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64-577: MV Superfast IX is a fast ro-pax ferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink , and was under charter to Canadian operator Marine Atlantic until March 2024. In February 2015, Marine Atlantic announced that the lease on the vessel had been renewed until November 2017 for a cost of Can$ 40 million. It was subsequently extended again, and the vessel was under Marine Atlantic control up to March 2024. Atlantic Vision operated on Marine Atlantic's services between North Sydney , Nova Scotia , and

128-605: A Canadian Crown Corporation, for five years from October 2008 onwards. The Government of Canada was to provide Marine Atlantic with $ 101 million over five years to fund the charter. The ship was to be used by Marine Atlantic on their service between Port aux Basques , Newfoundland and Labrador and North Sydney, Nova Scotia . A naming competition was held for the ship, with students in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Cape Breton eligible to make entries. On 21 June 2008

192-613: A bomb threat directed against Atlantic Vision , which was docked in Port-aux-Basques at the time. The vessel was evacuated and investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), but the threat was determined to be a hoax, and she returned to service shortly thereafter. On 22 December 2009, Atlantic Vision was again taken out of service after high winds forced the vessel against the fenders during docking procedures at Port-aux-Basques, causing

256-667: A craft carried on from the times of the convent. The year 1863 saw the founding of the spa at Cape Kalevanniemi, which raised the town's status as a holiday venue. In 1922, the Kultaranta estate on Luonnonmaa was made the official summer residence for the President of the Republic, after Finland had gained its independence five years earlier. The municipalities of Merimasku , Rymättylä and Velkua were consolidated with Naantali on January 1, 2009. The per capita tax income of

320-673: A ferry connection between Södertälje in Sweden and Rostock for ten years, starting from spring 2002. Superfast IX inaugurated this service in January 2002 (she started service on 10 January but wasn't officially named until the 11). The route proved to be unprofitable, and in April of the same year it was closed down, with Superfast IX laid up at HDW in Kiel. On May of the same year Superfast IX , alongside her sister MS  Superfast X , started

384-468: A high priority was assigned to the construction of LSTs that the previously laid keel of an aircraft carrier was hastily removed to make room for several LSTs to be built in her place. The keel of the first LST was laid down on 10 June 1942 at Newport News, Virginia , and the first standardized LSTs were floated out of their building dock in October. Twenty-three were in commission by the end of 1942. At

448-471: A large type of RORO called a pure car carrier (PCC) or pure car/truck carrier (PCTC). Elsewhere in the shipping industry, cargo is normally measured by tonnage or by the tonne , but RORO cargo is typically measured in lanes in metres (LIMs). This is calculated by multiplying the cargo length in metres by the number of decks and by its width in lanes (lane width differs from vessel to vessel, and there are several industry standards). On PCCs, cargo capacity

512-502: A new service for Superfast, connecting Rosyth ( Scotland ) to Zeebrugge ( Belgium ). In February 2004 she was rebuilt with extra cabins at Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder , Fosen , Norway . In November 2005 Superfast IX was moved to Hanko —Rostock route. In March 2006 Superfast sold their Baltic Sea operations to Tallink for € 310 million. Following this Superfast IX and her sisters were re-registered to Paldiski in Estonia , and

576-513: A partner of the firm Grainger and Miller. The service commenced on 3 February 1850. It was called "The Floating Railway" and intended as a temporary measure until the railway could build a bridge, but this was not opened until 1890 , its construction delayed in part by repercussions from the catastrophic failure of Thomas Bouch's Tay Rail Bridge . Train-ferry services were used extensively during World War I . From 10 February 1918, high volumes of railway rolling stock, artillery and supplies for

640-605: A passenger certificate, and was allowed to carry fifty passengers. Thus Empire Cedric became the first vessel in the world to operate as a commercial/passenger roll-on/roll-off ferry, and the ASN became the first commercial company to offer this type of service. The first RORO service crossing the English Channel began from Dover in 1953. In 1954, the British Transport Commission (BTC) took over

