Any boat can serve as a ferry boat, simply by transporting passengers or vehicles repeatedly, over and back between Points A and B. But a ferryboat traditionally has been something more specifc - a double-ender, identical at each extreme, designed to enter or depart its slip without having to turn around. By this design, vehicles that came aboard for transport would exit while facing the same direction, themselves without having to turn around. New York has had scores of double-ender ferry routes over the years, but following the bridge-building boom commencing in the 1870s, the demand for such waterborne services declined. In New York today, there are only two runs utilizing double-enders - between Whitehall (Manhattan) and Governor's Island, and between Whitehall and Staten Island. The Staten Island service is perhaps the most famous, and utilizes vessels which throughout history have been among the largest of their type. The ferryboats in this gallery cover five generations of design, commencing with the Mary Murray class of the late 1930s, just going into retirement when these galleries were first taking shape in the late 1970s. Next are the Merrill class, the last three steamboats on the Staten Island run and the first with three passenger decks, dating from 1951; the Kennedy class of about 1965, another fleet of three similar to and designed to replace the Merrill boats, and the first diesel-electrics on the run; the Barberi class of two boats, entering service in the early 1980s and the first to use Voith-Schneider cycloidal propulsion systems (the two boats of the Austen class are practically two-deck miniatures of the Barberis); and now, just coming into service, three boats of the Molinari class, the first four-deck vessels in the service and apparently the largest of all. Besides this evolution of double-enders, high-speed ferries of New York Water Taxi, New York Waterway, and Seastreak are represented here. Most of these are single-ended front-loading catamarans for passenger service only, using either conventional screw propeller or waterjet propulsion systems. The new high-speed boats take a considerable burden off the bridges, tunnels, and commuter trains of the metroplex, providing an economical and frequently dramatic resurgence of waterborne mass-transit in New York. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE PRICING. Please note that 6x4-inch prints are priced for collectors, fans, and enthusiasts, and are not licensed for publication or reproduction of any kind. If you require photos for reproduction, the larger-size prints come with limited licenses for reproduction. Please e-mail us at ssuthe7880@aol.com for details. =============================================== CUSTOM PHOTOGRAPHY? You can hire Don Sutherland for photography, video, and writing if you need such things done. For a bit of a resume, please go to: http://www.geocities.com/dons222001/YAH6.html?1022623184120 or send an e-mail to ssuthe7880@aol.com