I was in Port Townsend WA a week ago and saw this tug. Is it an old Milw Rd tugboat? I have tried to find info on the tugs they had in Seatle but have not found anything about names or what they looked like. Most of the dock is still there and it still has rails on it but no other tracks arev left in Port Townsend.
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Milwaukee Road’s last tugboat, “Milwaukee,” was retired in 1956, and the barge contract given over to Foss Tugboats, which survives today as Foss Maritime. http://www.foss.com/
I have not heard that the “Milwaukee” survived. I don’t know what the lifespan of tugboats is, but it was steam driven, and it was an old, old tugboat at the time of its retirement, first put into service in 1913.
Thanks for that info. Are you telling me they had one boat. I guess they would not need more than one? I have looked for a photo of the “Milwaukee” but so far no luck. In the picture you can see some orange paint but I’m not sure what color they were painted.
I was hoping someone had more info or a place I could look. Thanks
http://www.trainweb.org/snch&ts/
There are a few pictures of the marine operation on the site, with info both for the Milw periods and Seattle North Coast.
Thanks for the link. None of the photos seem to the ship in question. Some good pictures of the dock in operation. Thanks again.
The book, “The Milwaukee Road 1928-1985” by Jim Scribbins has a picture of the steam tug Milwaukee. It is on page 124.
Jeff
Jeff Thank you for the info on the book. I’ll try and get a copy and see it the old tug might “be the” Milwaukee". The boat I saw had the name “Active Pass” but it could have had a name change with a new owner. This old boat does not look like it has been it the water or have been used in some time.
the tug in the picture appears to be a diesel tug. I base this on the short squat stack visible behind the wheel house. Steam tugs that I am familiar with (PRR) usually had a much taller thinner stack when steam operated.
If you go to this site you can get most of the information your looking for, even some history of the men who served on the “Milwaukee”
http://www.oil-electric.com/2010/08/sir-freight-train-dead-ahead.html#comments
David Newcomb
Strange the name of the tug is ACTIVE PASS, which is a pass between Mayne Island and Galiano Island in British Columbia’s South Gulf Islands. Could it be a Canadian tug?
Excellent reference, lots of information based on statements and documents from people “who were there”, including in the “Comments”. Thanks for sharing ! [tup]
The MILW had an extensive maritime operation on Puget Sound. From Seattle, Pier 27 IIRC, they went to Shelton, Port Gamble, Port Townsend, and Bellingham. There may have been others.
I think Shelton was an interchange with the Stimson mill and logging line. I know Port Gamble was interchange with an isolated mill railroad, Port Townsend connected with the MILW line that went to Port Angeles. During WWI the line went further West and connected to several logging railroads. One of those was the “Spruce Division” which was built by the US Government to haul spruce for use in building airplanes during the war. I think there is a book on the Spruce Division. The last destination was Bellingham, which connected with an isolated MILW line that went to Sumas to interchange with CP and BC Hydro, and then went about another 50 miles east and south into the foothills of the Cascades.
In the BN merger MILW got haulage or trackage rights on BN, so the Bellingham marine operation went away. The rest continued to the end of the MILW in Washington State, or very nearly so.
The most important point is that even when the MILW had one tug, most of the work was done by contractors. Foss is one of, if not the, largest tugboat operators on Puget Sound. Another operator was/is Crowley Maritime. There is still a lot of tugboat work on the sound, including the rail barge to Alaska.
Mac
Greetings from Port Townsend. I wrote the blog article on the Steam Tug Milwaukee in www.oil-electric.com. Foss did NOT tow Milwaukee Road barges, until after the demise of the “Milwaukee.”
The last rail barge left Port Townsend on March 25 1985.
Port Gamble rail bridge was built by Milwaukee Road. Hardly isolated. There was a massive Pope & Talbot mill adjacent to the rail bridge. Google Port Gamble.
I wrote about the rail connection between Port Townsend, where I live, and Port Angeles.
See: http://www.oil-electric.com/2007/10/in-my-own-back-yard.html
I’ve written extensively on the rail barge service to Alaska from both Seattle and Prince Rupert.
See: http://www.oil-electric.com/2009/10/boxcars-go-to-sea-6-alaska-railroad.html
The “Active Pass” was the former “Magic” owned an operated for about 35 years by Thomas Lampman, of Poulsbo, Washington. Operating several tugs under the name of Passage Tug & Barge, the “Magic” towed sand and gravel barges from Hood Canal to Lakeside Industries in Seattle.
On the night of October 17, 2005, rainwater and chop entered an open hatch, taking the 140’ “Magic” and another smaller tug rafted to her, to the bottom of their dock in Port Gamble.
From what I understand, the elder Lampman had to liquidate everything he had, including Passage Tug & Barge, to raise the two boats. The vessel was renamed “Active Pass” at this point of the narrative, and she sat on blocks here in at Boat Haven, Port Townsend, from 2006 through the summer of 2008.
She was cut up and hauled away, load by load, on a flatbed truck.
The final chapter in this sad story of a famous workboat here on Puget Sound, I completely documented her dismantling, including a shot of her diesel leaving Boat Haven on a flatbed truck. My photographs were destroyed, along with close to two thousand files, when a hard disk replacement attempt went south, taking the final shots of the “Active Pass” to the grave as well.
Robert in Port Townsend.
Activated links in Forum Thread.
P.S. Website is an excellent read, lots of info,as well! [tup]
Thanks, Robert!