Train ferry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Railway ferry)
Jump to: navigation, search
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2010)
For information on other shipping boats such as this, see Merchant ship.
Loaded train ferry approaches dock in Detroit, Michigan, April 1943.
Classification yard and two docking train ferries in Detroit, April 1943. A third ferry slip can be seen at the bottom of the photograph.
A train ferry of the RFI the Golfo Aranci harbour (Italy, 1997)

A train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as distinguished from "auto ferries" used to transport automobiles. The wharf (sometimes called a "slip") has a ramp, linkspan or "apron", balanced by weights, that connects the railway proper to the ship, allowing for the water level to rise and fall with the tides. For an example of a specialized slip to receive railcars see ferry slip.

While railway vehicles can be and are shipped on the decks or in the holds of ordinary ships, purpose-built train ferries can be quickly loaded and unloaded by roll-on/roll-off, especially as several vehicles can be loaded or unloaded at once. A train ferry that is a barge is called a car float.

Contents

[edit] History

The New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge

In 1833 the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway operated a wagon ferry on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland.[1] In April 1836 the first railroad car ferry in the U.S., the Susquehanna entered service on the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland.[1] The first 'modern' design of ferry, the Leviathan, was designed in 1849 by Thomas Grainger for the Edinburgh, Perth and Dundee Railway to cross the Firth of Forth between Granton and Burntisland. The service commenced on 3 February 1850.[2] It was intended as a temporary measure until the railway could build a bridge, but this was not opened until 1890, its construction delayed in part by repercussions from the catastrophic failure of Thomas Bouch's Tay Rail Bridge;[3] Bouch designed the ferry loading mechanism.[1]

The largest train ferry ever built was the Contra Costa, serving the mainline of the Central Pacific (later assumed by its affiliate, the Southern Pacific) at the Carquinez Strait in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Its sister ship, the Solano (built before the Contra Costa) was the second largest train ferry ever built.

[edit] Nomenclature

The Dundee ferry was also called the "Floating Railway". [4]

[edit] Hazards

The Japanese train ferry Toya Maru sank during typhoon Marie on 26 September 1954, killing more than a thousand. Four other train ferries, Seikan maru No.11, Kitami maru, Tokachi maru and Hidaka maru also sank on that day; the loss appeared to be about of 1,430 people.

In those days, Japanese train ferries did not have a rear sea-gate, because engineers believed that inrushing water could be evacuated expeditiously and would not pose a danger. However, when the wavelength of the sea has special relationship with the length of a ship, evacuation of inrushing water is interfered by the next inrushing water, causing rising water on the ship. After the accidents, all Japanese train ferries were retrofitted with rear sea-gates and weather forecast technology was greatly promoted.

The Norwegian train ferry Skagerrak, built in 1965, sank in gale force winds on 7 September 1966 on a journey between Kristiansand, Norway and Hirtshals, Denmark, when the rear sea-gate was destroyed by heavy seas. One person subsequently died of injuries, and six freight cars and a number of automobiles sank to the bottom with the ship.

The Canadian train ferry Patrick Morris sank on 19 April 1970 while assisting in a search and rescue operation for a sinking fishing trawler off the northeast coast of Cape Breton Island. The ferry was trying to maintain position to retrieve a body when her stern gates were overpowered by 30-foot (9 m) waves; she sank within 30 minutes taking several rail cars and 4 crew members to the bottom of the Cabot Strait. There were 47 survivors.

Train ferries rarely sank because of sea-hazards, although they have some weaknesses linked to the very nature of transporting trains "on rail" on a ship.

These weaknesses include:

  • Trains are loaded at a rather high level, making the ship top-heavy.
  • The train deck is difficult to compartmentalise, so that sloshing flood water can destabilise the ship.
  • The sea doors where the trains go in and out are a weakness, even if placed at the rear of the ship.
  • The train carriages need to be strongly secured lest they break away and roll around, particularly on long, open-water routes.

The Ann Arbor Railroad of Michigan developed a system of making cars fast that was adopted by many other lines. Screw jacks were placed on the corners of the railcar and the car was raised slightly to take its weight off of its wheels. Chains and turnbuckles were placed around the car frame and hooked onto the rails and tightened. Clamps were placed behind the wheels on the rails. Deckhands engaged in continual inspection and tightening of the gear during the crossing. This system effectively held the cars in place when the ship encountered rough weather.

