The Panama Canal Locomotives Then and Now From Wikipedia: "From the outset, it was considered an important safety feature that ships be guided though the lock chambers by electric locomotives, known as mulas (mules, named after the animals traditionally used to cross the isthmus of Panama), running on the lock walls.

The Panama Canal Towing Locomotive. The Panama Canal Towing Locomotive #686 was one of a fleet of 40 built by General Electric in Schenectady, New York in 1914. It's operators referred to it as a "lock mule" or "mule".

The Panama Canal Railway (PCR, Spanish: Ferrocarril de Panamá) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches 47.6 miles (76.6 km) across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near Panama City). [2]

The old and new Panama Canal Locomotives. The old ones where made by GE (General Electric) and the new ones by the Mitsubishi Corporation. Each new locomotive weighs 50 tons, operates with two 290 HP traction units and has a towing capacity of 311.8 kilonewtons at 4.8 kilometers per hour, and of 178.2 kilonewtons at 8 kilometers per hour.

The Panama Canal Locomotive is one of a fleet of 40 built by General Electric in Schenectady, New York in 1914. It's operators referred to it as a "lock mule" or "mule". At one time, more than 100 of these mules operated at Gatun, Pedro Miguel, and Miraflores lock stations.

In the narrow nine-mile gorge nearly 200 miles of track were laid. At times of peak activity over 115 locomotives hauled more than 2,300 spoil cars of every size and shape in and out. Cutting the canal. The spoil was hauled out on long trains of large American-built cars pulled by full-sized American-built locomotives.

Eight new locomotives arrived recently at the Panama Canal locks. The locomotives are prototypes, and are among the 26 locomotives the Canal is purchasing to increase the fleet to 108 units by the year 2002. They are also part of the modernization and improvement program to increase the waterway’s transit capacity.

F40 locomotives a.Ten F40 Locomotives acquired from Amtrak. These are rated at 3250hp and have ‘head-end’ power, which will allows PCRC to supply electricity not only to the passenger coaches but also to reefer containers of the intermodal trains.

ICC (Isthmian Canal Commission) was the US Government agency that built the Panama Canal. It purchased 100 of this 201 class from Alco-Cooke. All were originally 5-foot gauge as was the entire Panama Railroad (PRR) up to its demise in 1979, when it was turned over to the Republic of Panama. All 201's were oil-fired and all had sloped tenders.

Before 1960, the locks locomotives used at the Panama Canal were manufactured by General Electric. The first GE prototype was delivered to the waterway on January 27,1914, with an additional 39 units arriving at a rate of four per month.