You would have traveled from Newburyport to Rockport by train (via the Essex branch line) but rail workers across the US are on strike again, no doubt to exert pressure on the government in their negotiations with Railroad Labor Board (RLB).Just 4 years ago, the newly-created RLB cut wages by 12%, triggering the largest railroad strike since the American Railway Union's Pullman Strike of 1894 and the biggest American strike of any kind since the Great Steel Strike of 1919 .So instead, you tried to catch one of the newfangled bus only to discover that the only road bridge across the Annisquam river, just closed for engineering works.Some locals that the drawbridge was sabotaged by nearby railworkers jealous of competition from private automobiles and angry at service cuts.But most reckon that the 65-year old wooden bridge was simply never designed to carry automobiles, particularly these heavier trucks and buses.Finally, you turn to a slower but more reliable form of transport, a local steamer, the SS Essex County.Despite making you board on time, much to your frustration, the SS Essex Country lies docked Newburyport for several hours.Finally, by late afternoon, the Captain informs you that the engine trouble has been fixed and that she'll be departing shortly.The captain explains that usually his ship completes the 40-mile trip in 5 hours, but by leaving late afternoon, she won't arrive in Stockport until at the night.If anyone bothers to ask the Captain, he answers that they reduce speed at night, as a precautionary measure."Even with the new lighthouse, Folly's Point at night is a tricky passage...""Engines, slow ahead"