UK Britain and the Trans-isthmian Dream

From the late eighteenth century until the end of the nineteenth century Britain was unchallenged as the premier mercantile and maritime nation. With enormous financial resources and a growing territorial empire based around naval power, it inevitably took an interest in the possibility of a transport link across Central America as a financial investment and trade route. At the start of the century, Thomas Telford was called upon to advise on the Darien Canal scheme. Although this came to nothing, leading British engineers and capitalists continued to look at rail and canal schemes. Finally, at the end of the century, the consortium of Cutbill, Son & De Lungo and James Perry worked at Culebra on the disastrous French enterprise. This paper summarises British engineering involvement, drawing on the ICE archives, and considers how many of the ideas were more than `castles in the air'.