&sq=&lang=&file=File:Post_card_of_Ferryboat_Solano_1879-1930.jpg) Postcard of ferryboat Solano loaded with freight cars crossing the Carquinez Strait in California, c. 1910
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Namesake | Solano County, California |
| Owner | Central Pacific Railroad |
| Route | Benicia, California to Port Costa, California and return |
| Cost | $350,000 |
| Maiden voyage | November 24, 1879 |
| In service | December 1, 1879 |
| Out of service | October 15, 1930 |
| Fate | Scuttled for breakwater c. 1931 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Railroad ferry to transport entire trains |
| Length | 425 ft (130 m) |
| Beam | 116 ft (35 m) |
| Installed power | two 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW) steam engines |
| Propulsion | two independent sidewheels |
| Speed | 12 mph (19 km/h) |
| Capacity | 24-car passenger train with locomotive or 48-car freight train with locomotive |
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The Solano was a large railroad ferry, built as a reinforced paddle steamer with independently powered sidewheels by the Central Pacific Railroad, that carried entire trains across the Carquinez Strait between Benicia and Port Costa in California daily for 51 years, from 1879 to 1930. When launched, the Solano was the largest ferry of its kind in the world, a record held for 35 years until 1914 when she was joined by her sister ship, the Contra Costa, which was 13 feet (4.0 m) longer.