In the year 1853 the first railroad to reach Windsor, Ontario, from the east was the Great Western Railway of Canada. The gauge, or distance between rails, of the Great Western was 5’6”. The standard gauge used by the United States railroads was 4’8.5”. Because of the difference in gauges the railroads were forced to remove their cargo from the railcars and then ship them across the river to Detroit on ferries. Once in Detroit the cargo was once again loaded onto railcars for further transit. The same process was used in both directions and was very time consuming. The first three ferries that were used for rail cargo were the Ottawa, Windsor, and Transit. The Ottawa and Windsor were side-wheelersand the Transit was propeller driven

Great Western Coverts to Standard Gauge

The Great Western added a third rail to its tracks in the 1860’s, making them a dual gauge. This greatly increased the efficiency of transfer as the cargos did not need to be broken down to ship them across the river. To take advantage of the same gauges the Great Western ordered ferries with rails mounted n the decks. This allowed the railcars to be loaded directly onto the ferries for ease of transportation. No longer did the shipments need to be broken down and then reloaded onto the railcars. The first railroad car ferry ordered by the Great Western was aptly named the Great Western. The Great Western was fabricated in Scotland on the Clyde River. Once fabricated the entire vessel was disassembled into ten-thousand parts, shipped to Windsor, and then reassembled. The Great Western was launched in 1866, was dual gauge, and at the time was the largest steel or iron vessel on the Great Lakes. In 1882 the Great Western Railway wholly converted to standard gauge. Not long after, in the same year, the Great Western was absorbed by the Grand Trunk Western railroad.

Grand Trunk and the Swing Ferry at Sarnia

The Grand Trunk Western had previous experience running ferries at Sarnia, Ontario across the river to Port Huron, Michigan. The Grand Trunk began by using a menacing type of ferry called the swing ferry. The ferry was anchored by one thousand feet of chain to the American side of the river in Port Huron. Once loaded the ferry, tethered to shore by the chain, was set adrift and the river current would swing the ferry to the other side of the river. After a few incidents the ferry was deemed unreliable and discontinued.