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Three minutes after she leaves the dock, the Walla Walla will be cruising across Puget Sound at 20 knots. And if she has to stop fast, she can do it in less than three times her own length. At the end of her run, she'll glide into dock with a gentle nudge, and unload 2000 passengers and 206 vehicles on a busy day. The Walla Walla and her sister ship, Spokane, are the 440-foot queens of the Washington State Ferry System. They are two of the largest and fastest double-ended ferries ever built. The secret behind their speed and responsiveness is a 9,350 shp Diesel-electric power system and a propeller in the bow and stern. The four GM 645E7 turbocharged marine Diesels in each ship have to take a lot of punishment from the start and stop ferry operation. But GM power in most of the System's 19 other ferries has been doing just that for the past thirty years. GM Electro-Motive Division _____ La Grange, Illinois 60525
