A railway was proposed in the late 19th century which would have connected Belize Town with the neighbouring country of Guatemala, but it was never constructed.
The first and only railway to open in what was then British Honduras was built around 1911 to 1913 from the Middlesex Estate to the port of Stann Creek (present day Dangriga), a distance of around 25 miles (40km). Its principal traffic was bananas for export. The banana plantations were destroyed by disease in the 1930s, and the line closed in 1937, although sections of it may have continued in operation until the 1950s. Traces of the line remain visible in places alongside the Hummingbird Highway.
© 2006-2011
Glyn Williams
Flag image from CIA World Factbook
