S S Fernie

[Guest]

I wasn't on the Fernie, I was on other CSL package freighters in '55-56-57. The ports mentioned by another poster were some of the way freight ports.

[Steve B]

Thanks much for the answers. I told him the information today and he thought that was pretty cool. He also called his mother and told her about it. I did find something about Midland Shipbuilding, where it was built, and he thought it was interesting that the founder was from Scotland, because his grandfather was born there also.
Earl Young, when did you sail on the Fernie?

Thanks again for the replies.

Steve

[Guest]

Beside running Toronto-Montreal cargos Fernie and her sister ships also served Soo, Sarnia, Windsor, Wallaceburg, Leamington, Toronto and other ports where cargos were available.

[Bill]

According to Skip Gillham's "The Postwar Ships of Canada Steamship Lines" the engine for Fernie came from Lambton which ran aground at Parisienne Shoal on Lake Superior in 1927 claiming the lives of 2 men. CSL bought the wreck and later sold the hull for use as a barge named Salvus.
Fernie got into trouble in 1958 in the St. Lawrence near Morrisburg and had to be beached. She was lightered and repaired. She lay idle for 3 seasons at Kingston before being towed to Stelco in Hamilton and broken up.

[Earl Young]

The Fernie was a CSL package freighter that ran way freight from Momntreal to the Lake head & back. She was the old canal boat size, this is by memory , 250 ft long, approx. 45 ft beam, & maximum draft for the old canal was 14 ft 3inches. I worked for CSL, & was on those package freighters for 3 years

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[Randy S]

Fernie .. Length 250.5 feet, Beam 42.75 feet, Depth 24.25 feet.
Builder - Midland Shipbuilding Co, Midland, Ontario 1929
Scrapped - 1964, Hamilton, Ontario.

Data from BGSU site - http://ul.bgsu.edu/cgi-bin/xvsl2.cgi

[Steve B]

A fellow locomotive engineer I work with heard a couple of us talking about boats the other day, and mentioned his grandfather worked on one. He found out that it was that SS Fernie with Canada Steamship Lines, and showed me an old photo of it. He would be interested in finding out any info on the boat, built, retired, runs, etc. I tried doing a search here but didnt find much. His Grandfathers name was Thomas Couper.
Thanks in advance.

Steve