704-414: A population of 20,107 (31 October 2024), and is located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) west of Turku . The town has a land area of 312.58 square kilometres (120.69 sq mi). Most of this area is located on the islands, but the majority of the population lives on the mainland . Most of the islands are covered with forest and farmland, while the mainland consists chiefly of residential areas . One of

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768-514: A puncture 5 meters above the waterline at the stern of the vessel. The temporary loss of the ship caused additional delays, as other ferries on the North Sydney - Port-aux-Basques run were unable to dock and offload in Port-aux-Basques while she was being repaired. Atlantic Vision was repaired and returned to service late on 23 December 2009. Ro-pax RORO vessels have either built-in or shore-based ramps or ferry slips that allow

832-822: A second train-ferry was established from the Port of Southampton on the South East Coast. In the first month of operations at Richborough, 5,000 tons were transported across the Channel, by the end of 1918 it was nearly 261,000 tons. There were many advantages of the use of train-ferries over conventional shipping in World War I. It was much easier to move the large, heavy artillery and tanks that this kind of modern warfare required using train-ferries as opposed to repeated loading and unloading of cargo. By manufacturers loading tanks, guns and other heavy items for shipping to

896-401: A stern ramp as well as interior ramps, which allowed cars to drive directly from the dock, onto the ship, and into place. Loading and unloading was sped up dramatically. Comet also had an adjustable chocking system for locking cars onto the decks and a ventilation system to remove exhaust gases that accumulate during vehicle loading. During the 1982 Falklands War , SS  Atlantic Conveyor

960-480: A vessel 300 ft (91 m) long a "craft" was considered a misnomer and the type was re-christened "Landing Ship, Tank (2)", or "LST (2)". The LST(2) design incorporated elements of the first British LCTs from their designer, Sir Rowland Baker, who was part of the British delegation. This included sufficient buoyancy in the ships' sidewalls that they would float even with the tank deck flooded. The LST(2) gave up

1024-513: Is 209.02 m (685 ft 9 in) long and 31.84 m (104 ft 6 in) wide, and can carry 1,342 cars/4,101 lane meters of cargo. The first cargo ships specially fitted for the transport of large quantities of cars came into service in the early 1960s. These ships still had their own loading gear and so-called hanging decks inside. They were, for example, chartered by the German Volkswagen AG to transport vehicles to

1088-405: Is 223.70 m (733 ft 11 in) long and 35 m (114 ft 10 in) wide, and can carry 550 cars, or 1,270 lane meters of cargo. The RORO passenger ferry with the greatest car-carrying capacity is Ulysses (named after a novel by James Joyce ), owned by Irish Ferries . Ulysses entered service on 25 March 2001 and operates between Dublin and Holyhead . The 50,938 GT ship

1152-517: Is developing a new vessel class with a capacity of 12,800 CEU. The design has received Approval in Principle (AiP) from Lloyd's Register , which was granted in June 2024. The car carrier Auriga Leader , belonging to Nippon Yusen Kaisha, built in 2008 with a capacity of 6,200 cars, is the world's first partially solar powered ship. The seagoing RORO car ferry, with large external doors close to

1216-653: Is often measured in RT or RT43 units (based on a 1966 Toyota Corona , the first mass-produced car to be shipped in specialised car-carriers and used as the basis of RORO vessel size. 1 RT is approximately 4m of lane space required to store a 1.5m wide Toyota Corona) or in car-equivalent units ( CEU ). The largest RORO passenger ferry is MS  Color Magic , a 75,100 GT cruise ferry that entered service in September 2007 for Color Line . Built in Finland by Aker Finnyards , it

1280-643: The Newfoundland ports of Channel-Port aux Basques and Argentia , Placentia. The ship was built in 2002 as MV Superfast IX by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel , Germany for Attica Group 's subsidiary Superfast Ferries . She was the fastest RoPax and largest KW rating ferry operating in North America. In 2001 Superfast Ferries had made a deal with the Swedish government to operate

1344-712: The archipelago both contribute to the area's popularity with tourists. Other points of interest in the city include Moomin World , a theme park on the island of Kailo, and Naantali’s medieval convent stone church . The area also includes the official summer residence of the President of Finland , the Kultaranta estate which is located on Luonnonmaa. The archipelago sea boat traffic is handled by S/S Ukkopekka . Old steamship cruise Naantali- Turku -Naantali. Naantali hosts an international music festival every June, and

