Photo of the Week

The story of the Gatun Spillway continues and concludes this week with these two fine aerial photos. I had to end this project with these two photos. The one above is a real treat that I found when researching the web for information about the Gatun Spillway and Power Plant. This is an undated photo from a Army Corps of Engineer website that was taken from an early flyover of the Canal. Not all the gates are open, but there sure is a lot of water coming down the spillway. The most interesting and exciting thing about this old photo is a tourist train is seen on the power plant side of the bridge with tourists standing just off the bridge. This tourist train appears to be one of the old American Locomotive (Cooke) locomotives that were instrumental with hauling dirt trains during the construction days and now has an easier job hauling tourist from the Gatun Locks to the spillway. You can see other tracks leading into the power plant as a means for supply and possible hauling workers. It doesn't appear to be a road at this time. Great old photo.

Below is a beautiful aerial photo of the spillway and power plant today. I have never seen the water of Gatun Lake look so blue.