Train ferry

The wharf (sometimes called a "slip") has a ramp, and a linkspan or "apron", balanced by weights, that connects the railway proper to the ship, allowing for tidal or seasonal changes in water level.

[7][8] The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway was formed in 1842 and the company wished to extend the East Coast Main Line further north to Dundee and Aberdeen.

As bridge technology was not yet capable enough to provide adequate support for the crossing over the Firth of Forth, which was roughly five miles (8 km) across, a different solution had to be found, primarily for the transport of goods, where efficiency was key.

[7] Custom-built ferries were to be built, with railway lines and matching harbour facilities at both ends to allow the rolling stock to easily drive on and off the boat.

[9] To compensate for the changing tides, adjustable ramps were positioned at the harbours and the gantry structure height was varied by moving it along the slipway.

This led a subsequent President of the Institution of Civil Engineers[10] to settle any dispute over priority of invention with the observation that "there was little merit in a simple conception of this kind, compared with a work practically carried out in all its details, and brought to perfection.

[15] In 1878, the Solano train ferry began operating in the United States across Carquinez Strait remaining in service until 1930 when a bridge was built.

The Lake Constance train ferries linked lakeside railway stations in Austria (Bregenz), Germany (Friedrichshafen Hafen, Konstanz, Lindau-Insel) and Switzerland (Romanshorn).

At the time, Japanese train ferries did not have a rear seagate, because engineers believed that in-rushing water would simply flow out again quickly and would not pose a danger.

The Norwegian train ferry Skagerrak built in 1965, sank in gale-force winds on 7 September 1966, on a journey between Kristiansand, Norway, and Hirtshals, Denmark, when the rear seagate was destroyed by heavy seas.

[25] The Canadian train ferry MV Patrick Morris sank on 20 April 1970, while assisting in a search-and-rescue operation for a sinking fishing trawler (MFV Enterprise) off the northeast coast of Cape Breton Island.

There are several services that are still in use in Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Germany, Georgia, Iran, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, and United States.

These weaknesses include: The Ann Arbor Railroad of Michigan developed a system of making cars secure that was adopted by many other lines.