Steam Ship Earnslaw still operates in New Zealand, built by the RR to ferry goods from the one point at which the railroad met the lake to all the lakeside communites. Powered by two locomotive boilers and twin triple expansion engines and still burns coal. Quite an impressive and original ship.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

James, You are now getting into my professional territory. Glad to have you! For surviving steam ship information, you showld read Norman Brouwer's International Register of historic Ships. Now in its Third Edition. It shows Active Steam, Preserved Steam im Museums and quite a number of vessels just tucked away waiting for something to happen.

For example the last British paddle wheel tug in Britain is the John H.Amos. She is in wet storage at the Chatam Dock yard. She really needs for someone or institution to look after her.

And closer to home the Vallejo is an iron hulled side wheel ferry (built 1879) that has been part of the Sausalito houseboat fleet for the past 60 years. Her diagonal engine is still in place. The ferry was in the same dry dock with our EPPLETON HALL last year. To keep this rail related she was built for the Oregon, Navigation & Railway (something like that). Ted

ted_miles@NPS.gov

James, you are correct the EUREKA was leased to the Southern Pacific in 1941. But she was always owned by the Northwestern Pacific RR and that is the name on the deed of gift when whe came to the Maritime Park. Last year we spent several $million
on her superstructure. At 300 feet long she is the largest wooden merchant ship in the World, only slightly smaller than the USS Constitution, which is the record holder for war ships.

ted_miles@NPS.gov

> I think one of the C&O ferries is also
> in Erie, Pa. At least it was last year.

That's the Viking (now named Viking I), formerly Ann Arbor no. 7 built in 1925. She was dieselized and renamed Viking in 1965. Like the Landsdowne, she also appeared (in steamer form as AA no. 7) in David Plowden's "Farewell to Steam". The Viking was laid up in 1981 and sat in Sturgeon Bay for many years until she was bought in 1996 for a proposed cross-Lake Erie service between Cleveland and Port Stanley. She received a new coat of paint and some mechanical work, plus the "I" at the end of her name, but unfortunately the service never materialized.

Another dieselized former Ann Arbor steam ferry, the Arthur K. Atkinson, is laid up in Ludington, Michigan. She was built in 1917 as the Maitland No. 2 for the Hamilton, Toronto & Buffalo Railroad, but before she was launched she was sold to Ann Arbor as the Ann Arbor no. 6. She was lengthened, dieselized, and given her present name in 1958. I believe she's currently owned by the same folks who operate the Badger and own the Spartan. Apparently there's some talk of using her as a floating office in Racine, WI if the proposed Ludington-Racine service (using a rebuilt and dieselized Spartan) ever comes to fruition.

Another one worthy of note, though she's not much to look at anymore, is the legendary former Straits of Mackinaw ferry Chief Wawatam of 1911. She carried railroad cars between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace until 1984, and was a hand-fired coal burner to the end. Sadly she was sold in 1989 to Purvis Marine, Ltd. who cut her down to a deck barge (similar to what was done to the City of Midland 41 a couple years ago), and she operates in that capacity today.

rjenkins@railfan.net

Anything you want to know about steamships of the Great Lakes, I can probably help you with. I've been photographing the lakers - steamers especially - for the last 15 years. Unfortunately I can think of a few of them that will have to be stricken from your "survivors" list in the near future, among them the 1927-vintage bulk freighter Kinsman Enterprise (ex-Harry Coulby) which was recently sold to International Marine Salvage for scrapping in Port Colborne, Ontario. She'll probably be towed from her layup berth in Buffalo this spring.

> Richard,

> Do you have additional information on them,
> and perhaps photographs? I would to have it
> for my "Surviving World Steamship"
> CD-ROM.

> This is great, with the discoveries never
> end?

> -James Hefner
> Hebrews 10:20a


rjenkins@railfan.net

> James, you are correct the EUREKA was leased
> to the Southern Pacific in 1941. But she was
> always owned by the Northwestern Pacific RR
> and that is the name on the deed of gift
> when whe came to the Maritime Park. Last
> year we spent several $million
> on her superstructure. At 300 feet long she
> is the largest wooden merchant ship in the
> World, only slightly smaller than the USS
> Constitution, which is the record holder for
> war ships.
She was also the largest passenger ferry on San Francisco Bay. She was rebuilt from the "Ukiah" in 1922, a combination passenger and railroad car ferry built in 1890. I also believe she is one of only two walking beam ships left and the only one afloat.

