Page:Last Stop for Ferry No. 2.djvu/2

 also then controlled the Oregon & California railroad, built the first Steel bridge, at a location just downstream from the present site, in 1888. It had two decks, one for trains and one for wagons and pedestrians as does the present one, built in 1912.

The ferry was tied up alongside the hop dock for several years. Finally, it disappeared down the river on the end of a tow line, bound for San Francisco bay.

It went into service under the new name Vallejo between Vallejo and Mare island for the Association of Mare Island Employes and remained there approximately half a century. The new owners converted it from a wood burner to coal and later, in 1910, from coal to oil. During World Wars I and II, the Vallejo carried many thousands of workmen and visitors to the naval shipyard. During her later days she ran only during the changes of shifts.

When Jean Varda and Gordon Onslow Ford acquired her, they made some alterations, closing up some of the original windows and cutting in new ones to fit inside arrangements better. Large view windows have been installed behind the timbers that supported the side wheels.

Varda has built a stone and concrete fireplace, inlaid with glass bottles, in one corner of his living room, and he has a bar made out of scraps and relics which he has collected along the waterfront.

Varda's studio is in the lower deck, where the old steam engine and boiler are still located.

"The engine is still in the hull except for certain parts that were ripped apart by a very schizophrenic young architect," he wrote. "He intended to build some very crazy furniture with all the old copper and brass tubes, small and large. Ultimately, he did nothing of the kind, and the whole venture proved to be a case of wanton vandalism."

In her World War I prime, Vallejo shuttled many thousands of workers from Vallejo to Mare Island navel shipyard in San Francisco Bay, California. NORTHWEST ROTO MAGAZINE, August 22, 1954