From: Richard Jenkins
Location: Boston, MA
Email: cuyahogaatboatnerd.com
Remote Name: 205.158.43.222
Date: 05/27/03
Time: 07:03:20 PM
The Maritimers represent the tail end of the 600-footer era, both in terms of their size and of course their original reciprocating steam engines. However, compared to other classics such as the Frantz, Calumet, Maumee, most of the cement boats, and pretty much everything that sailed for Kinsman up until the Independent, they are still relatively young - basically they were obsolete well before their time. The ones that have survived managed to find a niche in which they could still be useful, and for most of them that meant self-unloader conversion, and more recently conversion to diesel. As long as their hulls remain sound and there are cargoes for them, and fleets like LLT willing to put the money into them, those that survive should be around for a good while yet. It's not really so much a question of why did the ones that survive survive, but rather, what was wrong with the ones that didn't? Most of those that didn't get converted to self-unloaders were scrapped in the 80's, along with a lot of older boats, and a few younger ones, that also became obsolete in the self-unloader era. The Willowglen managed to stay active as a grain carrier through the 80's and into the early 90's, back when the P&H fleet still consisted mostly of former Soo River American-built hand-me-downs. Then she was apparently just the right size for the storage needs in Goderich after she was retired from active service, and luckily for her, Goderich Elevators just happened to be ready to replace the original Cedarglen at that time too. The CTC #1 just basically got lucky seeing further use as a cement storage barge - she didn't really run any longer than most of the ones that got scrapped. You could almost say the same for the Sewell Avery, now a dock face at the Soo, but at least the CTC #1 still looks more or less like her former self. Of the self-unloader conversions, only two were scrapped, the Robert C. Norton and the John T. Hutchinson. In the Hutchinson's case, ASC was aggressively modernizing their fleet and had no interest in operating steamers anymore. Keep in mind that most of their other steamers built (or converted from ocean boats) in the 50's were also laid up within a few years of the Hutchinson - only the John J. Boland ever sailed again under steam, after an eight-year layup. When the Hutch was sold in the late 80's, there didn't seem to be a huge market for second-hand self-unloaders either - especially not an up-and-downer. The industry was still clawing its way back from the recession of the early 80's, and scrap prices were high. The Robert C. Norton was, I believe, in pretty rough shape after years of hauling salt, and eventually wound up as a parts source for the Crispin Oglebay before finally going for scrap. She had been one of the first Maritimers converted to a self-unloader, back in 1966. The Oglebay and fleetmate J. Burton Ayers had both been converted in 1974, so presumably their rigs were in better shape. I had heard that LLT looked at the Norton, but then the Ayers became available, and being in better shape they went with her instead. Again, nobody else was in the market for a second-hand self-unloader at the time, and it took a lot of us by surprise that anyone would want to resurrect a WWII-vintage up-and-downer in the mid 1990's, especially an outfit by the name of Lower Lakes Towing, at a time when tug-barge conversions were becoming popular. Perhaps if anyone had known at the time what an empire they would grow to become, they might have picked up the Norton or the Crispin Oglebay as well while they were at it! Another interesting twist in the fate of the Maritimers is that only one of the six A1 class boats survives afloat. They had a reputation for mechanical problems with the Lentz engine, and this was reportedly one of the reasons why the E.G. Grace became the first Maritimer retired and scrapped. On the other hand, fleetmate Frank Armstrong, a B1 Maritimer with the traditional triple, was repowered with a Uniflow in the 60's while the Grace kept her Lentz to the end. The same could be said for the John T. Hutchinson, she kept her Lentz while the Richard Reiss (another triple) was dieselized in 1976. And the last Maritimer - and the last of all Great Lakes up-and-downers (not including Uniflows that is) - to run with her original steam engine was none other than the Lentz-powered Cuyahoga.
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