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1408-414: The 16th century, as Catholicism gave way to Protestantism as the official religion of Sweden (which Finland was part of at the time), the convent was closed, and the town plunged into a depression. This lasted until the mid-18th century, when the town got a tollgate and a customs chamber. In the two centuries of economic stagnation before that the town had become famous for its knitted stockings ,

1472-470: The ASN under the Labour Governments nationalization policy. In 1955 another two LSTs where chartered into the existing fleet, Empire Cymric and Empire Nordic , bringing the fleet strength to seven. The Hamburg service was terminated in 1955, and a new service was opened between Antwerp and Tilbury. The fleet of seven ships was to be split up with the usual three ships based at Tilbury and

1536-471: The ASN were able to convince commercial operators to support the new route between Preston and the Northern Ireland port of Larne . The first sailing of this new route was on 21 May 1948 by Empire Cedric . After the inaugural sailing Empire Cedric continued on the Northern Ireland service, offering initially a twice-weekly service. Empire Cedric was the first vessel of the ASN fleet to hold

1600-532: The Front were shipped to France from the "secret port" of Richborough , near Sandwich on the South Coast of England. This involved three train-ferries to be built, each with four sets of railway line on the main deck to allow for up to 54 railway wagons to be shunted directly on and off the ferry. These train-ferries could also be used to transport motor vehicles along with railway rolling stock. Later that month

1664-507: The Port-aux-Basques—North Sydney route on 1 April 2009. During the summer months, Atlantic Vision' s main purpose is to operate the route between North Sydney and Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador On March 15, 2024, Atlantic Vision embarked on her final sailing for Marine Atlantic service, leaving Port aux Basques at 1145am for the last time. On 27 December 2008, while the ship was still moored in North Sydney awaiting

1728-560: The U.S. and Canada. During the 1970s, the market for exporting and importing cars increased dramatically and correspondingly also did the number and type of ROROs . In 1970 Japan's K Line built the Toyota Maru No. 10 , Japan's first pure car carrier, and in 1973 built the European Highway , the largest pure car carrier (PCC) at that time, which carried 4,200 automobiles. Today's pure car carriers and their close cousins,

1792-415: The beginning of service, a fire broke out in one of the two heating units of Atlantic Vision at 11:50 PM local time. The North Sydney fire department assisted the crew in containing the fire to the boiler room. The fire was extinguished by 1:00 AM on 28 December. No injuries were suffered, but the damage to the ship delayed her entry into service, which was originally slated for March 2009. Atlantic Vision

1856-681: The beginning on the year 2007 the ship's route changed to Tallinn—Helsinki—Rostock, with the West Harbour as the port in Helsinki. At the same time all remaining Superfast logos and hull markings were removed. At the time it was reported that coinciding with the move to sail from Helsinki the Superfast ships would be transferred to the fleet of Tallink's subsidiary Silja Line , but this did not came to pass. In April 2008 Tallink made an agreement for chartering Superfast IX to Marine Atlantic ,

1920-529: The cargo to be efficiently rolled on and off the vessel when in port. While smaller ferries that operate across rivers and other short distances often have built-in ramps, the term RORO is generally reserved for large seagoing vessels. The ramps and doors may be located in the stern , bow , or sides, or any combination thereof. Types of RORO vessels include ferries , cruiseferries , cargo ships , barges , and RoRo service for air/ railway deliveries. New automobiles that are transported by ship are often moved on

1984-495: The conflict was over. The Soviets flying Yakovlev Yak-38 fighters also tested operations using the civilian RORO ships Agostinio Neto and Nikolai Cherkasov . Naantali Naantali ( Finnish pronunciation: [ˈnɑːntɑli] ; Swedish : Nådendal ) is a town in Southwest Finland , and, as a resort town during the summer, an important centre of tourism in the country. The municipality has

