkalanaga]

Much of Mexico and the western US also has active tectonics, and trains run fine there.  Physically, building a new railroad through Central America wouldn't be that hard.  There's already a good highway the entire distance.

Politically, it might be more difficult, as some of the governments aren't that stable.

[learmoia]

If they really wanted to rub it in CN's nose, they'd copy that North America silhouette that CN had a few years back and add it to their current scheme.

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[davefoxx]

I’ve said it before, I see CPKC and can’t help but want to pronounce it as, “cupcake.”

DFF

[signalmaintainer]

I’ve said it before, I see CPKC and can’t help but want to pronounce it as, “cupcake.”

DFF

Well, "BNSF Ry" isn't that far from "Bun Sniffer."

[Night Owl City]

I’ve said it before, I see CPKC and can’t help but want to pronounce it as, “cupcake.”

DFF

I made this when CPKC was first proposed:

[Tristan Ashcroft]

Much of Mexico and the western US also has active tectonics, and trains run fine there.  Physically, building a new railroad through Central America wouldn't be that hard.  There's already a good highway the entire distance.

Politically, it might be more difficult, as some of the governments aren't that stable.

Well, there's active tectonics and then there's active tectonics.  Much of the American west is basin and range extension - which is a rather slow and relatively uneventful process.  Sure, it's not stable craton, but it's relatively quiet.  I don't know of geologists expecting Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake, or Albuquerque to be leveled by an earthquake tomorrow.  The boundary off/through Baja and regular California (the San Andreas, which transitions to a mid-ocean ridge by central Mexico) is a transform margin that certainly has had its moments, but isn't the most destructive transform margin on Earth.  And the Pacific northwest is sitting over a really slow subduction zone, since the oceanic crust being subducted is too young/hot to really be ready to sink into the mantle.  Again, there is potential for large incidents (we think something big happened in 1703), but the place is kind of quiet.  Add to that the fact that the Pacific Northwest subduction zone and the subduction zone under southern Mexico are built on continental material, and there are some broader wide spots to put railroads.  But central America is nothing more than classically active subduction zone and arc, without continental basement.  Convergence rates of 60 to 90 km/million years are reasonably fast, and the result is some really tall hills with really steep slopes everywhere.  Throw in tropical amounts of rain and year-round warmth, and it's not just that there are really tall hills to go over and steep, narrow canyons to climb up through, it's the fact that the hillsides are constantly collapsing.  Think Feather River canyon with bigger, steeper hills and way more rain for more of the year.
The Pan-American Highway through Central America is certainly a nice road, but not without it's challenges.  The pass over Cerro de la Muerte in Costa Rica, for example, is just shy of 11,000 feet.  The approaches are not at interstate engineering standards.  Yes, there's an alternate route for trucks, but it's not like that route is flat or straight.
Could the human race build a standard gauge railroad with curves broader than 10 degrees and grades under 2% that connected the Panama Canal railway to the extant North American standard gauge system?  Sure.  Would it be that hard?  Yes.  Does CPKC have the budget to do that?  No.

[Scottl]

Some of that makes for challenging operations, but nothing is insurmountable.  However, because of the geography, the drainages are directed to the coasts and the topography is convoluted and not conducive to railway construction or operation.

A practical route would be along one or both coastlines, but coastal transport is much cheaper so there is no reason to have a railroad. 

More importantly, railroads are as much a political entity as they are engineering.  I suspect getting political support for such an endeavor would be more challenging than actually building it.

[learmoia]

Isn't the purpose of the Panama Canal Railroad to transfer containers from oversized ships that don't fit across the canal route?

I was with the understanding that once the canal widening project was completed the railroad would become excess capacity.. but doing a bit of googling - the widening project was completed in 2016 and the railroad is still running.

Extending KCSM to the Panama Canal is pointless since the line runs parallel to ships.. If you were extending down into South America (Brazil for example).. thats a different story.. but again.. your competing with boats.

[Lenny53]

I was with the understanding that once the canal widening project was completed the railroad would become excess capacity.. but doing a bit of googling - the widening project was completed in 2016 and the railroad is still running.

Container ships keep getting bigger. In 2013 Maersk went to 13,000 TEUs and Evergreen went to 24,000 TEUs in 2021.

[lock4244]

Apparently KCS 4600 is in the paintbooth now, and looking at the masking the top half is CP red, bottom is gray.

Not sure if new scheme or a one off commemorating the deal.