CC reader John K. sent me this awesome photo of a 1932 American Bantam that was used as a ferry across the 120 foot span of the Pudding River in Oregon. Wow; it looks more like a circus act than a ferry.
The Bantam’s wheel rims—with some “rubber bands” for traction—rode on the two lower cables and the upper cable provided stability (cheating). What is it with Oregonians and their thing about putting cars and buses on cables?
Yes, buses, as in this Kenworth that was as used to transport skiers and sightseers up to Mt. Hood: Skiway: Mt. Hood’s Fabulous Flying Buses
I don’t know if I’d have the guts to ride in those.
Or have the guts to be swimming directly below it. A dive in the waters below might be interesting.
In, maybe yes. Not on the outside like in the photo!
That looks rather terrifying. A stiff breeze could cause havoc. The Austin is a small car but still.
“PTSD” hadn’t been discovered yet.
Oregonians just like to live on the edge. That or someone convinced them the upper cable would hold the car if it ever came off the traction cables.
Here’s a video of this actual Pudding river crossing. I’m unable to connect to the website but maybe someone will be able to.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.efootage.com/videos/55485/unusual-car-ride-over-river-1932&ved=2ahUKEwj1kMWN4sj-AhVzkIkEHfcjAG8Qo7QBegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw3Hjh_YzGKekcxkWn4vzY5c
Here’s Jaguar doing something similar for the XF launch although not nearly as “rustic” as the Bantam.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DCvs_BQXHoH0&ved=2ahUKEwj2mMWT4cj-AhWhj4kEHSPnC7cQo7QBegQICRAG&usg=AOvVaw2MUNGnhyAQtcBwYzfXNyey
I can’t seem to connect to that website either, but here’s the most detailed written description of the cable crossing I’ve come across – I like how people would jump from the car down into the river:
I was gonna call horseshit on the 1,500 trips under a gallon, so I did the math and it comes out to 34 mpg, which seems plausible enough given the vehicle size and weight.
Also I’ve been in Oregon 35 years (and lived in Portland for almost 2) and have never heard of the Pudding River.
Oh boy ~ I don’t think I’d have the stones to try that .
-Nate
It must have been tricky to get the car on the cables. The bus too for that matter…
I think that this is something of an optical illusion. The eye is trained to see the biggest thing in the picture first, and that is a very small car which makes the next biggest thing, that being the three lovely ladies on it look bigger than they are. Most of the swimmers are submerged making them look smaller and more far away than they are. The two swimmers over to the right ruin the illusion because they aren’t submerged so they look too big. I don’t think that this car is more that 20 feet off of the ground.
That’s 20 feet too far for me. I’ll keep my wheels on something solid.
From the video linked above, I would guess it’s even less than 20 feet.
Yeah NAR, our roads are bad but thats next level of pot hole avoidance
“LOOK OUT BELOW!”