NORTH BEACH Built: 1927 Length: 102' Beam: 37' 6" Draft: 9'1".  Propulsion:275 HP Washington Estep Diesel  Auto Capacity: 25  The North Beach in a Union Pacific Railroad photo.
	The story of how the North Beach came into being is documented more fully in the section on the Tourist.            Built by Union Pacific Railroad in 1927  to compete directly with Captain Fritz Elving's Astoria McGowan Ferry Company crossing the Columbia River, the North Beach began service in  May of 1927.              For the next few years Union Pacific struggled along, losing boatloads of cash on the venture.  By September, 1930 Union Pacific  had enough, shutting  down ferry operations and  selling to one of its employees, Capt. Calvin E. Stewart.  Stewart didn't last long either, selling out to Elving in 1932.           The North Beach for reasons lost to time, hadn't been used as a ferry since the North Beach Ferry Company shut down in 1932.  She was used during World War II as a freight carrier on the Columbia, but was in poor condition by the end of the war.  The ferry was listed as scrapped in 1948.
		Oregon Home Home