SOLANO
Solano arriving at Port Costa with the dock at Benicia in the background.
BUILT 1879 in Oakland, CA
A map of San Francisco Bay, showing the railway terminal at Oakland and the Carquinez Strait ferry at the top right.
TONNAGE 3,541 gross
If you were asked to picture the largest wooden ship ever built, it is likely that an 1890s windjammer with an impressive row of masts and sails would come to mind. However, a very different type of ship holds the title of largest wooden ship: a giant paddle-wheeled train ferry built for the Central Pacific Railroad on the US West Coast named Solano. Solano was built in 1879 and carried trains across the Carquinez Strait, to the north east of San Francisco, for more than 50 years.
DIMENSIONS 424ft (129m) x 116ft (35m), loaded draught 6ft 6in (2m)