Ferry Landing

Name	Type	Comments	Date

Atlanta Rails	General	Very neat stuff, thanks for sharing Michael. I believe trains ran a article about the operation before it closed, i remember reading about it in a old issue.	7/28/2009 5:31:02 PM

Mark Fryer	General	It certainly is a unique solution to the height matching problem. I am surprised that no one has ever published an article about modeling it. The Trains article would make for interesting reading. PS it looks like the Trains bogey struck again! Feature article and then closure.	8/2/2009 4:21:46 AM

Michael Palmieri	General	I don't remember an article in TRAINS, but RAILFAN & RAILROAD had a 2-part story on this operation entitled THE MOPAC'S NAVY in the Nov 1982 and Jan 1983 issues.	8/4/2009 5:03:10 PM

John Henslee	General	This brings back memories! I grew up in Vidalia from 1973 to 1989 and remember the ferryboat vividly. I also remember watching the trains that would come through going to and from there. Usually two geeps with a caboose at the front and one at the rear. I never understood why they would need two cabooses on the train until I read the book by GJ Michels (Cabooses of the Missouri Pacific). They would use the caboose up front as a shoving platform and to adjust the cradle height of the incline. The caboose was a Magor caboose and had no cushion underframe. I also remember right after the ferry stopped running the only thing the Mop would work was the Alcoa plant. The train went from having 40-50 cars to just 5 or 6. Also watched the locomotives go from Mop blue to UP yellow and gray. By late 1987 the trains stopped completely and in January 1990 the track was picked up from Vidalia to Tallulah.	10/10/2009 12:18:32 AM

Ferry Landing
The Missouri Pacific transfer between Natchez, Mississippi and Vidalia, Louisiana was the last train ferry crossing on the Mississippi River. An embargo notice was effective on 6 June 1982, for one month while repairs were made; but service never resumed. This is the movable cradle and the incline. The cradle could be moved up and down the incline with a locomotive to accommodate the height of the river. To the right of the cradle, and just above the incline, is the grade leading down from Natchez to the east bank ferry landing. Visit this album, in the lower right corner, for more Natchez-Vidalia images.
Date: 4/9/1983	Location: Vidalia, LA Map	Views: 2853	Collection Of: Michael Palmieri
			Author: Michael Palmieri

Picture Categories: Scenic		This picture is part of album: MP Natchez-Vidalia Ferry

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