PASSENGER’S CAR POWERS FERRY (Jul, 1934)
PASSENGER’S CAR POWERS FERRY
Power for a new motor ferry, recently tried out on the Amersee River in Bavaria, is supplied by the passenger’s car. Driving onto the open deck of the ferry, the motorist stops with the rear wheels of his car resting upon rollers, similar to those used on most brake-testing machines.
Nowadays, fairies are in the passenger cars.
Looks the ferry is for one car only. Cool!
This wouldn’t work today, or at least would be much more complex, because rear wheel drive cars aren’t universal anymore.
It must’ve been interesting to approach the dock, because it looks like the auto driver is controlling the speed of the wheels, while the ferry driver is probably controlling the rudder. I’d think some coordination would be required, and many of the auto drivers would be novices at handling the ferry.
Maybe not that different from a typical steamship, where the engines were controlled by the engine room crew, with instructions coming from the helm. Most drivers are probably smart enough to understand “stop” and “full ahead”…
Orv » Of course it’s not “most” drivers you have to worry about. It’s the lead foot who wants to see how fast he can go.