Although I've never seen Badger except in photos, this is very good news. Anything anyone can do to keep the heritage of steam power going is worth it.
Good news about Alpena, too. Weren't those old ore boats magnificent vessels? When I get to Cleveland and look out onto the lake, it's dismaying to see nothing coming into or out of the harbor, while only 40 or so years ago it seemed there was always an ore boat coming and going.
Enjoy both ships for me, Leo. Be sure to post a few photos here.
And may God bless Strs. Badger & Alpena and all who sail on them.
NKP guy Although I've never seen Badger except in photos, this is very good news. Anything anyone can do to keep the heritage of steam power going is worth it. Good news about Alpena, too. Weren't those old ore boats magnificent vessels? When I get to Cleveland and look out onto the lake, it's dismaying to see nothing coming into or out of the harbor, while only 40 or so years ago it seemed there was always an ore boat coming and going. Enjoy both ships for me, Leo. Be sure to post a few photos here. And may God bless Strs. Badger & Alpena and all who sail on them.
Remember it taking a hour to go from B&O's Clark Ave. yard to Whiskey Island as the route had multiple drawbridges and the vessels traversing the Cuyahoga River to deliver their cargo or return to the lake for the next trip. What entered the river bow first went back to the lake stern first with tugs manuvering the vessels in both directions.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Apparently they jumped the gun a bit on the Badger Historical Landmark status. Not everyone has officially signed off yet. The local Congressman was also having to backtrack. Hopefully it will become official soon.
http://www.imediaethics.org/associated-press-retracts-steamship-car-ferry-s-s-badger-not-a-national-historic-landmark/
great article. A friend and her family rode the Badger over 30 years from Chicago,and I didn't even know if it was still running. Glad to hear it is.
Seems worth bumping this thread to state that as of last Thursday, the SS Badger is officially a National Historic Landmark.
The Department of the Interior made the announcement, so it's the real deal this time. Hopefully it's an asset to Lake Michigan Carferry in the coming years and if nothing else, it's nice to see this vessel be honored with the desigination.
Nkp guy I can remember this time of year when their be a dozen or so Lakers laid up in the Cleveland harbor. Never forget the sight of a steamer on the horizon, seeing only the front house and stack leaving a trail of coal smoke. Some time progress sucks.
Perfectly put, Mr. Willison. I can see in my mind's eye exactly the scene you describe. In early March the boats were readied for the season and the Cuyahoga bridges began to go up & down with greater frequency. Great Lakes Towing Company's tug boats also got into the action and coal smoke scented the air of the Flats once again. Over in Ashtabula the local Catholic priest every year went down to the harbor and blessed the ore boats & their crews for the new season. (In Gates Mills, outside of Cleveland in "hunt country" the Episcopal rector used to bless the foxhounds at the start of that season!)
Speaking of ore boats and Ashtabula, I think I read that CSX is closing the loading docks there; I'll bet that's the end of the Ashtabula to Youngstown line that saw NKP 765's two fantrips last year.
Lake Erie seems empty without all those working boats.
And it will only be getting worse. Lots of depressing news over on Boatnerd.com this winter I'm afraid. The war on coal, steel dumping, and the lackluster economy is really doing a number on Great Lakes shipping right now.
Even some brand new vessels on the Canadian side may sit this season out or not come out until the Fall grain rush, leaving little hope for most of the remaining older ships like the last traditional Seawaymax vessels with forward pilothouses. There could sadly be about 10 ships on the Canadian side that sailed last year and won't be back out again, with Algoma Central alone announcing the retirement of 5 of their 24 lakers (And one of their 8 tankers).
And GATX's American Steamship Company plans to have four of their modern 70's/80's era vessels at the wall this season, including the 1000' Indiana Harbor. Canadian National's Great Lakes Fleet will have the Roger Blough and 1-2 of their 50's steamships at the wall.
And there are rumors that the FM OP's in Lower Lake's Manitoba may be forever stilled, which was the last classic Canadian built straightdecker in service.
The only forward pilothouses on the Canadian side this season may very well be the river class vessels Algoway and Algorail, with their OP's on borrowed time as their replacements take shape in Croatia for 2017, and five reflagged American hulls in the Lower Lakes fleet.
And one of those American ships in Lower Lake's Canadian fleet, the Manistee, is questionable and her likely replacement is due from China later this year. She was one of 16 wartime "Maritimers" built during the 1940's to meet cargo demands for the war effort and has carried a lot of salt and needed a lot of steel work just to sail the latter part of last year. Sounded like a temporary band-aid for a few more trips rather than a long-term fix that secured her future for 5-10 more years.
