Ferry slip

Often a ferry intended for motor vehicle transport will carry its own adjustable ramp - when elevated it acts as a wave guard and is lowered to a horizontal position at the terminus to meet a permanent road segment that extends under water.

In the example shown below, a tugboat was positioned on the left side of the barge (our right in the apron view), pulling it with a stout rope called a springline.

This example, located in San Francisco, California, south of China Basin was a principal crew change point for maritime operations of the Santa Fe Railroad.

It remains intact but there are no longer any connecting rails along the shoreline - once the province of the San Francisco Belt Railroad, operated along The Embarcadero by the state of California in support of maritime traffic.

Rather than make a long trip down the San Francisco Peninsula, railcars were barged about the bay, both by the Santa Fe and by the Southern Pacific.

Two ferry slips were used by Santa Fe in San Francisco, here near China Basin, and at the north edge of town near the Maritime Museum.