On a similar note, there is a ship (actually boat), in Manistee, MI, the City of Milwaukee I believe, that was operated as a railroad car ferry going across lake Michigan. It is being refurbished and is currently open to tours, from the bilge to the pilot house. The stories they had about such ships on the lake are amazing! The cars are tied down with cables across the tops once inside the boat to keep them from moving. On one such boat that sank, they dived on it and found the crew had moved several box cars to the rear of the ship to act as a wall/dam to keep the water out after losing the rear gate during bad weather. This means the crew had to untie, swing sidesways and flip over box cars by hand (levers and cables)!
Tim Lange West Lafayette, > This might be a bad question .........