I began doing some research on railroads that operated car ferries. I do not include those railroads like that operated tugs with barges. I have been able to discover that they were operated in Canada the US and Mexico on both coasts and of course the Great Lakes. The railroads I have found that operated car ferries were the CPR and CNR in Canada, In the US I found Ann Arbor, Grand Trunk, C&O, NP, and SP There must be more so lets see how many there actually were.
You’re right, Passengerfan, there were many…crossing rivers and streams in the South and West as well…even the Mississippi before and after the bridges. Many were short line or branch line railroad but many of all classes were done…up into the mid 20th Century too! And there are many words written that a Google or Bing search or a trip through Trains’ index will find.
The PRR had a car ferry operation in NY harbor: the passenger train the Federal from Washington, DC to Boston, was transported whole from Jersey City to the New Haven in the Bronx before the short lived inland route across Hudson River on the Poughkeepsie Bridge followed by the Hudson River Tunnels became reality.
The largest had to have been the Sealand Lines of the mid 20th Century along the Atlantic a Gulf Coasts as well as to and from Europe (I think).
The Oakland Antioch & Eastern / Sacramento Northern operated a car ferry between Mallard and Chipps from ~1913 to the early 50’s.
Which reminds us of WP’s freight carferry across San Francisco Bay.
Mackinaw Transit (jointly owned by NYC, PRR, and the Soo) operated carferries across the Straits of Mackinac between the two peninsulars of Michigan into the 1980s. The Wabash had a carferry across the Detroit River. B&O operated across Lake Ontario from the Rochester area. B&LE, NYC/TH&B and PRR/CP all had carferry operations across Lake Erie. The main purpose of the Ontario and Erie carferries was to transport coal to southern Canada.
The former C&O steam carferry Badger still operates seasonally out of Ludington, MI, but for only highway vehicles now.
Was that a carferry or a car float (barge pushed by a tug)?
AT&SF and NWP ran car floats on SF bay. The Milw ran car floats from Seattle to Port Townsend.
- Erik
Define “ferry”. In my mind I interpreted the concept to be one of a movement of singular consists being moved at once, i.e. the Federal as a passenger train, and Sealand trains as loads; and I consider tug and barge in this case to be a ferry operation. Others may use the term “ferry” to mean a single vessel to make a movement without need of tugs. In other words, I would consider car floats as part of a movement of a train as a ferry in the broadest sense.
I suggest a marine vessel with its own power - not pushed by a tug.
SP and Sacramento Northern had ferry operations across Carquinez Straight east of San Francisco, with SNs lasting until 1954.
Missouri-Illinois(MP) had a car ferry operation across the Mississippi between Ilmo IIl. and St. Genevieve Mo. until about 1960.
The West India Fruit & Steamship Co. operated carferries between Florida and Cuba until 1961. There is also a carferry operation (CG Railway, I believe) across the Gulf between Mobile and Coatzacoalcos.
Incan Ships operated an open-deck carferry on Lake Superior between Duluth and Thunder Bay.
I define car ferry as self propelled. Lets take this a step further and where possible provide the name of these car ferries. The first one that comes to mind is the CPR Princess of Vancouver operated between Vancouver and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island
There was one across Chesapeake Bay from Norfolk to the Delmarva Peninsula…PRR O&O I believe.
The OA&E/SN carferry was the Ramon.
A Little (Creek) info is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Coast_Railroad
CN operated car ferries from North Sydney NS to Port A Basque NFLD. These were certain standard gauge cars that when delivered to the island retrucked with narrow gauge trucks to continue the trip across Newfoundland to there final destination. The standard gauge trucks that came off the cars were stored and reunited with the same car they came from when they left the Island. The CN also operated Rail car ferry service to Prince Edward Island until the new causeway was constructed from the mainland to PEI. On the west coast there used to be a ferry that operated either from Vancouver or New Westminster to Alaska and that ferry was named Alaska. Not sure whether it was operated by the State of Alaska or the Alaska Railroad. There is a large number that operated upon the Great Lakes by the Ann Arbor, Green Bay & Western, C&O, Grand Trunk and several others. I believe there is still service operating between Louisiana and Mexico.
Any one wishing to receive photos of the “Newfy Bullet” can contact me at daveklepper@yahoo.com.
CN service to Prince Edward Island ceased and tracks torn up more than ten years before the construction of the causeway, a causeway with a road but no railroad track. I do not know if there is even a provision for a railroad track.
I rode the Charlottetowjn - Munction mixed train, including the car ferry move, around 1964 or 1965 in connection with my work on the Fathers of the Confederation Theatre in Charl;ottetown.
At Port au Basque, Merchants Dispatch (MDT) reefers also swapped trucks.
Two cross Mississippi car ferry operations come to mind. The IC had one between Lula, MS and Helena, AR and on the Natchez Route there was on between Natchez, MS and Vidalia, LA which was owned by either the L&A or the Mississippi Central.
Mark
I vaguely remember in a Key West museum seeing a model of a carferry that connected the FEC to Cuba. Is that the predecessor of the West India Fruit & Steamship Co. ?
Altho’ NOT a Train Ferry per se, S.S. Cariboo WAS owned by the Newfoundland Railway and sunk by U-69 in October 1942 with great loss of life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Caribou
Until the Canso Causeway was completed to Cape Breton Island in 1955, there were train ferrys operating between Cape Breton and the mainland.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canso_Causeway
First train across handled by CN 2639 a 2-8-0 on a work train.
Aeons ago we rode the PEI Passenger behind GE 70 Tonners ex Charlottetown, the coach going thru to the mainland on the train ferry. We examined the marine steam engine below decks on the way over.
Lovely.
NDG
The latter, then the former. I’ll see when they switched. (Turns out the Las Plumas arrived in 1957.)
Yeah, forgot about that ferry that carried T&P (?) passenger trains across the Mississippi until… 1947?