Several train ferries—the SS Milwaukee, SS Pere Marquette 18, and SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2 -- were lost on the Great Lakes. These losses, though causes remain unconfirmed, were attributed to seas boarding the unprotected stern of the ship and swamping it in a severe storm. As a result, seagates were required on all new ships and required to be retrofitted on older vessels. In addition, two wooden crosslake railroad ferries were burned.

Some accidents occurred at the slip during loading, when stability was a major problem. Train ferries often list when heavy cars are loaded onto a track on one side while the other side is empty. Normal procedure was to load half of a track on one side, all of the track on the other side, and then the rest of the original track. If this procedure was not followed, results could be disastrous. In 1909, the SS Ann Arbor No. 4 capsized in her slip in Manistique, Michigan when a switching crew put eight cars of iron ore on her portside tracks. The crew got off without loss of life, but salvage operations were costly and time-consuming.

[edit] Examples

[edit] Argentina

Nine train ferries were used between 1907 and 1990 to cross the Paraná river and join the Buenos Aires province (the main state in Argentina) and the Entre Rios province (the entrance to the Mesopotamian region), until new bridges were built over the rivers they crossed. They were the Lucía Carbó (1907), the María Parera (1908), the Mercedes Lacroze (1909) (three ferries that operated between the ports of Zárate and Ibicuy (Entre Rios), crossing the Paraná at the northwest of the Buenos Aires province). Then were added the Roque Saenz Peña (1911) and Exequiel Ramos Mejía (1913) paddled train ferries at Posadas (crossing the Paraná river in the southwest of the Misiones province, at the north of the country, in the frontier with Paraguay).

Three other train ferries were added later: the Dolores de Urquiza (1926), the Delfina Mitre (1928) and the Carmen Avellaneda (1929) to cover the service in the Zárate-Ibicuy crossing. The María Parera had a collision with the Lucía Carbó at km. 145 of the Paraná river, and it sank in less than 15 minutes on June 30, 1926. Two of the most modern still serve as floating piers in the Zárate region, and one of the first group was sunk during a storm at the Buenos Aires port in the eighties. The two northern paddled ferries still remain at Posadas, and one of them holds a model railway museum inside. All the eight old ferries were built by the A & J Inglis Co. Ltd., in Pointhouse, Glasgow, Scotland for the Entre Rios Railways Co. in Argentina. The ninth ferry, the Tabare, was built in Argentina by Astarsa (ASTilleros ARgentinos S.A.) in 1966 at Astillero Río Santiago Río Santiago Shipyard near to La Plata city. It was the largest train ferry that operated in Argentina, with a deck more than 100 meters long. The Tabaré is still floating, but not operating, at the old south docks of Buenos Aires port, near the Puerto Madero zone.

[edit] Australia

  • The Port Lincoln division is isolated from the main system by desert and is very roundabout, and rolling stock is transferred as required by ship or by road low loaders.

[edit] Azerbaijan

[edit] Bangladesh

[edit] Bolivia

  • Train ferry from Peru - 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauges at each end.

[edit] Bulgaria

  • The Varna-Odessa (Ukraine) train ferry line served by 4 boats (13,000 metric tons deadweight (DWT) each, carrying 108 loaded railroad cars) opened in 1978, bypasses a break of gauge. Later, the service was extended to include lines to Poti and Batumi, Georgia. Boats can carry trucks and passengers as well.

[edit] Canada

A railbarge is a variation of a train ferry that consists of barges pushed by a tug.

[edit] In use

[edit] Former car floats

Woodfibre, British Columbia

[edit] Former train ferries

[edit] China

The Lüshun (Dalian) terminal of the Bohai Train Ferry
A Bohai Train Ferry vessel

[edit] In use

  • Zhanjiang, Guangdong and Haikou, Hainan. The line is known as the Yuehai (粤海, i.e. Guangdong-Hainan) Ferry, and has operated since January 2003, carrying both freight and passenger trains, enabling direct train service between the mainland and the cities of Haikou and Sanya on Hainan Island.[8] As of the late 2010, two ferry boats were in operation; the third boat, Yuehai No. 3, was launched in Tianjin in September 2010, and was going to be delivered to the ferry company in December 2010.[9]
  • Bohai Train Ferry: Yantai in Shandong Province to Dalian in Liaoning Province. This short-cut line, operated by Sinorail, has been running since November 2006. As of 2011, it is freight-only service.[10]
  • Jiangyin Train Ferry. The line is part of Xinchang railway. The ferry cross Yangtze River from Jiangyin on the southern bank to Jingjiang on the northern bank. It is freight only.

