Just heard about this on TV news. It’s one of the few left. Here is a link to a newspaper story:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ap-mi-carferrydemolitio,0,5661859.story
Just curious, I read the linked article, and it referenced the vessel name of Arthur K. Anderson; at one time was applied to this Ann Arbor RR Car ferry.
Was not the Vessel Edmund Fitzgerald, and the Arthur Anderson in communication and in close proximity on the night the Fitzgerald sunk in Lake Superior? Or was it another vessel named after Arthur Anderson?
Thanks!
Vep, there was a vessel named “SS Arthur M. Anderson” there that night - see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald#Final_voyage_and_wreck and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Arthur_M._Anderson
- Paul North.
They mention the correct name “Atkinson” in the second paragraph, but I didn’t catch the apparent typo of “Anderson” in the third paragraph when I first read the article. Good eye.
Sounds like a shame, but that’s the trouble with BIG antiques, whether they’re a steam locomotive, a ship, a building, or a B-17. One way or another they’ve got to still earn their keep or they don’t stay around very long. Too bad.
There’s more at: http://www.railroadmichigan.com/carferry.html
The Chief Wawatam was a favorite of mine and could really throw up a hugh black smoke cloud. Looked like the whole city of St. Ignace was on fire.
As far as I know there are only 3 other of the big open lake carferries left: the SS Badger (C&O) which is still active as an auto ferry (there is another recent thread on this one); and its sister ship the SS Spartan, which last I heard was also tied up in Ludington and sometimes used for spare parts; and the SS City of Milwaukee (GT&AA) which is a museum ship tied up in Manistee, MI.
Just to confirm what has already been said, it was the steamer Arthur M. Anderson that was sailing in tandem with the Edmund Fitzgerald the night she went down. She was also a ore carrier just like the Edmund Fitzgerald was. She has since been converted to a self unloader and is still sailing today.
And the Ann Arbor No. 7 still survives under the name of Viking 1. Of the 4 idle railroad carferrys that survive intact today (If we include the Atkinson), she’s the best candidate to ever see future use. She sailed a couple of times 15 years ago and was extensively rebuit in the mid 1960’s including a repowering with EMD powerplants, installation of a bow thruster, and the raising of the upper deck by 3’ 6". All things that would be all but necessary for her to be used today in a Badger style service (Which almost happened in the late 80’s between Milwauee and Muskegon until Muskegon voters turned down a financing referendum that was necessary to fund part of the starting cost).
Maybe someday if fuel prices continue their upward trend and it’s possible to meet EPA mandates with late model EMD 567’s, she might just be ressurected yet and become another Badger…
Thanks for the update. According to Boatnerd.com, the Viking I is owned by a warehousing company and is tied up in Menominee, MI. I guess that makes 5 carferries total: Badger, Spartan, City of Milwaukee, Viking I, and Atkinson (for now).
creepycrank,
I’ve lived in Michigan all my life, and remember viewing Chief Wamatan crossing the straits from the auto ferry Vacationland before the bridge was completed, and while the latter was being constructed. It was an impressive view of both.
I didn’t know the Chief served till 1984. For the small amount of business that crossed the straits at that time it probably, in the long run, turned out less expensive to go around Lake Michigan rather than support the ferry operation.
Being a hand fired steamer would have made her ‘labor intensive’, but the killing shot was the collapse of the St. Ignace dock. Since her demise no tracks now reach Mackinaw City. One ends in Gaylord ( the future of that one is uncertain above Grayling) and the other ends at Alpena. Both are operated by short lines.There simply isn’t enough business isn’t north of the latter towns to support a railroad, much less two. Traffic to both Gaylord and Alpena is light, and the short lines running them can’t possibly see much profit in either of them.
Needless to say Chief Wawatam did serve her era well, and I know the ship was named after a man. To me, all ships are referred to as ‘she’… The business just isn’t there anymore.
Just some memories from my teen years,
Like was said, the Chief Wawatam was hand fired. What wasn’t said was she was the last hand fired vessel in operation on the Great Lakes when she last sailed in 1984. All the steamers that have operated since then have relied on mechanical stokers (For the surviving coal fired vessels that operated longer than she did, including the Badger that continues to operate) or were oil fired.
Her hull is still around as a barge for Purvis Marine (Edit - Sorry, I forget she had a deck collapse in 2009 and was scrapped). She actually was also one of the last survivors of the Great Storm of 1913. Only the freighter J.B. Ford survives intact now from that massive storm that sunk or destroyed dozens of ships and killed hundreds of sailors (The Ford was one of the few ships out in open water that survived it). And she also survived the great storm of 1905 that was almost as bad. Sadly, it appears like she might not be preserved despite being almost completely unchanged from how she was built in 1904 (Sailed as an ore carrier into the 1950’s and then hauled cement until the mid 1980’s, she’s been used as a storage ship for cement since then but that job appears to be just about done).
The hull of the City of Midland 41 also is still around as a barge named the Pere Marquette 41 and sails for the Pere Marquette Shipping Co. She at one time was also owned by the owners of the Badger and Spartan. She sailed into the late 1980’s alongside the Badger until her boiler foundations started to deteriorate and required expensive repair. So it was the Badger that got the call to start hauling passengers and vehicles in the 1990’s. She was stripped of engine parts to keep the Badger going (As I recall, she was the first Great Lakes ship powered by Skinner Unaflows like the Badger/Spartan pair were) and was sold in the late 1990’s for barge conversion.
Here’s a picture of the Chief Wawatam as she looked during the final part of her career as a deck barge. The Pere Marquette 41 looks som
I think I preferred the way the Chief Wawatam looked in 1978 when I made a trip up to see her run. I had heard it was a route sometimes specified by the lumber shippers to give them more time to actually sell the load and specify a new destination.
John
http://www3.telus.net/jsuther9/rails/1978-10-09Dc-StIgnace-ChiefWawatam.jpg
Here’s a good book on the Great Lakes car ferries.
I read it a long time ago. I have read several other books by the autor, George W. Hilton, and I have not been disappointed.
Hilton has a PhD in economics and was on the UCLA faculty. He wrote numerous articles for “Trains”. One of those articles was on the car ferries. He once wrote that the two most interesting things he’d seen in his life were 1) a train, and 2) a steamboat. Those two things were combined in the car ferries. (Hilton was/is also a White Sox fan. All in all, my kind of guy.)
He was fascinated with the car ferries but, as an economist, he could see (and explain) why they were no longer viable. His article in “Trains” covered why the ferries came to be, why they stayed around as long as they did, and why they were doomed.
Hilton is good at explaining economic reality in layman’s terms. If you want to understand “Why”, he’ll tell you.
After the eastern bankruptcies of the 70s, Michigan DOT became more concerned with loss of rail service. They were interested in a tug-barge system to replace the Chief Wawatam. A new company, the Upper Peninsula Shipbuilding Company (UPSCO), was selected to construct them, but became embroiled in scandal, and never finished. Eventually the whole project was dropped.
There is one other northern lower peninsula RR that served Mackinaw City, and a segment still goes as far as Petosky. The former GRI/PRR/PC/MN/TSBY.