Tom

ironbartom@aol.com

Southern Pacific passenger ferry boat BERKELEY is in San Diego as part of its maritine museum. This steel-halled ferry was built in 1898. This was the SP's first screw propeller ferryboat; but, they went back to paddle wheels for a while after this boat.

The BERKELEY was the spare boat when SP shut down its ferry operation on San Francisco Bay. The boat then became a floating store in Sausalito before moving south to San Diego.

The main deck has museum displays. The engine spaces can be visited and a hidden motor turns the triple expansion engine and one of the boilers has been sectioned. The upper deck is available for hiring for receptions, etc. According to the website the hall is to be renewed in 2002

A ticket to get on board will also get a visitor on to the 1863 Iron-hauled sailing ship STAR OF INDIA. About every year or two this ship is sailed out of the bay and back; this makes it the oldest active sailing ships.

Both of the ships are within easy walking distance of the Amtrak (ex-Santa Fe) San Diego depot.

Brian Norden

P.S. Ted, do you know what happened to the SAN LEANDRO? It was tied up in San Francisco for years after SP sould it.

San Diego Maritine Museum
bnorden49@earthlink.net

Here is another RR vessel.

The San Francisco Maritime Museum has the former Western Pacific tug HERCULES. This tug boat was in 1907.

Brian Norden

bnorden49@earthlink.net

I have never been aboard the Lansdowne, but saw it several times when the restaurant conversion was moored next to Cobo Hall in Detroit. I believe it is iron-hulled, build around the machinery from a much older wood ferry, and that the engines dated to the 1860's. These were long-stroke horizontal paddle engines. Reports were that one engine "blew up" leading to its use as an unpowered barge in its last years, during which it sank at least once.

The car deck is roofed over, with the Skytops protruding from one end. I'm told that 20 or 30 feet of the side of each car was torched out. The wheels are welded to the deck rails.

Aarne H. Frobom
The Steam Railroading Institute
P. O. Box 665
Owosso, MI 48867-0665

froboma@mdot.state.mi.us

>Brian,

The remains of the SP ferry SAN LEANDRO iss tied up in richmond, CA. in the old Kiser WWII yard.
She has been bouncing around the waterfront for years after SP sold her. All that is left is the metal hull without the superstructure.

Ted.


ted_miles@NPS.gov

> Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember reading an article somewhere (this was 2 or 3 years ago, so I could be way off here) about one car ferry still in service on one of the great lakes that is steam powered. Its realatively modern, It had uniflow engines which were all enclosed etc. I believe the article said it was built in the late 1950's or early 60's and was the last steamer left on the great lakes. I realize I'm being quite vague here, but do you have any info on whether this boat is still in service?
-Jay-

jmonty@vt.edu

Are these two and the one used by the 261 folks the only Skytops in existence? I personally think they are beautiful cars, especially when they are flying down the rails.

God Bless,
Gerald Kopiasz
Heartland Railroad Historical Society

> While looking for more information on the
> ferry, I found out the following about the
> obs cars:

> 1. 14 "Arrow Creek"(11/48) - CN
> 1901 "Malpeque"
> 2. 16 "Gold Creek"(12/48) - CN
> 1903 "Trinity"

> -James Hefner
> Hebrews 10:20a


hrrhs@aol.com

Here in Portland, the SP "Shasta" in still around. It served as "The River Queen" resturant for many years just north of Union Station. It's now owned by developers who have plans for her. Her triple expansion engine was torched down to make more floor room, by the previous owner.

I would love to see in service pics of this vessel if anyone has them to share.

Smokebox

Yeah, that's the former C&O ferry Badger, built in 1952 and powered by twin coal-fired Uniflows. She is now operated by Lake Michigan Carferry, Inc. carrying passengers, autos, and trucks only. They stopped carrying freight cars in 1991. Below is a link to their web site and a photo from the site.

www.ssbadger.com

rjenkins@railfan.net

Forgot to mention, the Badger isn't the last steamer on the Lakes, a fair number of freighters still operate up there with steam turbines and also a couple of Uniflows. However, the Badger is the last coal-fired steamer on the Lakes. The last coal-burning freighter was converted to oil-firing over the winter of 1994-1995. Two others that were running as late as 1989 and 1990 were scrapped in 1994. The last freighter in service with a traditional open-crank "up-and-down" steam engine was dieselized over the winter of 1999-2000, though several others survive in static roles.

In mid-summer the Badger makes two round trips between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin each day, including an overnight trip eastbound. That also gives the Badger the distinction of being the last coal-fired overnight passenger steamer operating in North America.

rjenkins@railfan.net