Sandsucker Niagara

[Raildudes dad]

I have a small foundry not to from where I live. The sand used to come in by pneumatic semi tanker and the old sand out by dump truck. Now days most of the sand is cleaned and reused. The new sand is delivered in fabric totes and the waste leaves in similar totes.

[XXX]

When you go over the "Z" bridge look south. All of the land on the east side is fill from the foundries

[Bay City Guest]

What happened to all that sand after it was used at GM?

I am told the sand was shipped to landfills. Imagine that, as over the years, the Niagara brought in enough sand to fill the Sahara Desert!

After the Niagara was retired higher quality sand was brought in from the Lake Michigan side of the state, by big self-unloaders such as the Charles E Wilson.

That's a great picture of the Sixth Street turning basin (which is actually at First Street, its complicated) There was only one crate still hanging when I made trips up there. Yes its a dangerous place.

[Guest]

The Niagara's captain, John Viera, fixed bicycle reflectors to the trees along the Saginaw River - his own private set of navigation aids. He was not alone.

I remember a milk crate hanging from a tree at the Sixth Street turning basin in Saginaw and a bleach jug hanging from a tree at the Airport turning basin in Bay City.

This was "back in the day" it would be interesting to see if any of it survived.

Algoma did the crates. They were still there when I was attending Saginaw Valley State University in the late 90's. That's not, or at least wasn't the greatest area to go wandering around in the other side of M13 near Potter st. was pretty dicey.

*Photo Capt Alain Gindroz, via Chris Franckowiak

[Guest]

What happened to all that sand after it was used at GM?

[Bay City Guest]

The Niagara's captain, John Viera, fixed bicycle reflectors to the trees along the Saginaw River - his own private set of navigation aids. He was not alone.

I remember a milk crate hanging from a tree at the Sixth Street turning basin in Saginaw and a bleach jug hanging from a tree at the Airport turning basin in Bay City.

This was "back in the day" it would be interesting to see if any of it survived.

[Guest]

My father was First Mate and Relief Captain on the Niagara. I spent much of my childhood on her, either taking trips or spending time while docked at the GM Plant in Saginaw. I have a lot of fond memories from that time.
They even let me steer from time to time when we were out in Saginaw Bay. I remember it was quite a workout because she wasn't the easiest boat to steer!

[Guest]

The Niagara hauled sand it dredged from Saginaw Bay up to the GM plant in Saginaw. The sand was used to make cores for casting molds. The ship seemed to constantly be going through drawbridges in Bay City, so locally the ship is not remembered fondly. The I-75 highway bridge in Zilwaukee was also a drawbridge back then... :(
Niagara was built in 1897 at Wheeler's shipyard, in what was then West Bay City. It was constructed for J. Crothswaite to haul pulpwood. It had a chain conveyor, and the bottom of the hull was sheathed with oak. This was reportedly for protection against the rocks in the shallows where Niagara was to operate. It took eleven rail cars of oak to fill that order!
The ship was later operated by American Steamship Company as a crane ship, and for Gravel Products and Erie Sand as a sandsucker. I don't know at what point the oak was removed.
It is interesting that Erie Sand replaced the steam engine with diesel air. Besides providing propulsion, the diesel powered an air compressor to drive auxiliaries, etc. One of the old boilers was kept and used as an air receiver. Niagara made a haunting sighing and chugging sound as it wore a path up and down the Saginaw River. It last run to Saginaw was in 1982.
Efforts to save it as a museum failed both in Bay City and Erie.
The GM plant in Saginaw is still there, but is a shadow of its former days.

[Wheelsman]

I recall reading a lot about this boat in the old Lake Log Chips. I could be mistaken, but I thought at times she loaded fine sand from Kelley's Island or Sandusky, Ohio thereabouts and delivered it primarily to Saginaw for the GM casting/foundry plant(s). I do know one of their most familiar products were the steering column housings for cars and trucks, Saginaw Steering as it was called. They probably did engine blocks and other things, not sure. Is the place still there?

[Guest]

I was talking with an acquaintance over the weekend when the subject of Erie Sand's sandsucker Niagara came up as we came across a photo of this ship on Saginaw Bay. It raised the following questions: which dock/docks did this ship serve on the Saginaw River. I believe it worked primarily to deliver sand for GM foundries if memory serves me correctly. In addition, didn't this ship have wooden sheathing over its bottom plates to protect it in groundings? Or was this removed at some point during its career?