Photo Collection

[garbear]

Have a few more this p.m.

[garbear]

Were the pictures of the Ralph Misener all taken on the same load just different days with her all iced in it must have been a cold spell

They were taken during the same load.

[Guest]

Were the pictures of the Ralph Misener all taken on the same load just different days with her all iced in it must have been a cold spell

[ML]

Eugene P. Thomas headin' to the breakers at Thunder Bay. Sad day as she was my first boat to sail in '70. She was a good boat but her diesel was temperamental as we had several breakdowns, fortunately one at the dock and one making the turn after entering Duluth Harbor.

[garbear]

Have a few more to post. The photos of the then Pillsbury elevator on the Saginaw River in Carrollton were courtesy years ago of Pillsbury. Don't see a lot of photos of boats loading grain on the Saginaw River.

Is that the elevator on the Saginaw that was known as the "Wicks Elevator" in part of the 80's and later became Peavey? I think this is the elevator up river from where the 6th street bridge was and just downriver from the 2nd (to sailors) 6th (to landlubbers) st turning basin. I can barely remember ships loading at that dock in the early 80's. As a kid we caught Q&O's Outarde (Robert Hobson) loading there on our way to Tawas (my Dad liked taking 13 to old 23 up rather than 75). When the 6th street bridge was in there had to be a greater restriction on how wide of ships they could get up there. The GL Trader has been all the way to 6th st since the bridge has been removed.

It is the same elevator. It's now Gavilon.

[Guest]

Have a few more to post. The photos of the then Pillsbury elevator on the Saginaw River in Carrollton were courtesy years ago of Pillsbury. Don't see a lot of photos of boats loading grain on the Saginaw River.

Is that the elevator on the Saginaw that was known as the "Wicks Elevator" in part of the 80's and later became Peavey? I think this is the elevator up river from where the 6th street bridge was and just downriver from the 2nd (to sailors) 6th (to landlubbers) st turning basin. I can barely remember ships loading at that dock in the early 80's. As a kid we caught Q&O's Outarde (Robert Hobson) loading there on our way to Tawas (my Dad liked taking 13 to old 23 up rather than 75). When the 6th street bridge was in there had to be a greater restriction on how wide of ships they could get up there. The GL Trader has been all the way to 6th st since the bridge has been removed.

[garbear]

Scanned in some more today.

[Guest]

Paterson boats sure looked good when they were all painted up!

[Duluth Guest]

Great photos of the old Thomas. I was at the canal when they towed the Robert C. Stanley out and those photos were eerily reminiscent of that day.

[Jon Paul]

Thanks for the photo of the Birchglen garbear...I sailed on it when it was the Samuel Mather in 1974 as a deckhand and have fond memories of her. She was a coal burner then, still had deckwatchman and we slept 3 to a room. It was a step up from being on the J R Sensibar and its 30+ telescoping hatches!

[garbear]

Have a few more to post. The photos of the then Pillsbury elevator on the Saginaw River in Carrollton were courtesy years ago of Pillsbury. Don't see a lot of photos of boats loading grain on the Saginaw River.

[garbear]

Some more photos.

[Al]

Garbear,

You were right. The barge I went aboard was USL 501. Thanks for correcting my memory.

[garbear]

Al- While I was thinking about it I went digging. The date on the photos is 5/9/85.

[Al]

Garbear,

I expect you're right about the barge. I clearly remember it was loading at Harvest States. It was probably around the same time as the Topper was there and I've confused them in my mind.

[garbear]

Thanks for posting your recent photos. A few brought back some memories.

Tim Buck was the first Soviet freighter to call in Duluth is many years. It arrived in the spring while several vessels, including Incan Superior, Ernest R. Breech and USCGC Sundew were stuck in the ice a couple miles off shore. Because of its hull design the Tim Buck slid past the stuck boats like a freight train passing a bum.

