stewart cort

[guest]

1Stewart J. Cort never loaded coal at Toledo. She is strictly an ore boat.

[Guest]

Yes, I believe that the Presque Isle has a similar unloading system as the Cort.

[CottonwoodStudios]

The Cort also unloaded into the Sam Laud which then unloaded on the piles on the dock. Mostly ore but I do remember unloading coal this way.

The Cort has only ever carried ore. Never coal.

[Guest]

The most unique part of the Cort's unloading system is internal - specifically the portion that elevates the cargo from the below-hold belts at the bottom of the ship up to the level of the unloading boom. The Gott and Speer (and most other modern self-unloaders) have a loop belt elevator, which squeezes the cargo between two opposing belts to lift it. The Blough has a simple inclined belt to bring the cargo up to the level of its shuttle boom (similar systems are found on several mid-sized U.S.-flagged lakers built in the early to mid 1970s). The Cort, on the other hand, uses a large rotating wheel with buckets mounted on it to do the job. The system has been likened to a small industrial ferris wheel mounted inside the stern of the vessel in between its 'stacks'. Don't think any other lake freighter has such equipment; although most of the older self-unloaders on the lakes (pre 1970s) have a system that involves buckets, their elevator assemblies aren't wheel-shaped.

Does the Presque Isle have a similar wheel system?

[hausen]

The most unique part of the Cort's unloading system is internal - specifically the portion that elevates the cargo from the below-hold belts at the bottom of the ship up to the level of the unloading boom. The Gott and Speer (and most other modern self-unloaders) have a loop belt elevator, which squeezes the cargo between two opposing belts to lift it. The Blough has a simple inclined belt to bring the cargo up to the level of its shuttle boom (similar systems are found on several mid-sized U.S.-flagged lakers built in the early to mid 1970s). The Cort, on the other hand, uses a large rotating wheel with buckets mounted on it to do the job. The system has been likened to a small industrial ferris wheel mounted inside the stern of the vessel in between its 'stacks'. Don't think any other lake freighter has such equipment; although most of the older self-unloaders on the lakes (pre 1970s) have a system that involves buckets, their elevator assemblies aren't wheel-shaped.

[guest]

The Cort also unloaded into the Sam Laud which then unloaded on the piles on the dock. Mostly ore but I do remember unloading coal this way.

[Kirk Bankey]

I recall once, the Cort loaded coal at Toledo. It was a big event that was covered on the local tv news. Can anyone recall this & remember where they unloaded.

[torgy1962]

The Stewart J. Cort did make at least one trip into Lackawana, New York. This took place in August 1974 and was necessary following the Steelton ramming Bridge 12 on the Welland Canal which trapped many of Bethlehem's other vessel in the Seaway.

There was a trip earlier than that, when the Cort was new. A Bethlehem publlicity photo shows her with large crowds present. You can just make out the Buffalo skyline in the background through the haze. A former Bethlehem electrician used to for for me, and told me that the visit was a really big deal.

[Guest]

The Stewart J. Cort did make at least one trip into Lackawana, New York. This took place in August 1974 and was necessary following the Steelton ramming Bridge 12 on the Welland Canal which trapped many of Bethlehem's other vessel in the Seaway.

[seadog]

did the cort ever unload in buffalo n.y. when the bethleham plant was in operation ?

[torgy1962]

The Speer also has a shuttle-boom, and the Gott was built with one, although it was later replaced by a conventional boom. Conneaut and Gary also have receiving hoppers similar to that at Burns Harbor.

Also, there is a squat receiving hopper for limestone on CN (DM&IR) Dock #6 in Duluth. The Blough has unloaded there.

[standuffer]

It's not so much different than the Blough's unloading gear.

[CottonwoodStudios]

The Cort has a shuttle unloader system enclosed in the aft superstructure. It only extends about 50' over the edge of the ship which only allows it to unload at 2 ports on the lakes. (See attached photo)

[guest]

I've read that the Stewart Cort has a different unloader system. What is so different?