Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Just a few hours left on a couple government surplus auctions I ran into. First is for a binnacle from a 1940s USCG tug:

http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=1029436

Second is a searchlight, probably from the same tug:

http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=1029463

Hope ...

Has it ever happened that a Great Lakes boat has had to dump ore or grain or coal or any bulk cargo overboard in an emergency to lighten the boat?

During the early days of shipping on the Great Lakes there are numerous stories of cargo being jetisoned and cattle being run overboard to lighten a ...

Coalburner wrote:Just a little off topic, The old ferry Milwaukee (now a deck barge at KK Logistics in Menominee, MI.) ...

That would be the Manitowoc, in case anyone is wanting to research.

Kind regards,
Shawn

I was watching a train Video where they converted a steam locomotive to burn Used cooking oil. It said they didnt have any trouble Keeping up steam and it burned cleaner.And no Ashes.I wonder if that would work on the Badger.They could keep the boilers and Steam Engines,no ashes to dump.Just figure ...

Pere Marquette 18(i) & Milwaukee (nee-Manistique Marquette & Northern No. 1) were sisters. Have heard the Marquette & Bessemer No. 2(i) was also a sister but am not so sure as there are differences in beam and tonnage. In any event all 3 were the only cross-lake ferries that were lost.

I'll have ...

And still more...

Ann Arbor No. 1 and No. 2

Pere Marquette 19 and 20

Maitland No. 1 and Ann Arbor No. 6

Pere Marquette 21 and 22, Grand Rapids, Madison, Ann Arbor No. 7, City of Milwaukee (essentially the same with *very* minor modifications between them)

City of Saginaw 31, City of Flint 32 ...

In one of Dwight Boyer's books (the name escapes me; in the process of moving & everything is boxed up) he devotes a chapter to the loss of the No. 2 . In it he says that a month prior to her loss, the No. 2 was in a similar storm and had listed so badly from water entering the open stern that the ...

I keep coming back to the Pere Marquette 18, a newer but similar design boat;

The PM 18 was not newer, it was three years older. How thorough has been your research up to this point that has led you to the theories and conclusions you're putting forth? Many of them don't stand up to the scrutiny ...

I still do not know if the superstructure was steel or wood. If it was steel, we defiantly would have found some parts of it during the last search.

I have not been able to verify this with 100% certainty, but I'm reasonably certain the structures from the spar deck upwards were wooden, and that ...

I believe that she broke up, and went down in several pieces.

Highly unlikely and definitely unprecedented. Unlike a straight-deck bulk carrier, the carferries are very broad of beam in relation to their length, and the type of construction gives them a rather incredible amount of strength. Under ...

Ah, more research; The year I'm looking at is 1909, December.
The year the Marquette & Bessemer #2 (1) dissapeared. I have
a theory, but need some more information about this time of Lake
Erie.

We would be interested in hearing your theory, and there are quite a few people here who have studied ...

Actually the Pere Marquette 18 and Milwaukee as built were exact replicas of each other. The Marquette Bessemer 2 had the same hull design as the other two but had smaller cabins. The original Marquette Bessemer 2 was build on the plans of the Pere Marquette 19 and Pere Marquette 20.

There were ...

MilwBob wrote:My guess would be 'Juniata' (currently the 'Milwaukee Clipper') you can just make out the last 2 letters (-TA) on the starboard bow.

It could also be the Tionesta.

A friend of mine works at the coal-burning power plant in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, and they are selling all of the furnace ash that they produce.

Timerover51, does that mean there is potentially an existing market for the ash the Badger produces? Any idea what it might be and how the Badger ...

I don't think there's any use for clinker ash that the Badger disposes overboard.

Then it stands to reason that as long as there is the Badger as a coal-burner, and the various power plants producing a similar byproduct, that someone could probably come up with a profitable use for it. Anyone? It ...

The material hauled on the PM 41 isn't hot and it isn't wet. Those are the challenges the Badger faces with its ash.

It does beg the question, though, whether the ash from the Badger could be sold to the same buyer (or someone else involved in construction trades that could employ the ash in some ...

I dont understand what the problem is. When the boat get to Ludington, you drive a dump truck on to the car deck, load up the ashes, and off to the local land fill. This process may take a couple hours, but better then going out of business.

I think there is more to it than that. One issue is ...

Badger got an article in the NY Times too:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/us/po ... d=fb-share

Not much new there, but the coverage area seems to be expanding...

You could also include the number of boats that carried the Pere Marquette name followed by a number; 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 (twice), 19, 20, 21, 22, and 41 (20 boats!)

The Ann Arbor fleet also had boats numbered 1-7.

I think it has been adequately put forth that the proposal is either a high school project or the ramblings of someone with a pipe dream. It has also been demonstrated that the condition of the Spartan's decks is such that the probability of her ever running again as a powered ferry is about nil ...