So far as I know, a definitive hitory of the old Internation Railways of Central America (Ferrocarriles Internacional de Centro America)remains one of those interesting projects yet to be done. Myrick tells me I should do it, but I'm a railfan not a historian. Gerald Best covered the early history, and did a definitive roster of steam engines in the April 1961 Bulletin of the R&LHS. There were articles over the years in the Baldwin magazine, Railroad, and most recently in the April and May 1964 issues of Trains.
When the DRGW was abandoning freight service over Cumbres, I got the IRCA bug from Bob Richardson via Gordon Chappell, and first visted Guatemala in 1967. Lotsa steam left. In December 1968 the Guatemalan government nationalized the railroad in that country, and renamed it the Ferrocarriles de Guatemala (Fegua). From about 1970 to 1980 George Werner and I ran annual railfan charters...had a ball. Our first charter train cost something like $300.
I happened to be living in Washington, D.C. about then, and discovered a full set of IRCA annual reports dating back to 1904 in the AAR library, copies of which are now in my file. The annual reports provide an interesting "modern" history of the railroad, to supplement the narrative of the early years covered by Best.
I have plagerized Best's early history and integrated it into more modern info from the annual reports and other sources. If anyone is interested is a "brief" history that runs through 1982, I'd be happy to snail mail a copy. But the definitive history of a very interesting railroad remains to be done.
The railroad died a slow death, and finally ceased running about 1997 or so. But there may be life after death.
Today Henry Posner III and his Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburg, PA have reopened the line....and hopefully will be creative enough to find a way for it to survive in the face of intense highway competitition. But Henry is smart, has money, and believes passionately in railroads, and perhaps just might pull it off.
Chris Scow and his Trains Unlimited group have picked up where George and I left off, and now sponsor railfan tours about every year. It is a very scenic and interesting railroad, and well worth the visit.
Sorry for the long winded post....but it's a subject only slightly less dear to me than the C&TS.
