Contributed by Penobscot Marine Museum
Description
People, vehicles, and trains all needed to cross the half-mile-wide Kennebec River between Woolwich and Bath. The dock at Sagadahoc Ferry in Woolwich served trains and was located slightly north of the automobile and pedestrian ferry dock.
The Frank O. Moses shipyard in Bath constructed the double-ended side-wheeler “City of Rockland,” used for trains. It was 130 feet long and 50 feet wide over the paddleboards, with a single track amidships on which two passenger coaches or four freight cars could be carried. Only railroad coaches and cars crossed the river on the ferry; engines waited on both sides.
Everything changed in 1909 when the big Maine Central ferry “Ferdinando Gorges,” equipped to handle engines, was built. These vessels had tracks on their deck; train cars were pulled onto the ferry on one side of the river and off onto tracks on the other side.
The completion of the Carlton Bridge in 1927, which included railroad tracks on its lower level, ended the need for these ferries. Since 1927, the former dock location was the site of two different boat yards and in 2018 was the site of a Reed & Reed Company yard.
About This Item
- Title: Railroad station and ferry landing, Woolwich, ca. 1910
- Creator: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
- Creation Date: circa 1910
- Subject Date: circa 1910
- Location: Woolwich, Sagadahoc County, ME
- Media: Glass Plate Negative
- Dimensions: 12.7 cm x 17.8 cm
- Local Code: LB2007.1.109819
- Collection: Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.
- Object Type: Image
Cross Reference Searches
Standardized Subject Headings
People
Other Keywords
- Bridges
- Ferries
- Ferry landings
- Ferry terminals
- Railroad stations
- Shipyards
- Telegraph & telephone poles
- Train ferries
- Trains
For more information about this item, contact:
Penobscot Marine MuseumPO Box 498, 5 Church Street, Searsport, ME 04974
(207) 548-2529
Website
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