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San Francisco Bay Ferryboats
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

After the Sacramento Northern abandoned passenger service, the "KEY" purchased five of their cars for further service.

For many years, these classic cars ran in rush hour service on the "F" line, before they were retired in 1949.

Needless to say, they were quite popular on ERA and NRHS excursions.......

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?16267

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2020 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Though the "KEY" trains were re-routed over the Bay Bridge in 1939, thus rendering the ferry connections between the ferry pier and the Ferry Building, it was not quite the end of the "KEY" ferryboats.

The "SAN LEANDRO" was sold to the SP for service between Oakland Pier and the Ferry Building; she ran until 1958 when Oakland Pier service was shut down.

During the gala 1939-1940 World's Fair on Treasure Island, both the "SAN LEANDRO" and the "TREASURE ISLAND" were operated by the "KEY" to transport the many thousands of fair-goers between the Ferry Building and Treasure Island.

During the War, both the "SAN LEANDRO" and her sister "HAYWARD" were in Army service in the Bay area.

In 1947, the "HAYWARD" was scrapped, but the "SAN LEANDRO", as mentioned previously, went to the SP for another decade of service from Oakland Pier.

The "SIERRA NEVADA" (an ex-Western Pacific boat) briefly served the "KEY" in Treasure Island Fair service.

During the War, she was operated by the U.S. ARMY.

After the War, she was sold to the Richmond-San Rafael Ferry, where she operated until that line was shut down in 1956.

Later converted to a floating store, she sank during a storm in 1977........

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 04, 2020 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The NWP (Northwestern Pacific) had the sad distinction of being the last operation of electric commuter trains that connected with ferryboats in the Bay area.

The end came on a dismal day in 1941; the same year in which the recently-established "Interurban Electric Railway" came to end; with this, the old SP "Red Electrics" were either scrapped or sold (a number of these cars, along with similar NWP units) went to the PE, where, after refurbishment, they continued to serve commuters until the Long beach line was abandoned in 1961.

The NWP's rolling stock ranged from elderly, open-platform wooden cars (some of which had originally been hauled by steam) to modern, steel-aluminum cars that closely resembled their SP counterparts.

The ferryboats themselves were old-fashioned and picturesque, in perfect harmony with the genteely old-fashioned appearance of the electric rail operations themselves.

When the NWP boats and commuter trains quit in 1941, the ferry waiting rooms on the second floor of the Ferry Building were converted into office and display spaces.

One can only wonder today, what commutation in the area once served by the old NWP electrics would be like in 2020, if somehow, the old electric operation had survived into the present, and, possibly, even connected to the BART system.

We can only speculate........

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of the NWP ferryboats (like many on the Bay) were sidewheelers; the oldest NWP boats (such as the "CAZADERO" and the "SAUSALITO" II) had walking-beam engines.

The "EUREKA" (later sold to the SP for the Oakland Pier run) also had a walking-beam engine.

The newest of the NWP's sidewheelers were the "TAMALPAIS" and the equally-handsome "SAN PABLO"; both of which had dispensed with walking-beam engines.

However, the most modern ferries in the NWP were the three steel diesel-electric auto ferries, used on a new vehicular route between the Ferry Building and Sausalito, to compete with the SP's then-bustling Golden Gate Ferries, in the late 1920's.

These commodius, modern steel boats were the "REDWOOD EMPIRE", the "SANTA ROSA", and the "MENDOCINO".

However, these boats did not operate for the NWP for long; in 1929, the NWP, SP, and GOLDEN GATE auto ferry operations were merged into the "SOUTHERN PACIFIC GOLDEN GATE FERRIES LTD."

When the last of these routes shut down in 1940, all six of the diesel-electric boats were sold to the "PUGET SOUND NAVIGATION COMPANY", where they continued to run ("WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES") for many years afterwards.

After the abandonment of the ferryboats and the electric trains in 1941, former NWP rail/ferry commuters now either rode "PACIFIC GREYHOUND's" new buses (YELLOW Old Looks) directly into San Francisco, or drove their own autos.

Today, it is now nearly 80 years since the last commuters dashed between the once-familiar NWP ferries and the electric trains at Sausalito..........

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For decades, many of the stalwart ferrymen that manned the boats that once crisscrossed San Francisco Bay were of Scandanavian descent.

In certain circles, they were fondly known as "Steamboat Scandahoovians".

Some of these time-weathered veterans (especially the skippers) served for fifty years before calling it a day.

However, as in New York, there were other "old time" ethnic groups represented aboard the ferries, both above and below decks.

There were Irish, Italian, German, Armenian, and many others.

All of these men took tremendous pride in their work, regardless if they were a skipper in a natty uniform or a workaday deckhand.

By the time the last SP boats vanished in 1958, only a handful of these men remained on the job, with all other ferries gone from the scene......

