ID of car ferries?

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William Lafferty
Posts: 1491
Joined: March 13, 2010, 10:51 am

Re: ID of car ferries?

Unread post by William Lafferty »

These are the Canadian Pacific ferries in their later livery (buff funnel and black smoke band). The Ontario is in the foreground, I believe, and the Michigan behind, although the vessels were very similar in appearance, built 1890 but at different yards. I make this identification because the Ontario had its running lights lower as far as I can tell.

Only these ferries, the Great Western, the first Michigan, and the Lansdowne (originally) had fore and aft pilothouses to my knowledge.
djwmusk65

Re: ID of car ferries?

Unread post by djwmusk65 »

I'm also pretty sure they are the Ontario and Michigan II. I looked up a picture in my copy of George Hilton's Great Lakes Car Ferries and the lettering on the paddle boxes looks like it's the same.
Mr Link
Posts: 1198
Joined: December 6, 2014, 3:43 pm

ID of car ferries?

Unread post by Mr Link »

I ran across this unidentified photo in the online digital collections of the Holland (Michigan) museum.

It shows to railroad car ferries and I'm almost certain it was taken in Windsor, Ontario. The layout of the tracks and adjacent street make me think it is either the Canadian Pacific or Michigan Central (later Wabash) slips.

Anyone know which boats are shown? Both are paddle wheelers with twin stacks and fore and aft pilot houses. I suspect it may be the Canadian Pacific's Michigan and Ontario. But would any of Michigan Central car ferries have had fore and aft pilot houses as well? Michigan Central's boats had three tracks or four tracks on deck, while Canadian Pacific's only had two. But I can't tell how many tracks are on the boats in the photo.

Thanks for any assistance with the identification. And if you have any interest in West Michigan passenger steamships, its worth taking a look through the Holland Museum's online collection. Most are under their "boats" category, but some (like a photo of the South American after her 1924 fire) are only under "transportation". https://collection.hollandmuseum.org/Explore/Index
Attachments
From Holland museum digital collection.jpg
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