Search results

Here's a similar map from 1940 showing more commodities.

Forgot to mention we saw the SS Meteor while in Superior last month. Pretty neat!

Sitting over here overnight, it appears. So is a dredger.

We could probably track the tug to see where it's taking it.

Where are they taking it? When we were there a few weeks ago, I also noticed they were taking it inland. Over here in St. Joe, MI, they were dredging about the same area off of their piers, but they had mile+ long pipe dumping the sand on the beach for replenishment.

That could be a diagram to explain my body pains before my back surgery. 🤣

That's the same one we saw a couple weeks ago. Broad daylight, though.

When we were in Duluth last week, they were dredging outside of the mouth of the channel from the lift bridge. We watched them switch out a barge of sediment and take it through the bridge.

Wife and I are about 1/4 mile from there as I type this. We didn't want to walk the trail behind it in the dark. We did see it all lit up from the highway. They were backing cars onto the dock as we drove by before sunset.

Glad he's OK. Hope he had a PFD on. Those things work.

Now I can't get that theme song out of my head! 🤣

Wave height on the great lakes live https://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/

South Haven, MI live camera

That's slow loading.

Pretty impressive how they snake those ships in and out of there....

A good read on the subject.... https://www.history.navy.mil/research/underwater-archaeology/sites-and-projects/aircraft-wrecksites/aircraft-wrecks-in-lake-michigan.html

Lots of sunken WWII aircraft in Lake Michigan.

Amazing how little side clearance they have in those locks.

It's just like parallel parking except the road is moving too.

On this day in History, the St. Lawrence Seaway officially opened in 1959. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-26/st-lawrence-seaway-opened (also, 1974 a pack of Juicy Fruit gum was the first item ever to be scanned with a bar code, and 1975 Sonny and Cher got divorced. Also some...

I was wondering about a vacuum system.

How to they unload the grain boats?

Interesting how the self-unloading is on the front on one and on the rear on the other. Too bad about the Reyerson. I'm guessing the cost of conversion to self-unloading would outweigh the lifespan and/or value of the ship, plus there'd have to be a demand. Probably end up scrapped. Surprised...

Reyerson still languishing back there? What a beautiful ship! Munson looking sharp.

I don't like taking my rowboat in shallow water. Can't imagine a 1000 footer with just a few feet of clearance under it. Amazing machines!

:confused: Yeah, I saw that this morning. Wait for answers, I guess.

All my kids remember of that museum is fudge was by 2 pounds get 3 pounds free! :ROFLMAO: They were pretty young.

There's a very nice shipwreck museum there, if you ever get near the area. (y)

"The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead"

4 out of 13 in one spot. (y)

Or.... Stewart Cort photobombs Senator :)

Wow!

:ROFLMAO:

That photo looks like a diorama or model train layout. (y)

Nice story. I can't wait to get out fishing again this year!

That one would make quite the jigsaw puzzle! (y)

Here's kind of a neat view of the lock and shipyard from google earth screenshot this morning. No idea what ship is in the lock. Looks like a tug in the drydock. No idea of the date.

In the week ending on April 5, 2025, domestic raw steel production was 1,656,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 74.4 percent. https://www.steel.org/industry-data/ There's no way to quadruple it, or even double it, as we're only 25% away from maximum output now. ;) Sure...

Manistee still has a roundhouse!

I got mine from Levy back in the early 90's. ;)

We use slag for road base around here. I have about 100 tons in my driveway as well. 🙃

That was a fast trip. They were both down here a few days ago.

We'll keep an eye out for them. ;)

Boy the Ryerson has been in layup a loooong time. Wonder what her fate will be?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/11/historic-shipwreck-western-reserve-found-in-great-lakes-superior-whitefish-bay-after-132-years/82240506007/

(y)(y) Just kidding, but the first thing that comes to mind is....Guys looking under the hood... "Where's the engine?" 🙃

Makes you realize just how far Duluth is from the ocean. (y)

Did they ever get that one unstuck in Lake Eire last week?

No. Off a boiler. I have no idea how a ship generates heat.

I was wondering if maybe they just kept a small one running for steam. I've been involved with several old steam building guts/remodels. They installed what amounted to large radiators with fans in the halls and used flex hose to connect them to the steam boiler lines. Provided a lot of heat.