[edit] Former

[edit] Cuba

Note: all auto and rail ferry services have been suspended between the United States and Cuba due to the ongoing United States embargo against Cuba.

[edit] Denmark

[edit] In use

[edit] Former

[edit] Finland

[edit] in use

[edit] former

[edit] Germany

[edit] In use

[edit] Former

Bonn–Oberkassel train ferry

[edit] Georgia

[edit] India

Former service between India and Sri Lanka. (See Boat mail)

[edit] Iran

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and upheavals along the railway route through Armenia and Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia instituted a ferry service over the Caspian Sea.

[edit] Iraq

Train ferries were at one time used to cross the Euphrates River at Baghdad.

[edit] Italy

Train and car ferry between Calabria and Sicily
In use
Former
  • Mainland to Sardinia: between the ports of Civitavecchia and Golfo Aranci - freight service only.
  • Mainland to station and the factory in the city : between the station of Venezia Santa Lucia and the city - freight service only by barge.

Both Sicily and Sardinia services are operated by Bluvia that is a subsidiary company of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. At present the link between Mainland and Sicily has a regular and frequent activity, while the link between Mainland and Sardinia is less frequent and operated basically day by day on the basis of the actual traffic demand.

An unofficial web page about the Italian rail ferries can be found at this link.

[edit] Japan

In Japanese, a train ferry is called "鉄道連絡船 tetsudō renrakusen", which means literally "railway connection ship". Therefore these ships can not carry railcars necessarily. A ship line that is connected with railways in schedule and fare system is called "tetsudō renrakusen".

Japan Railways would have had train ferries to link up the four main islands before these were replaced by bridges and tunnels. Currently, only one passenger ferry line is operated, though the line does not handle railcars.

[edit] In use

Miyajima Ferry connects Miyajimaguchi and Miyajima, both in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima. Miyajima pier is on Itsukushima island and there is no railway there. Miyajimaguchi pier is near Miyajimaguchi Station. The ferry is operated by West Japan Railway Company(JR West). Miyajima Ferry carries passengers and automobiles, but have never carried railcars.

[edit] Former train ferry

There were three ferry lines that can load trains. Through operations of passenger trains using train ferries were conducted between December 1948 and 11 May 1955. However the service was canceled when the disasters of Toya Maru (26 September 1954, killed 1,153) and Shiun Maru (11 May 1955, killed 168) occurred. The operator, Japanese National Railways (JNR) considered it was dangerous to allow passengers to stay in a car deck. These three lines were replaced by tunnels and bridges.

  • Seikan Ferry
Seikan Ferry had connected Aomori Station and Hakodate Station, crossed over Tsugaru Strait, which means the ferry had connected Honshū and Hokkaidō. The line was opened on 7 March 1908 by two steamships but these could not load railcars. The first rail barge Shaun Maru started its operation on December, 1914. Shaun Maru was only used for carrying newly built cars that would be used in Hokkaidō, because in those days the railways in Hokkaidō employed Janney couplers but the railways in Honshū employed buffers and chain couplers. After the conversion of couplers in Honshū, a full-scale train ferry Shōhō Maru entered service on April, 1924. On 13 March 1988, Seikan Tunnel was opened and the ferry line was closed. The tunnel and the ferry line was operated simultaneously only on that day. Total 55 ferries (including one rail barge and 41 train ferries) were used.
  • Ukō Ferry
Ukō Ferry had connected Uno station and Takamatsu station, crossed over Seto Inland Sea, which means the ferry had connected Honshū and Shikoku. The ferry line had started service on 12 June 1910, and started carrying railcars on 10 October 1921. On 9 April 1988, Great Seto Bridge was opened and the last train ferry was operated on the previous day. After that, only passenger ships were operated by Shikoku Railway Company(JR Shikoku) on the line but this line was also halted on 21 March 1990, and was formally abandoned on 16 March 1991. Total 26 ferries (including two hovercrafts, two high-speed ships, 17 train ferries) were used.
  • Kammon Ferry
Kammon Ferry had connected Shimonoseki Station and Mojikō Station, crossed over Kanmon Straits, which means the ferry had connected Honshū and Kyūshū. The ferry line had started service on 27 May 1901. The first train ferries in Japan had started operation on 1 October 1911. Passenger ferries used piers at Mojikō station but train ferries used piers at Komorie station. Therefore strictly speaking, the train ferry line was called "Kanshin Ferry" and the passenger ferry was called "Kammon Ferry". After the completion of Kanmon Tunnel on 1 July 1942, the train ferry line was discontinued and the ferries were transferred to Ukō Ferry. However the passenger ferry line was operated until 1 November 1964 for the convenience of nearby residents.

