Another surprising read this month is the incredible tale of how an American industrialist built a railway more than 100 miles across the chain of islands that are the Florida Keys in the early 20th century (see pages 30-36).
The Overseas Railroad – which did literally run ‘over sea’ for much of its route – was a monumental engineering feat built to connect the mainland with sea traffic to and from Cuba and the Panama canal, but which ultimately succumbed to the region’s natural enemy – its frequent hurricanes.