Saturday, November 9, 2013

Ferry Eureka at the Hyde Street Pier -- November 9, 2013

In 1890, the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad built the ferry Ukiah to haul passengers and freight cars from Tiburon to San Francisco.  After the SF&NP merged into the Northwestern Pacific, Ukiah's terminal became Sausalito.  Ukiah was damaged by overuse during World War I, so the government paid for it to be rebuilt.  The resulting boat, renamed Eureka, was almost entirely new, except for the walking beam engine.  Eureka was designed to carry automobiles on her main deck.  She served the NWP until 1941, when it abandoned ferry service.  During WWII, Eureka carried troops.  After the war, she carried Southern Pacific passengers from Oakland to San Francisco until a crank pin snapped in 1957.  She became a jewel of the collection at the Hyde Street Pier.   

I took this photo of Northwestern Pacific ferry Eureka at the Hyde Street Pier in October, 2001.

Today we took a drive to Half Moon Bay and had lunch.  We bought a book at Bay Books.  Traffic was heavy heading back north.  

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