The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority Vineyard and Nantucket that are not transported by air. The present Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority was formed from the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Steamboat Co., which in turn was a consolidation of earlier companies dating to the early 19th century, just before the railroad arrived. Early steamers included the "Marco Bozzaris", "Telegraph", "Massachusetts", "George Law", "Naushon", "Helen Augusta", "Metacomet" (1854), "Canonicus" (1856), "Eagle's Wing" (1854–1861), "Monohansett", "River Queen", "Island Home", "Martha's Vineyard", "Nantucket", "Gay Head", "Uncatena", "Sankaty", "Nobska", "New Bedford", "Naushon", "Mercury", and "Hackensack". The motor vessel retired in 2007. The last steamship in
Martha's Vineyard Railroad Martha's Vineyard Railroad The Martha's Vineyard Railroad was a narrow gauge railroad on the island of Martha's Vineyard. It was built in 1874 to connect the Oak Bluffs wharf with the section of Edgartown known as Katama. The line closed in 1896. After the decline of the whale oil industry in the 1860s, the east coast island of Martha's Vineyard sought to develop a tourist trade. As part of this effort a gauge railroad was chartered in 1874 to take tourists across the island. The railway started at Oak Bluffs where steamships of the Old Colony Railroad docked and ran