Southern Pacific entered the New Orleans area on the south side of the river. and terminated in New Orleans. They used two ferry routes to interchange traffic with northern and eastern railroads and to deliver passengers to the downtown area. I'm going to call the routes "New Orleans" and "Harahan-Avondale".
New Orleans:
New Orleans Side: (Satellite, there are still some tracks left on this side of the river)West Bank Side: (Satellite)
Harahan-Avondale:
New Orleans Side: (the area has changed too much to identify the location)
West Bank Side: (Satellite)
These ferries were made obsolete by the Huey P. Long Bridge in 1935. The IC W.B. Duncan ferry was reassigned to the Mississippi River when the P&I Bridge made the IC Ohio River ferry obsolete.
New Orleans
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| Derby Gisclair posted Railroads needed a way to transport their railcars across the Mississippi River as well. This photograph shows the interior of an unloaded train ferry. The catamaran style sidewheeler from 1900 had two sets of tracks that could accommodate four to six railcars. The terminal was located at the foot of Esplanade Avenue and ran to Morgan's Landing in Algiers. Jerry Pepper: That one in the picture appears to have 3 sets of tracks! And I think I’ve seen some with up to 4 sets of tracks inside them. Eric Cormier shared [There are a lot of comments on this share. Some concern the Admiral, which was built on the hull of this ferry. Others argue if this was a Detroit ferry instead of a NOLA ferry.] |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Eric's share 1932 New Orleans NE Quadrangle @ 1:31,680 |
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| Nancy Brister [This page has more photos.] |
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| Jack Bobby Lou Mulreavy posted Southern Pacific car ferry in New Orleans LA |
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| Gary C. Huggins posted Before the Huey P. Long Bridge opened in 1935, trains were ferried across the river. Southern Pacific's "Sunset Limited" westbound, sits aboard the ferry barge "Mastodon" accompanied by Engine No. 73, a steam switcher, as they are ferried across the Mississippi River from the foot of Elysian Fields Avenue to a landing at Elmira Street in Algiers Point. The Mastodon, a barge built in 1909 at the New York Ship Building Corporation of Camden, New Jersey, was a 368-foot long, 50-foot wide behemoth which, propelled by tugboats, carried Southern Pacific trains between Elysian Fields Avenue and Elmira Street in Algiers Point. Wendy BeachWalker: Those "Mastadon barges" still exist! I live on the Santa Rosa Sound in Florida and currently there is a dredging project right at the Destin bridge. Those massive barges create such an undertow, that other boats and pontoons have to use extreme caution to avoid getting into their wake. We get very serious wave action every time they pass through our part of the sound. Very scary! Jim Taylor: Wendy BeachWalker there was only one Mastodon and T. Smith bought it after the R/R operations ceased Mark Imhoff shared |
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| Passenger Train Enthusiasts posted Blair Kullman: this site has an actual picture of the barge. https://www.trains-and-railroads.com/sunset-limited-sp Blair Kullman: and I believe the last comment in this blog is correct. Avondale over to Harahan, LA. IC had a yard that ran north-south in this time frame. https://aboutmytrains.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-mastodon.html |
Christopher L Purdom posted three photos with the comment: "Can’t find dates to go with pictures. Just that this is in New Orleans."
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Harahan-Avondale
Jim Taylor posted three images with the comment: "The Southern Pacific R/R car float barge that operated between Harahan and Avondale, Louisiana prior to the inauguration of the Huey P. Long Bridge in 1935 'Huey P. Long bridge had vehicular and rail traffic' Note: The slip remains today at the upper end of the now defunct Avondale Shipyard. Appears as if the barge employed a full time Pilot to run the operation from the barge Pilothouse and docking platform, 'Hand and whistle signals were the norm of the day'"
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| 1932 New Orleans NW Quadrangle @ 1:31,680 |
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| Mark Mcgowan posted This photo, taken December 16, 1935, is of the last train crossing the Mississippi River between Harahan and Avondale, Louisiana on a Southern Pacific barge (freight cars from New Orleans to Algiers also saw their last use of barges the same day), as the Huey P. Long bridge, visible in the background, was dedicated the following day. (Southern Pacific photo/George C. Werner collection) |
Some of the info above is in correct. The railcar ferry, "Carrier" was the only ferry to operate from Algiers to New Orleans. Both location were in Orleans Parish or city of New Orleans. This ferry and the other (Mastodon) operated by the S.P. at Harahan to Avondale were discontinued in 1935. This was the same year as the opening of the Huey P. Long bridge. The Carrier originally carried lettering indicating ownership by Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad. Later showing by the ML&T marks and S.P marks on the vessel side. The Mastodon was purchased locally and used has a crane barge. The tracks allow the crane to along the barge for loading and unloading. From 1935 to 1942 the only remaining rail ferry sevice was by the T&P / M.P. sub. Texas Pacific Missouri Pacific Terminal Railroad of New Orleans, TPMPTRRofNO. The locomotives simply carried the lettering, Terminal Railroad. There is a pic of a 0-6-0 steam switcher with the full lettering. Unfortunately the sign painter had to slant the "of NO" on the tender side. I'm sure mangement was thrilled over that. Service by the Terminal was stopped on July 5, 1942. The MP/TP mangement wanted a new ferry by the War Dept. turned the request down. Gov. felt that the line should use the bridge has much needed steel was needed for the war. At the time only the L.S. Thorne was in operation. The Gouldsboro had been mothballed on the West Bank near the landing. Issues with the boiler was the main reason and this is why the system requested permission for a new ferry. Another issue had to do with both boats hull design. In case of high wind the boat were found to be difficult to manuever. This would require assistance from a tug adding operational cost. Looking at before and after timetable upon the discontinuance of the service. Movement times were very close from Avondale to New Orleans. The Terminal on the east bank, New Orleans side used the tracks of the NOPB, New Orleans Public Belt Railroad. The belt was also the owner of the bridge.
ReplyDeleteI believe the Thorne was moved up river, location to me, not known. The Gouldsboro end up has a service barge for Bisso Marine. At some point reaching it useful life. Someone put dynamite in the boiler and it sank in the area of the marine service company. Many years ago I was to recieve a set of blueprints of the Gouldsboro. I was hoping to buld an HO scale of the vessel. Unfortunately the individual passed away. He was working in St. Louis for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.
Hope you find this info helpful for your site. If you have any questions, please let me know. Much of my info was lost in Hurricane Katrina. I now live 90 miles north of NO in Mississippi.
Reuben
Thanks for the correct terms. I made the changes.
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time I saw an article in the old Dixie Roto magazine of the Sunday Times Picayune newspaper that claimed a de-commissioned Civil War monitor was used as a railroad ferry in New Orleans. True or false?
ReplyDelete