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The McLure and Little Fort Reaction Ferries

by Richard R. Howie 2016

McLure Ferry

McLure Reaction Ferry (Photo from the Richard Howie collection. )

Here are a couple of different perspectives of the McLure Reaction Ferry. She links the east and west sides of the North Thompson River at McLure just south of the town of Barriere.

McLure Ferry

McLure Reaction Ferry (Photo from the Richard Howie collection. )

The schedule is when you arrive except for a lunch break. The crossings were constant during the hour that I spent there on September 18, 2016 as only 2 vehicles are taken at a time. The transit time is just a few minutes as the river is only 100 metres wide at this point.

The McLure ferry runs across the North Thompson River, 43 kilometres north of Kamloops, off Highway 5 (east side of river). Ferry capacity is two vehicles and 12 passengers. Its well worth a side trip to see it.

McLure Ferry

Little Fort Reaction Ferry (Photo from the Richard Howie collection. )

There is another reaction ferry at Little Fort which runs across the North Thompson River, 93 kilometres north of Kamloops on Highway 5. The ferry capacity is two vehicles and 12 passengers. The ferries do not operate during the evenings nor in periods of extreme high freshet water or during the winter freeze–up.

When I looked up "reaction ferry" in The Wikipedia it states that " it is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the river. Such ferries operate faster and more effectively in rivers with strong currents. Some reaction ferries operate using an overhead cable suspended from towers anchored on either bank of the river while others use a floating cable attached to a single anchorage that may be on one bank or mid-channel. To operate the ferry either the bridle cable is adjusted or a rudder is used, causing the ferry to be angled into the current, and the force of the current moves the ferry across the river. The ferry has a deck bridging pontoons."


To quote from this article please cite:

Howie, Richard R. (2016) The McLure and Little Fort Reaction Ferries. Nauticapedia.ca 2016. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/McLure_Reaction_Ferry.php

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