TF Carrier
{{Short description|Train ferry}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = |Ship flag=60px | Ship name = TF Carrier | Ship owner = *{{ubl|North British Railway|Isle of Wight Railway}} | Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = {{ubl|Tayport-Broughty Ferry|Granton-Burntisland|Langston-Bembridge}} | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Scott & Co, Greenock | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 16 November 1858 | Ship completed = | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = 1858 | Ship out of service = 1888 | Ship identification = | Ship fate = Scrapped 1888 | Ship notes =}} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = Train ferry | Ship tonnage = {{GRT|243}} | Ship length = {{convert|124|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|26|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} between paddles | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = 2 112HP oscillating cylinder steam engines | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
TF Carrier was a train ferry introduced by the Edinburgh & Northern Railway, later incorporated into the North British Railway, to cross the River Tay as part of its route between Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
History
=Scotland=
Launched in 1858, the Carrier was the third and smallest vessel in a fleet of six train ferries introduced by Thomas Bouch, the engineer of the Edinburgh & Northern Railway, to carry the company's trains across the Forth and Tay estuaries. Bouch was not only responsible for their design but also that of the linkspans and associated equipment. The ferries carried goods wagons and, occasionally, empty passenger coaches. The passengers themselves crossed by conventional paddle steamers.
Built by Scott & Co of Greenock, Carrier was a 243 GRT paddle steamer, {{convert|124|ft}} long and {{convert|26|ft|9|in}} wide between the paddles. She was powered by two oscillating cylinder steam engines, each developing {{convert|112|hp}}. She had two tracks on her deck each capable of handling seven wagons.
Initially allocated to the Tay crossing she was transferred to the Forth crossing along with her sister ship Robert Napier when Bouch's ill-fated Tay Bridge opened in June 1878. When that structure collapsed on 28 December 1879, Robert Napier returned to the Tay to re-establish the link but Carrier remained at Granton.{{cite book|last1=Ransome-Wallis|first1=P|title=Train Ferries of Western Europe|date=1968|publisher=Ian Allan Publishing|location=Shepperton, England}}
=Isle of Wight=
By 1883 Carrier was surplus to requirements at Granton and was sold to the Isle of Wight Railway Marine Transit Company{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Vic|last2=Smith|first2=Keith|last3=Bell|first3=Alan|title=Branch Line to Hayling including the Isle of Wight Train Ferry|publisher=Middleton Press |location=Midhurst, England|year=1984 |page=47|isbn=0-906520-12-6}} which wished to establish a ferry service between Langstone station on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway's Hayling Island branch and St Helens station on the Bembridge branch on the island. The service commenced in 1885. The following year the TF Carrier was hired to the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway due to the IoWMTC's financial state. However the Carrier was ill-suited to the exposed waters of The Solent and the service ceased in 1888 and the ship sold for scrap.{{cite book |title=A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Vol. 2: Southern England |last=White |first=H.P. |year= 1982|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot |isbn=0-7153-8365-5 |page=147 }}