[edit] Former passenger ferry

There were many passenger ferry lines that were classified as "tetsudō renrakusen". Most ferry lines were operated temporarily until a railway line or a bridge was completed.

Chihaku Ferry had connected Hokkaidō and south half of Sakhalin under Japanese administration, and Kanfu Ferry had connected Honshū and Korean Peninsula under Japanese administration.

[edit] Lithuania

[edit] Mexico

[edit] The Netherlands

From 1886 till 1936 train services used to sail between Stavoren and Enkhuizen, crossing the IJsselmeer.

[edit] New Zealand

  • The Interislander operates two ferries, Arahura and Aratere, across the Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton. Both vessels are capable of carrying both road and rail cargo on separate decks. A third vessel, Kaitaki, also operates on this route, but is only capable of carrying road vehicles.

[edit] Nigeria

  • A temporary ferry was used at the crossing of the Niger River due to delays finding foundations for a bridge.[13]

[edit] Norway

The Tinnsjø railway ferry, Norway.

[edit] Paraguay

  • Link to Argentina - replaced by bridge c1985.

Encarnacion — Posadas

[edit] Peru

  • Link with Bolivia across Lake Titicaca. The car float Manco Capac is equipped with dual gauge tracks for both Peruvian 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge and Bolivian 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) meter gauge. There are small stretches of dual gauge trackage at either end of the route from Puno in Peru or Guaqui in Bolivia in use. Car loading and unloading are done at docks. British built Steamship Ollanta is no longer maintained for operations on Lake Titicaca at Puno. PeruRail, in charge of the vessel, is trying to develop a tourist project soon.[14]

[edit] Russia

[edit] Black Sea

[edit] Pacific Ocean

[edit] Caspian Sea

The Caspian Shipping Company (Kaspar) has 7 train ferries and is building two more.

See Iran.

[edit] Baltic Sea

[edit] Former

[edit] Sudan

A ferry, though not necessarily a train ferry, links the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge network of Egypt and the 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) network of Sudan, across the Nile River.

Another ferry used to operate between Juba, Sudan and Pakwach, Uganda, also along the Nile River.

[edit] Sweden

[edit] In use

All are for freight trains (and road vehicles) only, except that there is a nightly passenger train service between Malmö, Sweden and Berlin, Germany over Trelleborg — Sassnitz.

[edit] Former

  • Helsingør, Denmark - Helsingborg (1892–2000)
  • Copenhagen, Denmark — Helsingborg (1986–2000), freight only
  • Copenhagen, Denmark - Malmö (1895–1986)
  • Saßnitz, Germany - Trelleborg, (1909–1998)
  • Trelleborg — Gdansk, Poland (1946)
  • Trelleborg — Gdynia, Poland (1947–1950)
  • Trelleborg — Świnoujście, Poland (1948–1954)
  • Trelleborg - Warnemünde, the GDR (1948–1953)
  • Bergkvara - Mörbylånga, normal gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) between 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) in Bergkvara and 891 mm in Mörbylånga (1953–1955)
  • Kalmar - Färjestaden, narrow gauge 891 mm (1957–1962)
  • Stockholm - Naantali, Finland (1967–1972)
  • Malmö - Travemünde, Germany (from mid 80s till a few years ago)

[edit] Tanzania

See Uganda.

[edit] Turkey

  • Lake Van - Tatvan — Van. The Istanbul — Tehran and Damascus — Tehran passenger trains operate from each terminus to the ferry ports. Only the luggage van takes the ferry, the passengers have to switch trains at either end. The Lake Van Ferry is part of the planned Trans-Asian Railway, Istanbul — Singapore. A scheduled freight train runs from Istanbul to Kazakhstan. The Train Ferry was established to avoid an expensive railroad line along the mountainous southern shore and may be replaced when traffic increases sufficiently. The ferry route is 96 km long while a rail alternative on the north side would be 250 km long in mountainous terrain. There are two ferries of 16 coach capacity capable of making 3 trips per day each.[20]
Ferry Van approaching Van harbour.
  • M/F Erdeniz is a train ferry that carries wagons between Eregli and Zonguldak ports. The vessel operates every day except Sunday. The vessel is operated by ALYANS - TEMPO GROUP.