When things hopefully smooth out, the fleet on the Lakes will sadly look much different. Worst it has been since 1980, with even the recession in 2008 not having as big of an effect on the Great Lakes as we're seeing right now.
We'll sadly likely see 1/3 of the tonnage on the Canadian side disappear and see most of the idle American fleet of steamships go to scrap. Little incentive to retain tonnage that needs to be heavily upgraded to be useful, like the Edward L. Ryerson that needs to be rebuilt for self-unloading, despite decades of life left in them.
When even modern ships are sitting the season out at the wall and the picture doesn't promise to be improving, there's no sense paying dock fees for these idle classics. Hard to imagine Interlake for instance ever needing to repower the 806' John Sherwin, one of the largest ships on the Great Lakes, and install self-unloading capabilities.
That was a project that was finally announced in the summer of 2008 after she had been sitting idle all the way since the 1980 recession before I was even born. She had just arrived at the shipyard and had her steam plant ripped out when the economic mess in September 2008 hit and it was all cancelled.
She was Interlake's insurance for better times, since a modernization of her would be far cheaper than building new at a Great Lakes shipyard. Hard to imagine the dream ever happening now that they'll be lucky to keep their active fleet active.
I could even see one of the 13 thousand footers going to scrap in the next five years or entering a decades long layup like the Sherwin, but at least the Badger is safe for now. :)
Bob, we did the same thing on lake Erie in Huron and Sandusky. It was amazing to pace them when they were light, and watch the propellers thrashing 1/2 out of the water.
Its been a slow passage in the lakes since the 1990's. First the passage of steam and now the era of the forward pilot houses upon us. Time to get out the cameras.
Happily, the forward pilothouse thankfully has many more years left on the American side thanks to a handful of vessels that have been modernized or likely to be so in the near future to meet the upcoming EPA mandate. They will just have diesels in them instead.
There will still be American steam for a while yet though. Ignoring classics like the Ryerson that are in long-term layup, I still count several active steamers.
The Wilfred Sykes is busy every season just as she has been since her construction restarted the shipbuilding industry on the lakes in the late 1940's after over five years without building a new laker (Overthrowing the ill fated Carl D. Bradley long reign as "Queen of the Lakes" in the process). The Alpena, a shortened former US Steel "Super" that was converted for the cement trade back around 1990, is being rebuilt after her drydock fire this winter and will be steaming this season. And the three former US Steel AAA's sailing for GLF are still steamers and at least two should sail this season.
Two losses this winter though that were active last season. The SS John G. Munson, a contemporary of the AAA's in the US Steel fleet but built as a self-unloader in the early 50's for their Bradley cement subsidiary, is being repowered right now with state of the art MAK's. While it could very well spell the permanent retirement of one of the three AAA's (The 4 have been trading off for five years or so, taking turns sitting out each season), this assures the Munson a future as long as there's cargo to haul.
And Interlake Steamship is also repowering their final steamer, the Herbert C. Jackson, with a pair of state of the art MAK's as well.
http://www.interlake-steamship.com/index.php/news/ss-herbert-c-jackson-repowering-press-release.html
Sad, but their classic lines will keep sailing on hopefully for 30 more years.
What ever happened to the infamous Medusa Challenger?
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Infamous?
This long-time favorite of many boatnerds from 1906 was renamed the St. Mary's Challenger a decade or so ago and kept steaming until the end of the 2014 season. During the winter 14/15 layup, she was turned into an articulated barge pushed by a tug in a notch in her stern.
Not aware of any major incidents during her life as a powered vessel. She was a safe and productive carrier that contributed significantly to the war effort for two world wars and enjoyed a nearly 110 year career as a powered vessel and is still earning her keep to this day, albeit in a less romantic state.
Seems safe to say that her longevity as a cargo vessel is unrivaled and more than likely will never be matched.
Skinner engine installed 1950:
and some contemporary details about the conversion are here.
Reading between the lines, the engine was not saved, which is a pity.
Sad ending for an old work horse.
Leo_AmesInfamous?
Yes. It was called that in Chicago because it was regarded as the ship with a jinx, since the bridges over the river often got stuck in the up position for hours as it passed through with a load of cement. This seemed to mostly happen with the Medusa. Obviously it was just a coincidence, but the legend stuck since it happened almost every year.
For those less familiar with Great Lakes shipping, here's some pictures of her from through the years.
Lauched in 1906 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Ecorse, here she is as the SS William P. Snyder, which was the name that she sailed as under the Shenango Steamship banner for the first two decades of her life.