It also was interesting to see again the Thoroughbred Topper. If I recall, it only made one trip to the Twin Ports. It was a new-build and was just loading a grain cargo on the lakes to make a revenue trip to its destination on the East Coast. If I remember correctly, there was some sort of a labor dispute with the barge, and I had to go over there on a quiet Saturday afternoon to try to eke out a story. No one was around and I couldn't attract the attention of anyone on the tug. The only way aboard was a ladder up the side of the barge, which had its ballast tanks pumped out and was riding very high. I climbed the ladder only to find it ended about three or four feet short of the deck. I used the hand-holds in the side of the hull to cover the last few feet. I found someone, got some info for a short and boring story, and then had to leave via the same route. It was a lot more interesting going down as my feet had to do a little searching to reach the ladder.

You also caught the brief reprise of the bumboats. Kaner I and Marine Trader had been idle for several years and briefly made a comeback in the early '80s. I went aboard one to do a story. It was like an old-time country store, packed with everything you could imagine. I remember seeing a bin full of empty paperboard pop 12-packs and asking the proprietor what they were for. He said the sailors would buy beer and repack it into the pop container to discreetly take it aboard their boats.

Also, the Alistair Guthrie tow was briefly news. Kinsman wanted to tow it back and forth hauling grain but the Coast Guard decreed that do so Kinsman would have to remove the boat's propeller. This had something to do with the legalities of what constituted a barge. If I remember correctly, the propeller was removed but the Guthrie only made a few trips under tow.

Hi Al-I know there was a labor issue when the tug R.W. Sesler, and the name of the barge escapes me right now, but I do have photos of it I'll post down the road, came in to load grain. I had gone down to the Port Terminal to get some shots of her and there were picketers all over the place. They eventually went to Harvest States Gallery and sat for days before the crew was made to join the union otherwise the longshoreman wouldn't load her. I remember the captain saying on a TV interview "we'll never come back here again".
Think the grain cargo went to Africa.

[Al]

Thanks for posting your recent photos. A few brought back some memories.

Tim Buck was the first Soviet freighter to call in Duluth is many years. It arrived in the spring while several vessels, including Incan Superior, Ernest R. Breech and USCGC Sundew were stuck in the ice a couple miles off shore. Because of its hull design the Tim Buck slid past the stuck boats like a freight train passing a bum.

It also was interesting to see again the Thoroughbred Topper. If I recall, it only made one trip to the Twin Ports. It was a new-build and was just loading a grain cargo on the lakes to make a revenue trip to its destination on the East Coast. If I remember correctly, there was some sort of a labor dispute with the barge, and I had to go over there on a quiet Saturday afternoon to try to eke out a story. No one was around and I couldn't attract the attention of anyone on the tug. The only way aboard was a ladder up the side of the barge, which had its ballast tanks pumped out and was riding very high. I climbed the ladder only to find it ended about three or four feet short of the deck. I used the hand-holds in the side of the hull to cover the last few feet. I found someone, got some info for a short and boring story, and then had to leave via the same route. It was a lot more interesting going down as my feet had to do a little searching to reach the ladder.

You also caught the brief reprise of the bumboats. Kaner I and Marine Trader had been idle for several years and briefly made a comeback in the early '80s. I went aboard one to do a story. It was like an old-time country store, packed with everything you could imagine. I remember seeing a bin full of empty paperboard pop 12-packs and asking the proprietor what they were for. He said the sailors would buy beer and repack it into the pop container to discreetly take it aboard their boats.

Also, the Alistair Guthrie tow was briefly news. Kinsman wanted to tow it back and forth hauling grain but the Coast Guard decreed that do so Kinsman would have to remove the boat's propeller. This had something to do with the legalities of what constituted a barge. If I remember correctly, the propeller was removed but the Guthrie only made a few trips under tow.

[garbear]

A couple I forgot to post this p.m.

[garbear]

This is what the Thoroughbred Topper looked liked as the Pat Cantrell in 2011.

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/pho ... id=1381075

[Guest]

The Thoroughbred Topper was owned by the Lambert's Point Barge Company, which was a subsidiary of Southern Railway Company and Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company.