Having fished from an aluminum boat in 33 degree water, it's like an ice box. Wonder how cold it gets in those ships in winter dock? Do they keep the engine running? Do they supply supplemental heating from shore? Or do they just buck up and get it done?

Same to you ArlyA (y)

Wow! Great story

Dry dock... makes you wonder what the plan is.

Benton Harbor is a pretty shallow harbor. It's the mouth of the St. Joseph river that travels through my home town, South Bend, IN. (the southernmost bend in the map below) They have to dredge it pretty frequently. That, combined with an ongoing drought, has made it all but impossible for ships...

Tim Horton's run?

WOW! That's nice!

Ice fishing!!!! (y) (I won't get to go this year due to blown out back and surgery in January :confused:, but love the photos! 😛 Thanks! )

Yeah, they're calling for 17' waves on SW Lake Michigan. Always fun to go out to the piers and get sand blasted taking pictures. ;)

Huletts!

I didn't realize she was built in Wisconsin.

Ok, that's the seek's winner for me. ;)

Funny how perspective makes the unloading boom look so small in the first picture and almost the length of the ship in the last one.

Traffic jam. (y) That's a good thing. Shows products are moving.

Nice use of perspective. (y)

Wow!

Here's a google earth top view of the facility just for fun...

🤭

Cleveland looks to have a green haze in that photo.

So I started poking around the shores of Torch Lake on Google Earth. Any idea what this was on the west north shore? Smelters?

So that's before the road bridge? Just the gondola to take traffic across?

The secrets of WWII keep coming out. Great story. Thanks. (y)

Looks like Cleveland.

WOW! Certainly puts things in perspective. (y)

Yep. Looks like it was retired in the 80's according to this pretty comprehensive list I just came across... https://panethos.wordpress.com/2020/08/18/the-great-ore-docks-of-the-great-lakes-past-and-present/

Odd looking boat. :) Serves a purpose, though.

The Calumet off the coast from St. Joseph, MI as viewed from Weko Beach, Bridgman, MI tonight. Sun is setting. Man is playing taps from the end of the balcony. The Calumet is on the horizon. Look to the left of the player. On the waterline is a couple. The Calumet is above them.

Harbor and steel mill is still there...

That isn't so long ago...

Yeah, I guess so. You can see the two sides are definitely different...

Do they only use the south side of the pier for loading? I see the conveyor on that side. Or just a timing thing?

This one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_St._Marys_Challenger

We took a trip to the UP years ago with the kids. We went to a beach on Lake Superior. Just wading into the water made your ankles HURT! The water temp was around 40, as I recall. Just a tad bit warmer than when I go ice fishing.

Sad. Even if you survive a sinking, that water is so cold. :(

Whelp... recycler her and make a new one. That's the beauty of steel. :)

Think she's done for?

Nice video and great story in the comments...

Woo hoo!!! Fish on! (y)

Catch anything besides great pics?

That's not a pontoon boat.... it's bait being trolled by the Tregurtha for king salmon.

Amazes me that the waves will be pounding and those big ships will just motor right through those narrow channels smooth as silk.

Great story! (y)

No mills in NW Indiana at that time.

Cool!

Serious question... what's the purpose of that canal? Was there industry to serve that warranted an entrance/exit at both ends?

This shows just how shallow a draft those fish tugs have, and why they rock and roll so much. Small props, too.

Was looking at fish tug videos. This one is interesting, as one of the tugs has an inverted railroad track for a keel. Surprise at the end, too.

Thought I'd give that bridge a lookup... then found this story. :ROFLMAO: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/grassy-point-railroad-bridge

I think you were facing south, so that's evening light, correct?

Beautiful ArlyA! Noticed the geese honking on the bridge.

Great light!

Interesting history... http://tugboatinformation.com/tug.cfm?id=11840

Sometimes folks forget that Michigan and Huron are basically all one big lake with a narrow connection under the bridge.

Cowabunga, dude! Those folks amaze me.

Yeah, I saw that. (y)

The SS Badger is supposed to open again June 14. They say repairs to the dock are progressing. They might open earlier depending on the work. https://www.ssbadger.com/

Hmmmm..... I didn't realize this was still open. High speed ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee. https://www.lake-express.com/the-experience/

ahh... here they are... car for scale. :ROFLMAO:

Yep. The rip rap I'm familiar with is that smaller stuff in the chain link cages. Those things in Muskegon looked like Volkswagens. Heck of a splash! :ROFLMAO:

Wife and I were tent camping in Muskegon, MI a long time ago. About 3am we heard tremendous banging and crashing and splashing and engine noises. Went on for an hour before we decided we weren't getting any sleep and went for a walk to see what it was. A crane and barge combo and come up to...