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2048-718: The crew) at a speed of 18 knots, it could not have the shallow draught that would have made for easy unloading. As a result, each of the three ( Boxer , Bruiser , and Thruster ) ordered in March 1941 had a very long ramp stowed behind the bow doors. In November 1941, a small delegation from the British Admiralty arrived in the United States to pool ideas with the United States Navy 's Bureau of Ships with regard to development of ships and also including

2112-409: The end of the first world war vehicles were brought back from France to Richborough Port drive-on-drive-off using the train ferry. During the war British servicemen recognised the great potential of landing ships and craft. The idea was simple; if you could drive tanks, guns and lorries directly onto a ship and then drive them off at the other end directly onto a beach, then theoretically you could use

2176-527: The first purpose-built seagoing ships enabling road vehicles to roll directly on and off. The British evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 demonstrated to the Admiralty that the Allies needed relatively large, seagoing ships capable of shore-to-shore delivery of tanks and other vehicles in amphibious assaults upon the continent of Europe. As an interim measure, three 4000 to 4800 GRT tankers, built to pass over

2240-595: The front directly on to railway wagons, which could be shunted on to a train-ferry in England and then shunted directly on to the French Railway Network, with direct connections to the Front Lines, many man hours of unnecessary labour were avoided. An analysis done at the time found that to transport 1,000 tons of war material from the point of manufacture to the front by conventional means involved

2304-558: The interiors. The ship was renamed Atlantic Vision in November 2008. The reconstruction was completed on 14 November 2008, and on the same date the ship was officially delivered to Marine Atlantic. Atlantic Vision arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland on 7 December 2008. A renaming ceremony was held for the ship on 11 December 2008, although she had officially been renamed already during the previous month. Atlantic Vision entered service on

2368-617: The name of White Star Line ships in combination with the "Empire" ship naming of vessels in government service during the war. On the morning of 11 September 1946 the first voyage of the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company took place when Empire Baltic sailed from Tilbury to Rotterdam with a full load of 64 vehicles for the Dutch Government. The original three LSTs were joined in 1948 by another vessel, LST 3041 , renamed Empire Doric , after

2432-500: The observation that "there was little merit in a simple conception of this kind, compared with a work practically carried out in all its details, and brought to perfection." The company was persuaded to install this train ferry service for the transportation of goods wagons across the Firth of Forth from Burntisland in Fife to Granton . The ferry itself was built by Thomas Grainger ,

2496-479: The oldest towns in Finland, Naantali was founded around the medieval Brigittine convent Vallis gratiae (or Nådendal Abbey), the church of which still dominates its skyline. The charter was signed by King Christopher of Bavaria , the then ruler of Finland, in 1443. The convent got trading rights and other privileges, and the town around it began to grow. It also became an important destination for pilgrimage . In

2560-644: The others maintaining the Preston to Northern Ireland service. During late 1956, the entire fleet of ASN were taken over for use in the Mediterranean during the Suez Crisis , and the drive-on/drive-off services were not re-established until January 1957. At this point ASN were made responsible for the management of twelve Admiralty LST(3)s brought out of reserve as a result of the Suez Crisis too late to see service. The first roll-on/roll-off vessel that

2624-673: The possibility of building further Boxer s in the US. During this meeting, it was decided that the Bureau of Ships would design these vessels. As with the standing agreement these would be built by the US so British shipyards could concentrate on building vessels for the Royal Navy . The specification called for vessels capable of crossing the Atlantic and the original title given to them was "Atlantic Tank Landing Craft" (Atlantic (T.L.C.)). Calling

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2688-829: The pure car/truck carrier (PCTC), are distinctive ships with a box-like superstructure running the entire length and breadth of the hull, fully enclosing the cargo. They typically have a stern ramp and a side ramp for dual loading of thousands of vehicles (such as cars, trucks, heavy machineries, tracked units, Mafi roll trailers , and loose statics), and extensive automatic fire control systems. The PCTC has liftable decks to increase vertical clearance, as well as heavier decks for "high-and-heavy" cargo. A 6,500-unit car ship, with 12 decks, can have three decks which can take cargo up to 150 short tons (136  t ; 134 long tons ) with liftable panels to increase clearance from 1.7 to 6.7 m (5 ft 7 in to 22 ft 0 in) on some decks. Lifting decks to accommodate higher cargo reduces

