online at walthers, it says there are several fittings for different prototypes of their canal size ore boat. what fittings are they referring too? would be nice if they came out with canal size cement carrier boat model.
Just to be clear - did you mean this Great Lakes Ore Boat kit? The description does mention St. Lawrence Seaway 'Canalers', and includes the line "Extra Fittings to Build Different Prototypes"
The description says "The finished model is typical of bulk freighters moving iron ore, grain, cement, coal and other cargoes". I'm not an expert but I assume you could have differences in the hatches and maybe some other things, depending on whether the boat is being used for hauling say iron ore as opposed to grain.
I have the Sylvan 1050 Great Lakes Freighter which Walthers adopted as their own. The history indicates that prior to the opening of the Seaway in 1959, Great Lakes Freighters were divided into two types: Upper Lakers which could only transit those lakes above the Welland Canal before 1932 and "Canallers" which could travel all the way down the St. Lawrence by way of the old St. Lawrence Canal system.
This kit is based on a typical "St. Lawerence Canaller" style of Great Lakes freighter. These boats have the appearance of typical "upper lakers" with the pilot house forward and the machinery aft. however they were limited to 261 feet because of the restrictions of the Lachine Canal.
http://www.sylvanscalemodels.com/kits/1050.htm
There are parts in the kit for various winches, fairleads and mooring bits which can be arranged for different machinery layouts. The Walthers version has wider hatch openings to accommodate the buckets of the Hulett ore unloaders.
Hope that helps, Ed
The wife and I were at the Soo watching the locks on the US side a few years back. Got to see the Montrealais pass westbound into Superior. It was a cement boat, but looked little different from the ore boats also passing through. She was shorter and older, so this may be one of those uses made of older stock once it's not longer economic for the intense use that ore and coal provide.
I suspect the main issue is keeping any lading from mixing and cross-contaminating.
Here is a link to pics of the Montrealais.
http://duluthshippingnews.com/tag/montrealais/
I think my marker is where cement was unloaded in Duluth. Things have changed somewhat since I last looked, so if I'm off a bit can someone who know more let us know? It's somewhere along the NW corner of the harbor anyway.
While the tracks are fewer than in the past, you can see that RRs are still a vital part of port traffic.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
That isn't a cement dock, it's one of Hallet's general bulk (usually not iron ore or coal) that typically handles limestone, among other things. The cement dock in Duluth is at the Port Terminal just below the Blatnik Bridge. Yes they do have rail and they have a neat GE 44 tonner for shifting cars.
redore,
Thanks for the correction. I'm remembering that the cement dock was a Hallet's operation, too, but may be wrong about that with my corrected placemark. Will correct that, too, if still not quite right.