Some fascinating trivia in this article... https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/the-uss-wolverine-and-sable-in-world-war-ii/#:~:text=Once%20the%20war%20was%20over,and%20later%20sold%20for%20scrap. Over 35,000 pilots qualified for carrier duty for WWII on these two ships between 43 and 45!!!

Was that their training ship? I haven't googled it up, but recall something to that effect.

Not much boat traffic in Nebraska.... :LOL: I like that site and have used it for quite a while. Neat to see the inland boat traffic on the rivers, too.

Or the graffiti thread. 🙃

A little more story and a few pictures of the fire before it was put out. https://www.starbeacon.com/news/large-crowds-drawn-to-watch-ship-fire-in-ashtabula-harbor/article_96bc25b4-e2ff-11ee-9781-93dd2f347cbf.html

Looks stubby with no barge. :p

https://boatnerd.com/breaking-news-3-15-2023-cuyahoga-on-fire-at-shipyard/

Uh-oh!

Great Lakes ships longer than 740 feet can only sail on lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie. They can't fit through the Welland canal to get to Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic.

Pittsburg isn't on the Great Lakes. It's on rivers. The Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together in Pittsburgh to form the start of the Ohio River.

Man. Long way to the head. :ROFLMAO: But seriously, that is too cool. You can just imagine the creeks and groans and other noises of a live ship?

The Ryerson is what Great Lakes ships are supposed to look like (to me at least ;) ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edward_L._Ryerson?fbclid=IwAR1u7gsc9iK46T45MV1inqc9ul1Dona7N4DTV9vogr1xvsuqrFcQDR89jZc I see the Sherwin is rotting away in the St. Mary's...

Cut it in half and add some length?

What's going on in the white tents?

Very cool. (y) When one of four kids lived in Pittsburgh we'd ride the inclines that are still there.

Yikes! Talk about threading the needle. (y)

Is that a Hulett? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulett

I read the locks close on the 15th, or when commercial shipping ceases. I wonder if they'll let them out?

Is she making another trip through the locks or staying up there until they open again?

Nice roundhouse foundation there in Two Harbors....

That would be a fun place to sit and watch the ships. One of he reasons I like living near an airport is you never know what's going to fly over.

Manitowac got stuck on the RR swing bridge in St. Joe, MI yesterday. https://www.abc57.com/news/the-manitowoc-gets-stuck-in-the-harbor#:~:text=St.%20Joseph%2C%20Mich.,dislodging%20itself%20from%20the%20bridge...

Where do they bake them? In Duluth or up in the iron range?

Those shadows look like church steeples.

In order of popularity, I'd rather watch Lakers, then Trains, then Trucks. ;) But I'll almost always stop and look up at an airplane. 🙃

Some fascinating reading... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welland_Canal

Got the ice forming.

I'd never heard of that. Something more to read tonight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Storm_of_1913

:ROFLMAO:

Yes, I tried re-wiring her, tried re-firing her I think her engine is permanently stalled She's so cold she's so cold She's so cold cold cold Like a tombstone She's so cold, she's so cold She's so cold cold cold like an ice cream cone She's so cold she's so cold Oh when I touch her, my hand just...

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2023/11/27/freighter-italy-wheat-stuck-detroit-river-belle-isle/71717644007/ "An initial analysis of the ship found its bow thrusters to be inoperable, leaving the freighter stuck in the river" Oops. ;) Canadian wheat headed to Italy.

That's a shame. :( Here's a link with some nice descriptions in the past, and a really nice drawing of her on the last page... https://www.randlog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Rand-Vessel-Profile-OJI-8-2019.pdf

Catching any?

Bummer.

A good resource for Great Lakes surfers... https://www.lakeeffectsurfshop.com/

https://shipwreckmuseum.com/

In all seriousness, I wonder if anyone on board ever drops a fishing line off the side of one of those things?

Beautiful!