In 1926, she was sold to the Stewart Furnance Company, a subsidiary of the Pickands Mather & Company, and renamed as the Elton Hoyt II. She was passed on to the Youngstown Steamship Company in 1929 and then to the Interlake Steamship Company in 1930, all owned by the Pickands Mather & Co.
According to the entry for her in the Great Lakes Ships We Remember book series, she indeed had a major incident in 1950 when she suffered a head-on collision with the SS Enders M. Voorhees in the Straits of Mackinac. This presumably was the impetus for a major rebuilding that season that extended her lifespan and allowed her to keep steaming into the 21st century.
During that shipyard period, her original triple reciprocating engine was replaced with a Skinner Marine Unaflow, fed by two modern oil fired water tube boilers. Renamed the Alex D. Chrisholm in 1952 to free the name for a brand new vessel, she continued for Interlake until idled in 1962 due to the explosion in laker size in the 1950's that was making scores of ships of her size obsolete. With years of life left, she was thus sold in 1966 to Medusa Portland Cement to start her 2nd career.
During her rebuilding for cement service, she received new deckhouses, including the installation of a modern pilothouse and a streamlined stack (Her 3rd, as the pictures show). In 1998, Medusa was sold to Southdown and she was renamed the Southdown Challenger. Then Cemex took ownership but before her planned renaming ever happened, she become the property of St. Mary's Cement and took on her last name as a ship.
And of course, here she is as she appears today in her 3rd major iteration, going through a lift bridge where her regular passage seems to have created a bit of a reputation.
In some ways her heavily cut down state, getting power from an outside source, and still doing a useful job is remisicent of a slug conversion.
If I may present it, here is a short lesson in the definition of two words. "Straight" means "unbending," and a straight way can be wide. "Strait" means "constricting" or "narrow," and a strait passage can be winding.
Johnny
I know that, but carelessness and neglecting to reread it before hitting the post button resulted in the error.
At least I spared you from having to correct my spelling of Mackinac, since that's usually where people make their mistake. It's Mackinaw only for the village. The water passage, island, city, and the bridge and the ferry service that it replaced all use Mackinac.
Leo_Ames ... At least I spared you from having to correct my spelling of Mackinac, since that's usually where people make their mistake. It's Mackinaw only for the village. The water passage, island, city, and the bridge and the ferry service that it replaced all use Mackinac.
...
And to confuse everyone further, both spellings are pronounced Mackinaw.
The Coast Guard for a couple of decades even had a ship with each name. The famous Great Lakes icebreaker that was retired a few years ago and turned into a museum ship was the Mackinaw, while an ocean going cutter was named the Mackinac.
They built a replacement Mackinaw, but the new one looks more like (to my untrained eye) a buoy tender than an ice braker.
A lot of people around the lakes think so, too. She'll never be looked upon as attractive I think it's safe to say. Gets the job done though it seems with some major advantages over the classic Mackinaw like versatility and low running cost, and a few drawbacks as well.
One thing that I think is of concern after a few bad winters for ice until this one is downtime. Whenever she's not working due to mechanical issues, the ice breaking capability on the lakes is drastically reduced. So there's a push to build her a sistership to better handle difficult winters like we had in 2013 and 2014 that were stressing the resources to deal with ice.
Also a push right now to finally get rolling with a second Poe sized lock at Sault Saint Marie to ensure that traffic keeps flowing on even the largest of freighters if something ever knocks the Poe out for weeks or even months before repairs are completed (Such as a collapse like happened at the Canadian lock at the Soo 20 years ago or so).
Traffic may be down on the lakes, but at least there's significant investment going into the industry by both vessel operators and the government on both sides of the border to make what's left more effective and capable.
I agree that they need another Poe size lock and another big Icebraker, however, the Senate signed a resolution saying that climate change was real, so I guess they don't feel we need more icebreakers. The Canadians are building a new international bridge at Detroit for both of us, so maybe they would build a new large Soo lock. Wait, I just answered my own question. They will get their money back for the bridge from tolls, whereas I don't think there are lock tolls.
I'm not sure at the Soo, but there are user fees on the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway system (Including for Eisenhower and Snell Locks, the sole American locks in the Seaway system).
Even for Canadian ships not needing pilots due to having an experienced crew on the Seaway that has made enough trips to be qualified to sail it solo, they still have to pay tolls. They just went up 2% for this upcoming season in fact.
