Grand Trunk Western

September 24, 2009

Rick has sent in his memories of the Grand Trunk Western car ferries:

I was lucky enough when I was growing up to have my grandmother be employeed with the Grand Trunk Western as a matron on their car ferries. It always amazed me how the engineer had to work the loading and unloading of the cars from the ship to keep the rail in line. This of course was to keep the factor of derailment out of the picture and also keep the ship from capsize.

The train crew had to know the weight of every car in the consist along with order. But the work they had to go thru with every car once it was on the ship was unbelievable, every cars brakes had to be set plus every single car had to be latched to the rail front and rear. This was all a simple safty requirement due to the fact that if the ship should hit waves the cars could and or would bounce or slide on the rail that could create a great mess crossing Lake Michigan.

This was of great interest and enjoyment to watch as a child, but I believe I would have great difficulty copying it in n-scale!