RRHX
Port of St. Ignace
Michigan's Internet Railroad History Museum
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Great Lakes Railroad Car Ferries
Operations at the Straits of Mackinac
1882 - 1994
Roster - Straits of Mackinac Railroad Car Ferries
1882 - 1888 Betsey. A railroad car barge which contained two tracks and held 4 standard cars for 16 four-wheel ore cars. The ferry steamboat Algomah towed the Betsy back and forth across the Straits of Mackinac.
1888-1913 St. Ignace. A steamboat with two tracks which held 10 standard cars. This was the first railroad car ferry to be equipped with a bow propeller. The bow propeller removed water from under the ice which weakened the ice and allowed it to be broken up by the ship. The St. Ignace was originally built with open sides exposing the tracks. The sides were enclosed after 1893.
1893-1911 Saint Marie (No. 1). This car ferry had three tracks with an 18 car capacity. The ship was 288 feet long with enclosed sides and a steel sheathed wooden hull.
1911-1984 Chief Wawatam. This ship had four tracks and a 26 car capacity, It was 339 feet long and was of steel construction. Rail cars were loaded from the front. The Chief also had staterooms for passengers. The Chief's last run was on August 21, 1984. Note.
1913-1961 Sainte Marie (No. 2). This car ferry was 250 feet long and had four tracks and a 14-car capacity. It was made of steel construction.
1968 Manistee. This railroad car barge was formally the hull of ex-Ann Arbor railroad car ferry No. 3). The tug Muskegon provided the power to move this railroad car barge. This barge operation was attempted in April, 1968 as a result of Mackinaw City resident complaints about the Chief's smoke and soot. The experiment failed when the operation was confronted by ice in December. The Chief resumed its duties in January, 1969.
Information provided by the 8th Annual Michigan Railroad History Conference in St. Ignace. [MIHX8]
August 1, 1955 marked the day that passenger railroad cars were no longer carried across the Straits.
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The Chief Wawatam, loading cars on the north side of Straits at St. Ignace in September, 1978 [Charlie Whipp photo]. |