Island Archives: A look at Governors Island’s Picturesque Past
Sep 22, 2010 7:04 pm
Governors Island visit is cheaper than in 1794 & other transportation tidbits
Yup, that’s right. A trip to Governors Island now costs you $.00, that’s $.03 less than you would have been charged in 1794 for a trip in a rowboat to help Governor Clinton construct the Island’s fortifications. Factoring in inflation, the fact that the US dollar didn’t exist, and the big improvement in boats — well, that’s trickier math than we need to do— that rowboat ride might cost you in the range of $2.00 today. You can still paddle to the Island (if you are a Kayak owner) but transportation has improved. Those pricey rowboat rides were supplanted first by oar-powered barge ferries, then by steam tugs and finally by our beloved vehicle and passenger ferry, Coursen, which makes the daily runs to and from the Island and has done so since the early Coast Guard days. [caption id=“attachment_3871” align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“Ferry to Governors Island around 1912”]
[/caption] Once you are on the Island, we’ve got bikes and we’ve got trams…but what we don’t have is a teeny tiny railroad. We once did! In 1918, the “world’s shortest railroad,” a locomotive and three flat cars on 1.75 miles of track was used to carry coal, machinery and supplies from the piers to shops and warehouses on the south island. [caption id=”” align=“aligncenter” width=“665” caption=“Governors Island Railroad. Image courtesy of the National Archives, Art Audley & trainweb.org”]
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[/caption] Once you are on the Island, we’ve got bikes and we’ve got trams…but what we don’t have is a teeny tiny railroad. We once did! In 1918, the “world’s shortest railroad,” a locomotive and three flat cars on 1.75 miles of track was used to carry coal, machinery and supplies from the piers to shops and warehouses on the south island. [caption id=”” align=“aligncenter” width=“665” caption=“Governors Island Railroad. Image courtesy of the National Archives, Art Audley & trainweb.org”]