good condition. Various branches have been extended up and down the coast 
for the service of the banana industry. The main line or Costa Rica Railway 
leaves Puerto Limon, passing through Matina, Siquirres, Turrialba, Cartago 
and minor towns and, 103 miles from Limon, arrives at San Jose. The road 
is extended beyond San Jose through Heredia to Alajuela, 14 miles north of 
the capital. 
The Pacific Electric Railway, built and owned by the government, extends 
from San Jose to Puntarenas, a distance of 73 miles. A daily passenger train 
is on the schedule of this road, the entire trip taking about four hours. 
At Puerto Limon, terminal facilities are modern and excellent. There are 
two wharves, with accommodations for six large and two small vessels, and 
so equipped with track facilities that loading and unloading can be carried 
on directly from railroad car to steamer. 
The Costa Rica Railway runs a daily passenger train between Puerto 
Limon and San Jose. The regular schedule on this route usually takes about 
six hours but special tourist trains make the journey in four hours. These 
trains are well equipped and many American tourists visit San Jose after 
seeing the Panama Canal, there being frequent ships in operation between 
Colon and Limon. There is an extension down the Atlantic coast from the 
Bananito River near Puerto Limon. 
Various steamship lines operate weekly passenger and freight services from 
New York to Limon and return, calling en route at Havana and Colon. 
There is also weekly service between New Orleans and Limon via Puerto 
Cortez, Puerto Barrios, and Belize. There is weekly steamship service be¬ 
tween Boston and Limon and irregular sailings between Limon and Mobile 
and Galveston. Weekly and fortnightly steamship services are maintained 
out of the port of Puntarenas connecting with the Pacific ports of the United 
States. 
Within the last few years considerable progress has been made in extending 
highway mileage in Costa Rica. The gradual introduction of automobiles, 
busses and trucks for passenger and freight service has been a strong argu¬ 
ment for better roads, and highway building is becoming an increasingly 
important factor in the development of Costa Rica’s transportation system. 
The best motor roads are those connecting the important highland cities. The 
Carretera Central runs from Cartago through San Jose and on to Naranjo. 
From San Jose highways also run to Heredia, Alajuela and Grecia. There 
are more than 1,800 miles of roads in Costa Rica, other than city streets, which 
include the roads throughout the coffee and banana districts, mainly used to 
transport produce to the railroads. Motor vehicles in circulation in the 
Republic are estimated at about three thousand, comprising passenger cars, 
trucks and busses. 
2 + 
COSTA RICAN PINEAPPLES 
One of the country's products not so 
well known in other parts of the 
world as coffee and bananas is pine¬ 
apples; those grown in Costa Rica are 
sweet and of good size. 
SHELLING COCOA PODS 
The cocoa bean is an important ex¬ 
port of the country; in recent years 
extensive plantings have been made 
on lands of the Atlantic coastal 
region formerly devoted to bananas. 
