>The Chiriqui Land Company has a long history with internal combustion locomotives.
>In 1929 and 1930 it obtained five 35-ton, oil-electric. box cab locomotives from GE with Winton engines. According to information that was supplied to me by P.A. Copeland these were originally numbered 6-10 and later renumbered to 706-710.
>Then in the 1937 and 1938 it acquired from American Locomotive two (one each year) 300 hp diesel locomotives that looked like a reduced version of the domestic switchers. These were numbered 12 and 14.
>Brian Norden.
The 12 and 14 were renumbered 712 and 714, evidently due to superstition 13 never existed.
Chiriqui Land Company did have a long history with infernal combustion, but if I recall there was information showing their plantations on the Southern/Pacific/Puerto Armuelles division of CLC was established late enough that with the exception of a few steam locomotives used for construction and working flooded areas the line was powered by internal combustion, whereas the Northern/Atlantic/Caribbean/Changinola division was much older and I believe had a fleet of Porter 2-6-0 common to United Fruit. There was another UFCo line in Costa Rica also built fairly late and as such was almost entirely diesel powered.
Frank Stenvall of Sweden visited CLC-Southern in early 1979 and road a doodlebug on the Chiriqui National which was the government owned railroad from Puerto Armuelles to David. CLC shared quit a bit of trackage to connect their various plantations to the port. He photographed the 709 and 712 still in service and shows 15 locomotives in service including all the boxcabs and Alcos, which may have made it until the end of operations on the division.
