TonymmThat train (minus engine) was then transported over the Straits of Mackinac by ferry to St. Ignace where it proceeded through the Upper Peninsula to Calumet. I think we remained on the train when it was loaded on the ferry but I’m not certain.
That would have been the Chief Wawatan. The Wikipedia entry doesn't offer much about operations, so I can't answer the question of whether passengers stayed aboard the train or not. It's possible they could hook the car's steam line up to the vessel's, so that could keep the cars warm. But the Coast Guard might worry about ready access to life vests, ease of exit and potential confusion, perhaps requiring passengers to disembark from the train.
The lighthouse is preserved amid the remnants of the ferry dock at St. Ignace. This pic is taken at the foot of the lighthouse and shows some of the pilings that protected the ferry as it docked.
We traveled to the UP in the summer of 2019 with some friends. I missed a couple of great pics of CN power in service, which I'll regret even more now that most of the lines have been sold to a new regional operator.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I took that train from Catania to Rome in 1997. I had a sleeper berth in the classic old European style, a compartment that extended most of the width of the car, made up into an upper and a lower. Very much come as you are, multiple people sleeping adjacent I an upper berth- very different from Amtrak, but entirely decorous (meaning I was surprised to discover I was sharing a bunk with the person next to me, but he was nonplussed about the whole arrangement).
This was in Ferroviaro Stato days.
Don't recall a diner, but trolley service came through in the morning. Like everything in Italy, it was casual, colloquial, and the food was excellent, even though simple and cheap.
I had flown into Sigonella on an AMC flight, taken a bus straight to the station in Catania. The crossing was a series of slight bumps and a gentle change in motion- pleasant and unobtrusive.
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NorthBrit We have watched a program on television. It showed the locomotive and carriages going on the ship. The journey is short, therefore the passengers stay on the train.
We have watched a program on television. It showed the locomotive and carriages going on the ship. The journey is short, therefore the passengers stay on the train.
IIRC, there was a similar operation that facilitated London-to-Paris trains across the Channel?
I think with passenger trains, the need to keep tight schedules tended to favor keeping the motive power coupled to the train.
reasearchhoundI am embarressed to say I never knew such a thing existed.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
The Maine Central Rockland Branch had a RR ferry to cross the river in Bath up until the mid 1920s. Both freight and passenger trains took the ferry to complete the trip between Brunswick and Rockland. A double deck bridge with a lift section was built; vehicles on top and trains on the bottom. The vehicle section was replaced a few years ago, but the RR bridge including eh lift section remains operational.
Some pictures of the ferries from the Maine Memory Network website
Search Results - Maine Memory Network
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
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Once off the ship the train continues its journey to Palermo.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
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The video I posted, look at 02:20, you can see the loco with some flat cars, acting as idlers, going into and pulling the train out.
My first thought was wrong, the loco didn't pull in. And it's not clear if the passengers are in the train, probably not.
Oh well, it seemed interesting.
Mike.
My You Tube
Do you think the locomotive actually goes onto the train or do the cars get backed onto the ferry and then unhooked, with a new locomotive picking them up on the other end? The video was a little unclear on that (at least to me) and the Tucci episode just showed a minimum of video of it, with no real details (sadly, it's a show about food, not trains).
NorthBrit Look up 'train ferry' on Google . There are quite a few; even in U.S.A. David
Look up 'train ferry' on Google . There are quite a few; even in U.S.A.
I am embarressed to say I never knew such a thing existed. But now I do.
Yes, for freight, your right, but this has to be the first time I've seen a complete passenger train, passengers and all, pull onto a ferry.
That souds pretty neat! I had to check it out!
We were recently watching the Stanley Tucci series about Italy and in one episode he was traveling to Sicily. He was on a train on the mainland and when he got to the coast the train proceeded to go directly onto the ferry and the sailed to Sicily where it exited. I have to admit I have never heard of this type of setup - although in a country that depends so much on trains for transportation, it makes sense.
I am posting about it only because I couldn't help but think what a neat and unique modeling opportunity that combination would make: the arriving train boarding a ferry, a short ferry ride (representing a longer one), and then a departure from the ferry.