Unpowered barge with railroad tracks mounted on its deck
A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of lighter[1] with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it is towed by a tugboat or pushed by a towboat.
This is distinguished from a train ferry, which is self-powered.
Car float service was also provided to many pier stations and waterfront warehouse facilities (that did not engage in car floating service directly) by the above-mentioned railroads.
At their peak, the railroads had 3,400 employees operating small fleets totalling 323 car floats, plus 1,094 other barges, towed by 150 tugboats between New Jersey and New York City.
Abandoned float bridges are preserved as part of this history at:
Several other abandoned but unrestored float bridges exist in other locations around New York Harbor. A complete list is available at
Surviving Float Bridges of New York Harbor
The Alaska Railroad provides the Alaska Rail Marine rail barge service from downtown Seattle to Whittier on the central Alaskan mainland.[38]', CN Rail provided the Aquatrain rail barge service from Prince Rupert, British Columbia to Whittier.[39] Service ended in April 2021.[34]
^Lederer, Eugene H. (1945). Port Terminal Operation: Port Terminal Management, Stevedoring, Stowage, Lighterage and Harbor Boats. New York, NY: Cornell Maritime Press. pp. 291–292.
^Wolmar, Christian (2012). Engines of War. London: Atlantic Books. p. 49. ISBN 9781848871731.
^ a bHarwood, Herbert H. Jr. (1979). Impossible Challenge: The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Maryland. Baltimore, MD: Barnard, Roberts. ISBN 0-934118-17-5.
^Cudahy, Brian J. (2006). Box Boats: How Container Ships Changed the World. New York, NY: Fordham University Press. pp. 45–47. ISBN 0-8232-2568-2.
^Flagg, Thomas R. (2000). New York Harbor Railroads in Color, Volume 1. Scotch Plains, NJ: Morning Sun Books. ISBN 1-58248-082-6.
^Flagg, Thomas R. (2002). New York Harbor Railroads in Color, Volume 2. Scotch Plains, NJ: Morning Sun Books. ISBN 1-58248-048-6.
^Flagg, 2000, pp. 16–23.
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^Flagg, 2000, pp. 46–55.
^Flagg, 2002, pp. 52–57.
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^Flagg, 2000, pp. 62–65.
^Flagg, 2002, pp. 64–67.
^Flagg, 2000, pp. 66–83.
^Flagg, 2002, pp. 68–93.
^Flagg, 2000, pp. 84–91.
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^Flagg, 2002, pp. 110–116.
^Flagg, 2000, pp. 118–125.
^Flagg, 2002, pp. 120–127.
^Flagg, 2000, pp. 126–127.
^Flagg, 2002, p. 118.
^Flagg, 2000, pp. 110–117.
^Flagg, 2002, p. 119.
^ a bFlagg, 2002, p. 117.
^Sennstrom, Bernard H. (1992). "Erie Railroad's Chicago River Service". The Diamond. 7 (1): 4–10.
^ a b"The Last AquaTrain". 2021.
^The Pere Marquette Marine Fleet, Pere Marquette Historical Society, 10-MAY-2011, accessed July 16, 2012
^"car float". Archived from the original on 2021-04-26. Retrieved 2021-04-26.