Mastodon

Mixed Media

39"x14"x7.5"

$4800.00 - SOLD

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When Form Follows Function, the results can often be very interesting. Train ferries served to span large bodies of water where bridges couldn’t--as seen in the Great Lakes region, or in association with the Mississippi River. With deck space at a premium, and visibility obscured by large railroad cars, some sort of observation platform had to be built that had visual access to either end of the ferry and provide shelter. Like many of these ventures, this category has a thin base of reference. Unbelievably, I found a technical drawing of Mastodon’s bridge online in a 1912 book entitled, Freight Terminals and Trains, Including a Revision of Yards and Terminals, by John A. Droege, Superintendent, Providence Division N.Y.N.H and N.Y.R.R. Co. The author notes the superior characteristics of steel ferries—the Mastodon, at the time, was the largest steel train ferry in the world. Among the reasons, wooden ferries were “cambered;” that is, they were bowed upward in the center to create strength—however, if the cars broke loose they would move downgrade, and off into the water. Steel ferries, being flat, removed this risk. The average cost of moving one rail-car one mile in 1912? 13 cents.