So I wouldn't be surprised if the US does similarly at Sault Saint Marie. [Edit: Looks like the Harbor Maintenance Fund is the avenue used to fund the Soo]
Leo_Ames Infamous? This long-time favorite of many boatnerds from 1906 was renamed the St. Mary's Challenger a decade or so ago and kept steaming until the end of the 2014 season. During the winter 14/15 layup, she was turned into an articulated barge pushed by a tug in a notch in her stern. Not aware of any major incidents during her life as a powered vessel. She was a safe and productive carrier that contributed significantly to the war effort for two world wars and enjoyed a nearly 110 year career as a powered vessel and is still earning her keep to this day, albeit in a less romantic state. Seems safe to say that her longevity as a cargo vessel is unrivaled and more than likely will never be matched.
Per Mr. Ames comment I can't think of a steam-powered vessel with that kind of service life, but there WAS a sailing ship with a service life that's got her beat.
Her name was the "Truelove," built in Philadelphia in 1764 she hauled cargo but spent most of her life as a whaler, reverting to cargo hauling in 1867. She was finally declared unseaworthy and broken up in 1888, having sailed for 124 years.
Truly remarkable. How that ship must have been built!
That's quite a life.
I'm aware of several more steel examples that are notable for their long life that continue on to this day.
Russia has a naval ship, the Kommuna, that's involved in salvage and submarine rescue duties. I believe she's still still in service despite dating from 1912, although I've heard talk of retirement and being turned into a museum ship recently. But as of last year, she was still in commission. Legend has it that her hull doesn't rust, but that the formula for the steel used on her has been lost.
And we're not talking something that's in commission for honorary purposes that perhaps isn't even afloat like HMS Victory, shore establishments like HMS Caroline was until the Royal Navy retired her recently (A WWI era cruiser that was at the Battle of Jutland), etc. But rather, a ship that's still able to move under her own power that's still doing a real job at sea.
And the Lake Champlain Transportation Company has a ferry on the Port Kent - Burlington run that was built in 1913. She's named the Adirondack and while heavily rebuilt just like the St. Mary's Challenger was, her hull largely dates from over a century ago.
Firelock76 Leo_Ames Infamous? This long-time favorite of many boatnerds from 1906 was renamed the St. Mary's Challenger a decade or so ago and kept steaming until the end of the 2014 season. During the winter 14/15 layup, she was turned into an articulated barge pushed by a tug in a notch in her stern. Not aware of any major incidents during her life as a powered vessel. She was a safe and productive carrier that contributed significantly to the war effort for two world wars and enjoyed a nearly 110 year career as a powered vessel and is still earning her keep to this day, albeit in a less romantic state. Seems safe to say that her longevity as a cargo vessel is unrivaled and more than likely will never be matched. Per Mr. Ames comment I can't think of a steam-powered vessel with that kind of service life, but there WAS a sailing ship with a service life that's got her beat. Her name was the "Truelove," built in Philadelphia in 1764 she hauled cargo but spent most of her life as a whaler, reverting to cargo hauling in 1867. She was finally declared unseaworthy and broken up in 1888, having sailed for 124 years. Truly remarkable. How that ship must have been built!
Leo_Ames Infamous? This long-time favorite of many boatnerds from 1906 was renamed the St. Mary's Challenger a decade or so ago and kept steaming until the end of the 2014 season. During the winter 14/15 layup, she was turned into an articulated barge pushed by a tug in a notch in her stern. Not aware of any major incidents during her life as a powered vessel. She was a safe and productive carrier that contributed significantly to the war effort for two world wars and enjoyed a nearly 110 year career as a powered vessel and is still earning her keep to this day, albeit in a less romantic state. Seems safe to say that her longevity as a cargo vessel is unrivaled and more than likely will never be matched. Per Mr. Ames comment I can't think of a steam-powered vessel with that kind of service life, but there WAS a sailing ship with a service life that's got her beat.
Considering the wood construction of the time - I wonder if any piece of wood made it for the entire 124 years.
Sort of like the 'antique' hammer, only had 4 new handles and 2 new heads.
Couldn't tell you if the whole, original ship made it to 124 years, the author of the book I got the story from didn't go into that kind of detail, although I'm sure there was some replacement over the years, if not hull members then the masts or spars or other scantlings around the ship.
I will say this much, most wooden ships built during the great age of sail were never expected to last that long. Fifteen to twenty years was usually the expected life, although if the ship was exceptionally well built or an exceptionally good sailer like the USS Constitution or HMS Victory and the Truelove they'd try to keep it in service as long as they possible could.
Some ships were lousy as well, they weren't all masterpieces. There were 40 men-of-war built for the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars that were so poorly built the RN crews called them "The Forty Thieves." Another story.
FWIW, the Star of India is still afloat 153 years after being built. It is part of the San Diego Maritime Museum collection.
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