2752-416: The restrictive bars of Lake Maracaibo , Venezuela , were selected for conversion because of their shallow draft. Bow doors and ramps were added to these ships, which became the first tank landing ships. The first purpose-built LST design was HMS  Boxer . It was a scaled down design from ideas penned by Churchill. To carry 13 Churchill infantry tanks , 27 vehicles and nearly 200 men (in addition to

2816-470: The results of the competition were published, and Atlantic Vision was chosen as the new name for the vessel. Superfast IX ceased service with Tallink on 31 August 2008 and subsequently sailed to Turku Repair Yard in Naantali , Finland for reconstruction into her new service. The changes made included the installation of more powerful bow thrusters, rebuilding the bow and stern ramps, and refurbishing

2880-471: The route changed to Hanko—Paldiski—Rostock from April 2006 onwards. Calling at Paldiski proved problematic as Estonia was not a member of the Schengen Treaty , and in June of the same year the route reverted to Hanko—Rostock. According to the agreement Tallink could keep the Superfast marketing name until the end of 2007, but the ships' hulls soon sported the texts "Superfast operated by Tallink". From

2944-490: The same landing craft to carry out the same operation in the civilian commercial market, providing there were reasonable port facilities. From this idea grew the worldwide roll-on/roll-off ferry industry of today. In the period between the wars Lt. Colonel Frank Bustard formed the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company , with a view to cheap transatlantic travel; this never materialised, but during

3008-710: The ship unstable and causing it to capsize . Free surface water on the vehicle deck was determined by the court of inquiry to be the immediate cause of the 1968 capsize of the TEV ; Wahine in New Zealand. It also contributed to the wreck of MS  Estonia . Despite these inherent risks, the very high freeboard raises the seaworthiness of these vessels. For example, the car carrier MV  Cougar Ace listed 60 degrees to its port side in 2006, but did not sink, since its high enclosed sides prevented water from entering. In late January 2016 MV  Modern Express

3072-554: The signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, train ferries were used extensively for the return of material from the Front. Indeed, according to war office statistics, a greater tonnage of material was transported by train ferry from Richborough in 1919 than in 1918. As the train ferries had space for motor transport as well as railway rolling stock, thousands of lorries, motor cars and "B Type" buses used these ferries to return to England. During World War II , landing ships were

3136-453: The speed of HMS Boxer at only 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) but had a similar load while drawing only 3 ft (0.91 m) forward when beaching. In three separate acts dated 6 February 1942, 26 May 1943, and 17 December 1943, Congress provided the authority for the construction of LSTs along with a host of other auxiliaries, destroyer escorts , and assorted landing craft . The enormous building program quickly gathered momentum. Such

3200-556: The total capacity. These vessels can achieve a cruising speed of 16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h) at eco-speed, while at full speed can achieve more than 19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h). As of 7 August 2024 , the largest LCTC was the Höegh Aurora , the inaugural vessel of a planned class of twelve, each with a capacity of 9,100 CEU. Meanwhile, the Marine Design & Research Institute of China (MARIC)

3264-557: The town is the second highest of all towns in Finland, and the highest in the province of Southwest Finland . The name Naantali is the fennicised version of the Swedish name of the town, Nådendal . The Swedish name was given as a direct translation from the Latin Vallis Gratiae which literally means "The Valley of Grace". The proximity of both Turku, the region's administrative centre and largest city, and of

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3328-545: The traditional Sleepyhead Day carnival in July. Every July 27, Naantali celebrates the National Sleepy Head Day ( Finnish : Unikeonpäivä ; Swedish : Sjusovardagen ). The old tradition is to throw a chosen "sleepy head", an usually Finnish celebrity, in the sea from the city's port at 8 a.m. The identity of the sleeper is kept secret until the event. People who are chosen have usually done something to

3392-426: The up-and-coming civil engineer Thomas Bouch who argued for a train ferry with a roll-on/roll-off mechanism to maximise the efficiency of the system. Ferries were to be custom-built, with railway lines and matching harbour facilities at both ends to allow the rolling stock to easily drive on and off. To compensate for the changing tides , adjustable ramps were positioned at the harbours and the gantry structure height