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:50 am; edited 1 time in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In New York Harbor, double-ended ferries connected with electric trains (commuter and rapid transit) at several locations.

A few:

SOUTH FERRY (several elevated lines once terminated here)

ST. GEORGE (SIRT)

TOTTENVILLE (SIRT)

HOBOKEN (DL&W)

EXCHANGE PLACE, JERSEY CITY (PRR)

In the Bay area, ferryboats connected with electric commuter trains at:

KEY SYSTEM FERRY PIER

OAKLAND (SP)

ALAMEDA (SP)

SAUSALITO* (NWP)

The NWP, as mentioned earlier here, operated the very last electric commuter trains that connected with ferryboats (1941).......

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is interesting to note that, in New York Harbor, the very last passenger ferries to be fueled by coal were the ex-DL&W ferryboats then operated by the ERIE-LACKAWANNA (1967)

In 1921, the "PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT" became the first oil-burner in the Staten Island fleet.

Though early San Francisco Bay ferries used coal, after 1901, all new and refurbished ferries used oil.

In 1922, the "KEY" switched to turbo-electric power for its ferries.

These new ferries were the smoothest riding of any other ferry on the Bay; however, records showed that the turbo-electric engines were not any more fuel efficient than the old steam plants used on the older walking-beam boats.

The "KEY" also had the most modern ferry fleet on the Bay, as, by 1905, they were operating propeller-driven ferries, while companies were either still building walking-beam boats, or rebuilding them.

The KEY's" sleek turbo-electric boats indeed looked quite modern, when compared to the venerable old sidewheelers.......

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

During the 1920's, the NWP embarked on a modernization project, mostly dealing with the electric rail infrastructure.

Several on-line stations were upgraded with new, modern station houses and platforms; modern rapid transit-style block signals replaced the old semaphores (the bases of the old semaphores were retained for mounting the new block signals)

Between 1929 and 1930, the NWP took delivery of a group of new steel/aluminum MU cars, similar to those of the SP's "Red Electric" fleet.

These new cars (motors and trailers) ran in NWP service for little more than a decade before the NWP ended electric train and ferry service; these cars, along with a number of ex-SP units, went to the PE, where, after refurbishment, they became the famous "Blimps" (PE converted the trailers into motor cars, using equipment salvaged from a like number of ex-SP cars)

The number of new cars was not enough to handle all NWP schedules, so the old wooden open-platform MU's continued to operate right up until the end of all electric service in 1941.

Though the old walking-beam ferry "CAZADERO" made the last "official" run between the Ferry Building and the Sausalito terminal, the actual "final" run was made by the equally-mobbed "EUREKA", which later went to the SP, for service to Oakland Pier..........

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unlike, say, the St. George terminal with its multiple ferry slips, neither the bustling "OAKLAND PIER" (SP) or the Sausalito terminal (NWP) had more than one main slip.

At "OAKLAND PIER", you not only had frequent "Red Electric" commuter trains entering and leaving the station, but also, numerous main line trains, so ferry operations ran on a VERY TIGHT schedule, you may be sure!

Until commuter service was abandoned in 1941, at Sausalito (NWP), there was only one slip as well, meaning that one ferry could not unload while another loaded.

When an NWP ferry from San Francisco docked, the multi-track Sausalito terminal was thronged with dashing commuters, scurrying for their home-bound electric trains

Typically, after a PM rush hour boat had docked, and the commuters had boarded their trains, the electrics on several lines departed the terminal at about one-minute intervals, until the next boatload of commuters arrived from San Francisco.

Usually, the first train to depart Sausalito was the "Cut-Off" train to San Rafael, via Detour and Green Brae; this train would be followed by the combined Manor-San Rafael (via San Anselmo) train.

The Mill Valley train, which usually did the local work as far as Almonte, departed last.

As these trains departed from the terminal, empty trains would begin moving out of the adjacent Sausalito yard and into the terminal, to await the next incoming boat.

Then, the activity at the Sausalito terminal would die down for a brief time, until the next ferry arrived with hundreds more commuters on board.

Once again, the same departure sequences began anew.........

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ironic, in 1959, there were neither passenger ferries nor electric commuter trains operating in the San Francisco Bay area.

Today, however, there's the sprawling BART system and new, hi-tech ferries......I guess the old adage is true, after all:

"Everything old is new again"...... Wink

"NYO"
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Earlier, I had mentioned that a number of ex-SP "Red Electrics" and steel NWP MU cars were sent to the PE for rehab and further service, after the SP and NWP abandoned electric suburban services.

Ironic, that, when the lost (former) PE line ran in 1961, (the Long Beach line) the equipment used was not original to the famed "Red Car", but cars that had once operated in the Bay area, before coming to the PE........

"NYO"
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