>>1177647> On warm summer nights, passengers on the train would open the windows for relief from the stifling heat. Then swarms of mosquitoes from the surrounding swamp (that’s wetlands for you politically correct folks) would make life thoroughly miserable.>One night, one of the trainmen just couldn’t stand the swarms of attacking insects any longer and threw a lighted flare into the caboose of a train being loaded, hoping the fumes would drive the nasty little critters out. The caboose burst into flames and an emergency unload was made. After the fire was extinguished the train was reloaded and sent on its way with the virtually destroyed caboose still attached.>Getting out of the landing slip with the underpowered ferry resulted in an interesting solution to getting underway. The captain would tell the train engineer to come on board fast, slam on the brakes and the hooks holding
the Ramon in place were released at the same time. This gave the ferry enough momentum to leave the slip
with little trouble. The California Occupational Safety and Health Agency would have had a fit if it had been
in operation in those days.
>In spite of it all, the temporary career of the Ramon lasted 41 years without losing a single life or injuring anyone. She was retired in 1954 after a Coast Guard inspection determined the hull was no longer safe. The vessel was built with hull plates that were only three-sixteenths of an inch thick and constant erosion had taken a toll of the already too-thin metal. Thus ended the rather spectacular career of the ferry Ramon and ferry service from Chipps Island to Pittsburg.Pic related is the docking slip on the Oakland side, on Mallard island.
