Our History

The wagon you see today is a relic of Costa Rica’s great banana era. It all started in 1872, when Minor C. Keith brought banana cultivation to the Caribbean and used the railway to move the fruit to Limón’s port. By the time the Atlantic Railroad opened in 1890, banana wagons had become vital for carrying full bunches straight to the ships.

The United Fruit Company was born in 1899, expanding its vast network of plantations, railroads, and ports. For decades, wagons rumbled across the country carrying ‘green gold’—bananas—first through Limón, and later to the Pacific with the opening of the railroad to Golfito in 1938.”

The trade lasted until 1984, when the Golfito Division closed and these wagons were retired. Today, this wagon stands as a symbol of the past, a reminder of the era when trains and bananas defined Costa Rica’s history.