Solano (ferry)
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The ''Solano'' was a large railroad ferry, built as a reinforced
paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...
with independently powered sidewheels by the
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete most of the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in North Americ ...
, that carried entire trains across the
Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain int ...
between
Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a city in Solano County, California, located on the north bank of the Carquinez Strait in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. ...
and
Port Costa Port Costa is a small town and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Situated on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, the population was 190 in 2020 ...
in California daily for 51 years, from 1879 to 1930. When launched, the ''Solano'' was the largest ferry of its kind in the world, a record held for 35 years until 1914 when she was joined by her sister ship, the ''Contra Costa'', which was longer.


Design

The ''Solano'' was designed by Arthur Brown, the superintendent of bridges and buildings for
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete most of the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in North Americ ...
, who reinforced the ferryboat much like a rail bridge, using four wooden
Pratt truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...
es longitudinally under the deck of her four sets of rails. She was powered by two
walking beam A marine steam engine is a steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. This article deals mainly with marine steam engines of the reciprocating type, which were in use from the inception of the steamboat in the early 19th century to thei ...
steam engines. Each engine, with a 5-foot bore and 11-foot stroke cylinder, drove a paddle wheel that in turn drove the ship through the water. With two side paddle wheels operating independently, the ''Solano'' had the maneuverability it needed to handle the currents (about 8 mph) of
Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait located in the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain int ...
. With two pilot rooms, one at each end, there was no need to turn the ship around for return trips. The
ferry slip A ferry slip is a specialized docking facility that receives a ferryboat or train ferry. A similar structure called a barge slip receives a barge or car float that is used to carry wheeled vehicles across a body of water. Often a ferry intended ...
s and approaches were also designed by Arthur Brown. The slip at Benicia reached out into the strait diagonally downstream, whereas the slip at Port Costa, being further downstream from Benicia, pointed directly upstream. The distance across was about one mile, only thirteen lengths of the ''Solano''; the designed time in transit including starting and stopping was nine minutes. The 100-foot long apron or
linkspan A linkspan or link-span is a type of drawbridge used mainly in the operation of moving vehicles on and off a roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) vessel or ferry, particularly to allow for tidal changes in water level. Linkspans are usually found at ferry t ...
on each slip had four sets of rails, matching the four sets on the ferry to facilitate loading and unloading, and was hinged and balanced by weights and pontoons to accommodate the nine-foot tides. The ''Solano'', named for the
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in which Benicia sits, was built in 1879 in
Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
near the end of Long Wharf. She was long and wide and was capable of carrying on her four tracks an entire 24-car
passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...
plus
locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...
or a 48-car
freight train A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad ...
and locomotive. She commenced trials on November 24, 1879 from Meigg's Wharf, with 75 selected guests, including Charles Crocker and Arthur Brown, on a trip around
Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fo ...
and arrived at Benicia with great fanfare, which included a military band and a twenty-six gun salute. She could travel at about , though on the first day of her trial did not exceed . She was constructed and operated by the
Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete most of the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in North Americ ...
to ferry entire trains (up to 48 freight cars at a time) on the Central Pacific transcontinental line to and from the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
. Once in service, the
transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous rail transport, railroad trackage that crosses a continent, continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the Ra ...
was re-routed from its original 1869 course from Sacramento to Oakland, via
Altamont Pass Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but nea ...
and
Niles Canyon Niles Canyon is a canyon in the San Francisco Bay Area formed by Alameda Creek, known for its heritage railroad and silent movie history. The canyon is largely in an unincorporated area of Alameda County, while the western portion of the cany ...
, to the 1879 more level 92-mile course from Sacramento to Benicia and, via the ''Solano'', to Oakland. Before her
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
, ''Contra Costa'', was constructed, ''Solano'' was the largest ferryboat ever built.


Operation

The ''Solano'' began regular service between Benicia and Port Costa in December 1879. A typical operation was described in detail by Harris in 1890: "A passenger train of, say, ten cars comes to the slip. During its pause of a minute, the train has been uncoupled in the middle and a switching engine has been attached to its rear; the regular engine proceeds with the forward half of the train on to the boat, the switching engine pushes the rear half on another track of the boat, the steamer is cast off with the entire train and both engines as cargo..." The time card for the station of Benicia on the north and Port Costa on the south of the Straits allowed twenty-five minutes for the entire operation, including embarkation, ferriage, landing and station stops. This feat was accomplished with two watches of sixteen men each. Apart from a few drydocks for rebuilding and upgrading, the ''Solano'' was in continuous service, 24 hours a day, between Benicia and Port Costa for 51 years, from December 1, 1879 to October 15, 1930. In 1904 she was making 36 to 46 crossings every 24 hours, transporting about 115,000 freight cars and 56,000 passenger cars a year. Her
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
, ''Contra Costa'', was built in 1914 with the propelling machinery under the main deck, which made her main deck completely open for four parallel tracks with no center post. She was slightly larger (13 feet longer) than ''Solano'' and thus was the largest rail ferryboat. ''Contra Costa'' was named for the
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in which Port Costa is located. By 1927, the two ferries had reached their maximum capacity. On May 31, 1928, the
Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...
(successor to the Central Pacific in operations of the ferries) authorized construction of a railroad drawbridge from the east side of Benicia to Martinez, which is east of Port Costa. The
railroad bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...
opened on October 15, 1930 and the two railroad ferries were decommissioned. The railroad bridge continues today to serve the
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
railroads. Following the opening of the railroad bridge, ''Solano'' and ''Contra Costa'' were dismantled and sold for scrap. However, what remains of the ''Solano'', the A frame of her walking beam engine, can still be seen where she was scuttled to create a breakwater in the
San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River ( ; ) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francis ...
near
Antioch, California Antioch is the third-most populous city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The city's population was 115,29 ...
. The hulk of the ''Contra Costa'' was towed to a cove off of Vallejo adjacent to the
California Maritime Academy The California State University Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime or CSU Maritime Academy) is a public university in Vallejo, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system and the only maritime academy on the co ...
and sunk to serve as a breakwater.


References


External links

* * * * {{coord, 38, 01, 01.92, N, 121, 48, 18, W, display=title Ferries of California Train ferries Sidewheel steamboats of California Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area History of the San Francisco Bay Area Ships built in Oakland, California Ships sunk as breakwaters 1879 ships