Chiquita Railroad

Chiquita execs live well - right on the golf course, 1 block from office

A pleasant pre-lunch stroll though the Chiquita Country Club neighborhood near my apartment. The homes on the golf course are all Chiquita execs. I've never seen a soul on the course.

An original narrow-gauge steam locomotive - banana hauler

I ran into some of my friends from the COOBANA banana co-op today at lunch. COOBANA was formed by ex-Chiquita employees and competes with them. I helped them with a rainwater collection system, which they have now duplicated on 8 more workers' barracks.
I mentioned that I had just seen one of the old narrow-gauge steam locomotives, so they gave me some history.

A derelict diesel locomotive - standard gauge 

Chiriqui Land Co, the predecessor to Chiquita, built the narrow gauge RR in 1906. It was upgraded to standard gauge in the 60's and a new bridge built across the big river. That was also the time that they switched from shipping whole stalks to individual hands packed in boxes. Both methods required lots of labor to load and unload RR cars and move the fruit to the ships.

Big Chiquita container trucks roll by my apartment all the time

The whole system changed with the advent of containerized shipping around 1990. Empty containers back directly into the packing house and are loaded and sealed. They drive to the port, where they are off-loaded directly to the ships. This has greatly improved fruit quality and lowered costs. The guys also said that Chiquita saves all the money they paid to maintain the RR tracks, but uses the roads for free.

 

The apartment building

My friend and landlord Yadira has just updated the FB page for her hotel. She did a great job. I've enjoyed living here during my Peace Corps service in Panama.

Yadira is quite a gal

She is a bundle of energy and joy and has made my time here very comfortable. Few women on the planet work as hard (or play as hard) as she does.

My room is the standard 7 x 10, but I've added shelves and that "lived in" look