by Mr Link » September 2, 2017, 6:15 pm
Thanks. I still suspect that they had to trim the stern of the Manistee.
1) A look at recent photos in Google Maps shows the slips at Mackinaw City and St. Igance are only about 20 feet wide at the end of the apron, while what remains in Elberta and Manistique are about 33 to 36 feet wide.
2) Plans for a replacement apron in Elberta from 1925 show the apron having four girders on a 5.5 foot spacing for an overall width of 23 feet 1 inch for the portion that rested on the vessels. I assume that this was a standardized dimension for all the Ann Arbor ferries, at least in later years. Given that standard gauge rails are almost 5 feet center to center (not gauge), looking at photos indicates that the aprons at the Straits were only about 15 feet wide, or roughly 8 foot narrower than the Lake Michigan aprons.
3) In the stern photo, it looks like the starboard stern could be a vertical flat plate, welded into place, instead of original hull construction.
Interestingly, the Port Authority of New York had to deal with a similar situation recently. They ordered replacement carfloats for the one remaining carfloat operation in New York Harbor, and wound up having 4 track 59 foot wide carfloats built, that narrow down at one end to fit the old slips that were designed for 3 track carfloats, roughly 40 feet wide. Ironically, Hurricane Sandy forced the reconstruction of the New Jersey slip, and the one in Brooklyn had been rebuilt just a few years prior, so both could have been built wider, but weren't.
Thanks. I still suspect that they had to trim the stern of the Manistee.
1) A look at recent photos in Google Maps shows the slips at Mackinaw City and St. Igance are only about 20 feet wide at the end of the apron, while what remains in Elberta and Manistique are about 33 to 36 feet wide.
2) Plans for a replacement apron in Elberta from 1925 show the apron having four girders on a 5.5 foot spacing for an overall width of 23 feet 1 inch for the portion that rested on the vessels. I assume that this was a standardized dimension for all the Ann Arbor ferries, at least in later years. Given that standard gauge rails are almost 5 feet center to center (not gauge), looking at photos indicates that the aprons at the Straits were only about 15 feet wide, or roughly 8 foot narrower than the Lake Michigan aprons.
3) In the stern photo, it looks like the starboard stern could be a vertical flat plate, welded into place, instead of original hull construction.
Interestingly, the Port Authority of New York had to deal with a similar situation recently. They ordered replacement carfloats for the one remaining carfloat operation in New York Harbor, and wound up having 4 track 59 foot wide carfloats built, that narrow down at one end to fit the old slips that were designed for 3 track carfloats, roughly 40 feet wide. Ironically, Hurricane Sandy forced the reconstruction of the New Jersey slip, and the one in Brooklyn had been rebuilt just a few years prior, so both could have been built wider, but weren't.