All of the photographs below, were taken by me on our Northbound transit on 30 April, during the 1966 Great World Cruise. By the time I could get the opportunity to take photographs, Caronia was in Culebra Cut where the first 3 pictures were taken.
I'm indebted to Andrew Lisowski for responding kindly to my request for information. His comments annotate several of my photographs below.
How could I possibly resist taking a photo of a tug with a Stevens name on it? The tug John F Stevens is named after the second of the Chief Engineers charged with building the Panama Canal from 01 July, 1905 to 01 April, 1907.
Col. George Washington Goethals, who succeeded Stevens as chief engineer during the construction period and under whose leadership the Canal was completed, is quoted as saying:
Stevens devised, designed, and made provision for practically every contingency connected with the construction and subsequent operation of this stupendous project.
It is therefore to him, much more than to me, that justly belongs the honour of being the actual ‘Genius of the Panama Canal…’
[Left:]
The view aft from the starboard corner of the crew deck, a bit of a squeeze in places
One of the problems with being a crew member during this transit was that at the times when the “Green Goddess” was negotiating the locks, we were busy serving the passengers their breakfast and luncheon. The only views I got of the locks were the occasional glimpses from the open hatch door in the galley.
This means that the following sequence of pictures don't show either the Pedro Miguel locks or those at Gatun. Nevertheless, the pictures I did get do hold their own interest although, all these years on, my detail recollections are vague.
It turns out I was right, Andrew Lisowski writes…
This was the Canal Zone Penitentiary. After the return of the Canal Zone to Panama, it became a
Panamanian prison, known as El Renacer. Manuel Noriega was held there in 2011.
Andrew Lisowski adds…
The bridge crosses the Chagres River as it empties into the canal. It was built in 1908 and served as
both a railway and single lane road bridge. It's now railway-only after construction of a new road bridge.
I'd always wondered about this because in the photo it appears that there's a vehicle, perhaps a bus, alongside the girders of the railway bridge. There's better pictures on the Wikipedia page for the area.
Andrew Lisowski adds…
Gamboa, Southbound Reach Front Light. (Passage from Gatun Lake into Culebra Cut.) The small blockhouse
and electric transmission tower were still present in 2019! It is now painted grey.
Gamboa marks the transition from Culebra Cut to Gatun Lake (just outside the Gatun Locks is a dam of the Chagres River forming Gatun Lake).
Andrew Lisowski adds…
The crane and dredging equipment are seen at Gamboa, about the midpoint of the Panama Canal which has always been
the headquarters of the canal's Dredging Division.
All photographs on this page are Copyright © Peter Stevens taken on the Great World Cruise of 1966
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