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We all know Belize's highways, but only few can remember the time when Belize had railway systems, that's right, trains! And not just one railway system, there were three of them!  That's part of the story covered in a new exhibit that NICH has mounted at the Museum of Belize.  The museum is named:  "All Aboard: Belize in Motion through the Years" and covers everything from planes to trains to automobiles.  We found out more at the official opening this morning:

Jules Vasquez Reporting

The exhibition engenders a broad sweep of history from dugout canoes to trains to cargo boats to planes and cars:

Sherilyne L. Jones - Director, Museum of Belize & Houses of Culture
"What we did, we took the pertinent aspects of transportation, starting from the Ancient Maya. We knew that they utilized our waterways. We have evidence of their occupation all the way out in the cayes. And so, how did we go from using these little dug out boats from the Ancient Maya, to where we are today, where planes and cars are every day."

And there was once a time when trains were a part of the everyday experience of industrial Belize - three train systems in western, southern and northern Belize in the early 20th century:

Sherilyne L. Jones
"And then, we also talked about the railway. That's something that a lot of people don't even realize that we had. It's unfortunate that we don't have them anymore, but we highlighted that. So, the students, the visitors get an idea that while don't have it today, we were a little bit modern back then. So, maybe, if we look at the pass, we can see how we can incorporate some of those modes of transportation, to deal with some of the challenges today."

And the history of transport is also the history of commerce - the dominant modes of transport have always been to facillitate trade, from the mayan salt trade to the logwood trade, now to a service economy:

Sherilyne L. Jones
"We used to use the rivers and the railway for exportation. Now, we barely use the rivers. The La Ruta Maya highlights the river, but on a day-to-day basis, everybody jumps in their car, and zips to where they need to go. Many people don't even think about what went into getting that road in place."

And with clever curating this show puts it in perspective: that before a road ran through it, a river and a railway did...

The exhibit is open to the public and it is free for Belizeans.