Connecting East to West
Following the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, train travel from Sacramento to San Francisco was challenging. Because the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) terminated in Sacramento, passengers had few options for direct travel to San Francisco. Some passengers took a railroad route to Vallejo where they boarded a ferry to San Francisco. Another option was a rail line that traveled east to Stockton, then San Jose and Oakland. From there, they ferried to San Francisco. Neither way was fast nor easy.
By 1877 the outcry for a shorter, more efficient route was resounding. CPRR President, Leland Stanford, tasked CPRR Superintendent of Bridges and Structures, Arthur Brown, to develop a solution. The answer? A ferry that could carry trains!
The Solano Train Ferry crossed the Carquinez Strait several times a day. This allowed faster travel to San Francisco. This ferry— the largest in the world —operated until the Martinez-Benicia Railroad Bridge opened in 1930.
Background Photo: Solano at new Port Costa Dock. Image courtesy of Thomas Rubarth.
Arthur Brown and The Largest Train Ferry in the World!
Arthur Brown designed both the Solano and its ferry slips at the Bay Area towns of Benicia and Port Costa. The ferry could carry two complete trains with either 48 freight cars or 24 passenger cars, as well as both locomotives. To accommodate the trains, the Solano was 424 feet long and 116 feet wide. Brown also constructed four wooden Pratt trusses – like those in a rail bridge – underneath the ferry’s deck to support the weight of the trains. Two walking-beam engines, a type of steam engine, powered the ferry’s two large paddle wheels.
Background Photo: Solano leaving Benicia, date unknown. Courtesy of the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento, California.
Operations aboard the Solano
Riding the Ferry
"The facility and expedition with which the transfer is accomplished are certainly remarkable, and well worth leaving the car for a few moments to observe more closely." - John Hyde on the Solano in his 1892 book Homeward through America
Trains heading to the Bay Area loaded the Solano at the town of Benicia. Brown designed the ramps on the ferry slips to lower and raise. This allowed entire trains – along with their passengers and goods – to roll directly onto the ferry.
The ferry then traveled one mile across the Carquinez Strait to the small town of Port Costa. The trip took about ten minutes. Once at Port Costa, the trains unloaded the ferry and continued to Oakland. In Oakland, passengers deboarded and took a passenger ferry to San Francisco. Those who traveled back to Sacramento traveled the same route in reverse.
Background Photo: Solano (left) and her sister ship Contra Costa (right). Image courtesy of Thomas Rubarth.
Illustrations of the Solano
President Taft on the Solano in 1912
The Workers of the Solano
The Solano did not operate on its own. The ferry’s success depended on two crews of 16 people each. A few of the individuals who sailed the Solano on its first trip across the Carquinez Strait in 1879 were David Elson (deckhand), John McClain (engineer), and J.K. Remington (captain). These men were just a few of the employees who carried out the CPRR’s vision of a shorter route west.
Many of the workers who worked on the Solano lived in Port Costa and Benicia. Some were immigrants from Ireland and Sweden. Others came from the East Coast and Midwest. Even though working on the Solano was sometimes dangerous, the ferry was a source of community pride.
Background Photo: C.P. Transfer Steamer, Port Costa, Cal., G.R. Savage Photo. Image courtesy of Brigham Young University Lee Library L. Tom Perry Special Collections. Image is in Public Domain.
The Hardworking Crews of the Solano
Building a Community Through Commerce
The Solano did more than transport trains and passengers. It also helped businesses expand in Benicia and Port Costa. Because of the railroad and ferry, businesses could transport goods to other cities easier. As a result, these communities increased their importance in the canning, grain, and tanning industries.
Background Photo: Solano crossing the Carquinez Strait. Photo courtesy of Thomas Rubarth.
Industry in Port Costa
The End of an Era
On November 1, 1930, Californians celebrated a new engineering marvel: the Martinez-Benicia Railroad Bridge. Many spectators gathered for the grand opening. At the event, the historic locomotive C.P. Huntington led a ceremonial train across the bridge.
The bridge replaced the Solano. After 51 years of operation, passengers boarded the Solano for one final trip across the Carquinez Strait.
A few months after the Solano’s last trip, the ferry was sold for scrap parts. Its remains were dynamited in the Sacramento River near Antioch, California. Parts of the ferry are still visible there today.
Background Photo: Benicia Rail Bridge. Photo courtesy of Thomas Rubarth.
The Beginning of a New Era
Remembering the Solano
Almost 100 years after the ferry’s last trip, the ingenuity and legacy of the Solano lives on!
Almost 100 years after the ferry’s last trip, the ingenuity and legacy of the Solano lives on!
In 2004, Bill Rubarth, Thomas Rubarth, and Jim Turner completed an operational HO-Scale Model of the Solano. HO-Scale Models are built using a 1/87 scale. It took fifteen years of research and four years of construction to complete. Their research brought the Solano back to life once more. The men donated their model to the California State Railroad Museum in September 2023. Today, the Solano model helps educate thousands of museum visitors about the ferry’s important history.
Background: The Martinez-Benicia Railroad Bridge today. Photo Courtesy of Adobe Commons.