[edit] Uganda

[edit] Ukraine

[edit] United Kingdom

[edit] United States

[edit] In use

[edit] Former

Southern Pacific Railroad in New Orleans

[edit] Proposed ferries

The Trans-Asian Railway has proposed a few train ferries:

  • between Sri Lanka and India - same gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (Boat mail)
  • Penang in Malaysia and Belawan in Sumatra, Indonesia - break-of-gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)/1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)

Also:

[edit] Former ferries

  • across the Brahmaputra River in Bangladesh - superseded by Jamuna Bridge, 2003; dual gauge

[edit] Portage railways

The opposite of a train ferry is a portage railway.

  • A train ferry overcomes a lack of a land link.
  • A portage railway overcomes a lack of a navigable stretch of a river.

For example, before the Panama Canal, the Panama Railway provided a link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Marshall, John (1989). The Guinness Railway Book. Enfield: Guinness. ISBN 0-85112-359-7. 
  2. ^ Subterranea Britannica
  3. ^ Shipway, J.S. (2004). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 
  4. ^ ["NEWS OF THE WEEK.". Bathurst Free Press (NSW : 1849 - 1851) (NSW: National Library of Australia): p. 3. 10 August 1850. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62215901. Retrieved 21 August 2011.  Bathurst Free Press]
  5. ^ "Azerbaijan to Purchase New Train ferry in May". Trend News Agency (requires subscription). 2008-05-08. http://en.trend.az/capital/transport/1194836.html. Retrieved 2009-12-24. 
  6. ^ News | TimesDaily.com | TimesDaily | Florence, Alabama (AL)
  7. ^ Trains (Magazine) February 2009 p9
  8. ^ "Train-ferry project making solid progress". By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily). Updated: 2006-06-06
  9. ^ Train Ferry across Qiongzhou Strait Launched at Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd 2010-10-12
  10. ^ "Train ferry firm on IPO route"
  11. ^ "Trains Get Ferry Ride." Popular Science, August 1948, p. 111.
  12. ^ a b ""Infrastructure"". "Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce". http://www.mobilechamber.com/infrastructure.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  13. ^ http://books.google.com.au/books?id=V8CnPe_ANbcC&pg=PA144&lpg=PA144&dq=nigeria+light+railway+gauge&source=web&ots=FM_4IuN9yX&sig=5e7-jeI5PrfU-535bgOg7VW-iQI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result
  14. ^ Southern Peru Railroads
  15. ^ Rail ferries in the former USSR (Russian)
  16. ^ http://www.ferry-line.com/en/index.php
  17. ^ Сахалинская узкоколейная железная дорога (The narrow-gauge railways of Sakhalin) (Russian)
  18. ^ Photos of containers in Baku
  19. ^ http://en.portnews.ru/news/25902/
  20. ^ http://books.google.com.au/books?id=0V4u-NDQQVkC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=train+ferry+caspian&source=web&ots=otR1NZHceC&sig=KL5n05rhn-BsaMAFmHbx96QOb58&hl=en
  21. ^ RailwaysAfrica
  22. ^ http://www.semgonline.com/misc/named_09.html
  23. ^ Gordon, William (1910). Our Home Railways. 1. London: Frederick Warne and Co. p. 154. 
  24. ^ Searle, Muriel (1982). "Vehicles of Vectis". Lost Lines. Andover, England: Cavendish. p. 76. ISBN 0904568415. 
  25. ^ Trains May 2010
  26. ^ http://www.carferry.com
  27. ^ http://www.carferries.com/chief/
  28. ^ http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=detroit,+mi&sll=40.782296,-81.370411&sspn=0.030351,0.087547&ie=UTF8&ll=42.315909,-83.073206&spn=0.001852,0.005472&t=h&z=18
  29. ^ Railway Gazette International January 2009, p54

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Train ferries
Dry cargo
A reefer
Tankers
Passenger
Cargo liner · Cruiseferry  · Cruise ship  · Ferry · Narrowboat · Ocean liner · RORO ship · Train ferry
Support
Other
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Train_ferry&oldid=473446291"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages