Carl Peter Klapper
2010-07-03 18:01:03
The original part was custom-machined. There was no mass-produced replacement available. There was no way to simply “get” a replacement, nor were there “new and improved” cable ferries at the time. I doubt there are now. I suspect that the original choice of flat-bottomed cable ferry, rather than a ferry boat, was based on considerations, such as water depth, which would make a ferry boat not viable as a replacement. Stacking that against a powerful state highway department eager to complete a high speed highway in the Southern Tier all the way to Interstate 90, and the defenders of the ferry were doomed as soon as it required an irreplaceable part, i.e. not long after the last machinist shop closed up in Jamestown.