3456-531: The use of 1,500 labourers, whereas when using train-ferries that number decreased to around 100 labourers. This was of utmost importance, as by 1918, the British Railway companies were experiencing a severe shortage of labour with hundreds of thousands of skilled and unskilled labourers away fighting at the front. The increase of heavy traffic because of the war effort meant that economies and efficiency in transport had to be made wherever possible. After

3520-591: The war he observed trials on Brighton Sands of an LST in 1943 when its peacetime capabilities were obvious. In the spring of 1946 the company approached the Admiralty with a request to purchase three of these vessels. The Admiralty were unwilling to sell, but after negotiations agreed to let the ASN have the use of three vessels on bareboat charter at a rate of £13 6s 8d per day. These vessels were LSTs 3519 , 3534 , and 3512 . They were renamed Empire Baltic , Empire Cedric , and Empire Celtic , perpetuating

3584-470: The war, a concept called the shipborne containerized air-defense system (SCADS) proposed a modular system to quickly convert a large RORO into an emergency aircraft carrier with ski jump, fueling systems, radar, defensive missiles, munitions, crew quarters, and work spaces. The entire system could be installed in about 48 hours on a container ship or RORO, when needed for operations up to a month unsupplied. The system could quickly be removed and stored again when

3648-424: The waterline and open vehicle decks with few internal bulkheads , has a reputation for being a high-risk design, to the point where the acronym is sometimes derisively expanded to "roll on/roll over". An improperly secured loading door can cause a ship to take on water and sink, as happened in 1987 with MS  Herald of Free Enterprise . Water sloshing on the vehicle deck can set up a free surface effect , making

3712-418: Was again forced to dock when a fire broke out in the second of two heating units on 29 July 2009. The ferry was briefly taken out of service again on 18 August, after striking the dock in Port-aux-Basques, causing a "small abrasion" in the fender at the stern of the vessel. The damage was inspected and repaired and Atlantic Vision returned to service later that day. On 7 October 2009, Marine Atlantic received

3776-470: Was formed in 1842 and the company wished to extend the East Coast Main Line further north to Dundee and Aberdeen . As bridge technology was not yet capable enough to provide adequate support for the crossing over the Firth of Forth , which was roughly five miles across, a different solution had to be found, primarily for the transport of goods, where efficiency was key. The company hired

3840-409: Was listing off France after cargo shifted on the ship. Salvage crews secured the vessel and it was hauled into the port of Bilbao, Spain. At first, wheeled vehicles carried as cargo on oceangoing ships were treated like any other cargo. Automobiles had their fuel tanks emptied and their batteries disconnected before being hoisted into the ship's hold, where they were chocked and secured. This process

3904-649: Was purpose-built to transport loaded semi trucks was Searoad of Hyannis , which began operation in 1956. While modest in capacity, it could transport three semi trailers between Hyannis in Massachusetts and Nantucket Island, even in ice conditions. In 1957, the US military issued a contract to the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Chester, Pennsylvania , for the construction of a new type of motorized vehicle carrier. The ship, USNS Comet , had

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3968-499: Was requisitioned as an emergency aircraft and helicopter transport for British Hawker Siddeley Harrier STOVL fighter planes; one Harrier was kept fueled, armed, and ready to VTOL launch for emergency air protection against long range Argentine aircraft. Atlantic Conveyor was sunk by Argentine Exocet missiles after offloading the Harriers to proper aircraft carriers, but the vehicles and helicopters still aboard were lost. After

4032-568: Was tedious and difficult, and vehicles were subject to damage and could not be used for routine travel. An early roll-on/roll-off service was a train ferry , started in 1833 by the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway , which operated a wagon ferry on the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland . The first modern train ferry was Leviathan , built in 1849. The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway

4096-472: Was varied by moving it along the slipway. The wagons were loaded on and off with the use of stationary steam engines . Although others had had similar ideas, Bouch was the first to put them into effect, and did so with an attention to detail (such as design of the ferry slip ) which led a subsequent President of the Institution of Civil Engineers to settle any dispute over priority of invention with

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