"The continual runs of the death or funerary trains became legendary during the Canal construction years. " Apparently during the process of building of the Panama canal trains were a frequent killer of several workers. Some trains carried dead bodies of West Indian workers. What triggered the americans to take over (from the french)was that, millions of people were killed by disease that spread though the workers. After all these people died the US took over and completed the canal. "Malaria, Yellow Fever, dysentery,typhoid, dengue, not to mention the difficulties of adapting to the tropical heat took a grand toll on the lives of the few hardy souls from France and the Caribbean islands that dared to venture to Panama."
", train derailments, falls from trains (dirt cars etc.), being crushed under land and mud slides, and suffocation from noxious gases was commonplace" People were also constantly killed by mudslides and suffocated from gasses and all sorts of chemicals. There was a total of 25,000 deaths.