That still amazes me. (y)

https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2023/10/18/feeding-crew-lee-tregurtha/

Me either until I followed your link... now I am! :)

Apparently the reporter is doing a series. That's part two. Here's part one. https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2023/10/16/tv6s-elizabeth-peterson-begins-her-journey-with-lee-tregurtha-through-great-lakes/

Whatever floats your boat? :LOL:

We've seen stuff like that at Lake Michigan in St. Joseph. Kid took some pictures and won some 4H photo competitions with them.

https://www.marinelink.com/news/wagenborg-commissions-new-cargo-ship-485091

Salt free and no sharks!

Amazing how many times they modified that ship over the years in length, width, depth, self unloader. Speaking of Burns Harbor, In, we drove through there Friday night on way to Oklahoma. Still impressive to see the steel mills.

New bridge going up in the back ground?

Boy, that's hard to see....

Bummer. :( When my wife and I stay in Ludington, we like to get a hotel close to the mouth of the river so we can see the Badger come in or out. Kinda like a tradition to watch it appear or fade over the horizon.

Nice. Still amazes me how quiet they are.

Nice! Here's a video of it last year that I ran across. Tight fit.

Interesting story... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Francisco_Morazan_(1922)

Another tidbit from the article... "Ships generate less air pollution than trucks or trains because freighters can carry cargo much farther per gallon of fuel. A Great Lakes freighter can travel 607 miles on one gallon of fuel per ton of cargo -- 10 times farther than a semi-truck and three...

From here: https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2009/03/sat_transporting_goods_by_ship.html "Here's a numerical breakdown of the Great Lakes navigation system and the so-called "lakers," freighters that never travel outside of the lakes. 1,600 miles: Length of the navigation system, extending...

WOW! (y)(y)

The first big word our first child learned was 'perspective'. Driving down some highway, she asked why things looked so small when they were far away and got bigger as they got closer? I told her that's called 'perspective'. She repeated it. Then she wouldn't stop saying it! 🤣 We still...

At least I got the dock right. 🙃

I think I found the dock but cannot name the ship...

Surf and turf? 🤣

Meanwhile...

160' - 105' = 55' 55'/2 = 27.5' of clearance on each side at the narrowest point of the canal, for a 1004' long object with how many thousand square feet facing the wind? YIKES! The control on these things is amazing. (y)

Big fenders! 🤣

Similar to me trying to fit the Suburban in the garage! :ROFLMAO: I've been up there before. Tight fit. Amazing control of the ships.

WOW!

I saw a video of it happening somewhere. Can't post a link to it. Might have been on boatnerd. A little fishing vessel scurried out of its way, then stopped and watched. Also showed the other freighter passing behind it later.

That made the news here last night... the grounding part. Not the part where it went nuts. ;)

Wow!

We've been through there many times in the past. So I might have seen some there as well. May have been on the Wisconsin side, too.

Boy, I found this gem. Get a cup of coffee. Lots of RR and the SS Chief Wawatam pictures and video clips.

I've seen a couple of old RR ferries years ago. Can't quite recall where I saw them, but I think it might have been just north of the big bridge in St. Ignace. Yeah. That's were it was. Wife and I were dating and went camping in the UP in the early 80's. Drove around in St. Ignace and must...

Another look at those dry docks...

It's just a lake.... 🙃

I'd only learned of the rock cut a few years ago here on TBN! (y)

Me either! 🤣

Black Sea Istanbul Sea of Marmara Aegean Sea Mediterranean Sea Straits of Gibraltar Atlantic Ocean Gulf of St. Lawrence St. Lawrence River A bunch of locks Lake Ontario Welland Canal Some more locks Lake Erie Detroit River Lake St. Clair St. Clair River Lake Huron St. Mary's River Soo Locks...

I'd have thought it would have followed the line up from Lake Michigan, but it takes a hard westerly path across those handful of western UP counties, then even further west into the lake, then back east to the US Canadian border point on the other side of the lake. o_O (click to enlarge)...

Wow, I cheated and looked. That's not where I thought it would be.

Boy, I'd have to cheat and look at a map. I don't know off the top of my head.

Around 2000, my in-laws took the family to Hawaii. It was their 50th wedding anniversary, our 25th, and my wife's sister in-law's 15th. We got some masks and snorkels and I took my wife and kids out skin diving (snorkeling as most call it). I was impressed how hard it is to keep yourself under...

Ya, just a lake.