Got ore?

[Erik W]

Shiny Object Syndrome is hitting you hard, Erik!

Yeah, you ain't kidding.  I've had some motivation issues lately (which I'll be posting about in the next day or two).  I'm in armchair mode, rather than getting anything done mode.

Erik

[davefoxx]

Take a look at these photos of an ore ship sinking in heavy seas.

http://www.boatnerd.com/

Click on the top photo: Loss of the Algoport.

Erik

Did anyone else notice that the Algoport was from the fleet of Algoma Central Marine?  Check out the logo on the bow and atop the superstructure.

[Blazeman]

PRR and RDG had ore operations off the  Philadelphia piers for moves to Beth Steel. Add to that the RDG traffic from Johanna Mine near Morgantown that ran over to Bethlehem.

My own experiences as a traffic manager were moving ores (manganese primarily)from the GSA stockpile at Riverville, VA (C&O in those days) as well as regular moves from North Creek, NY (D&H) of magnetite for delivery at the plant site in Exton, PA (RDG). Those moves were in gons.

[algowest]

Erik W-
You're correct.  Algoma Central Railway and Algoma Central Marine used to be divisions within the same company.  The Railway was sold off in 1995 to Wisconsin Central, which was later bought by CN.  Algoma Central Marine name has changed to Algoma Central Corporation, however, a number of the ships still have the "Marine" logo painted on funnel and bow of ships.
-Andy

[cv_acr]

Actually the marine fleet used to be operated as a subsidiary of the railway, which was the parent company, and the ships all used to have the Algoma Central _Railway_ logo on them. In the early 1990s they re-organized the whole company creating the Algoma Central Corporation as the parent company and the Railway, Marine, Real Estate, etc. operations as separate divisions, and sold off the railway division to WC.

Algoma Central Marine operates a fairly sizeable fleet on the Great Lakes, and they even a few oil tankers and at least one ocean-going vessel as well.

[Bruce Bird]

Yep-  The Algoma Central bear was quite obvious on the stack of the boat.  Interesting stuff.

There is Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, WI that has a very nice scratchbuilt HO model of an ore dock.  I believe it was modeled completely to scale and not compressed.

http://wisconsinmaritime.org/

They also have a submarine that you can tour there.  During WWII they built quite a few subs in Manitowoc, tested them on Lake Michigan, and then floated them down the Mississippi via the Chicago River and put them in service in New Orleans.

[GonzoCRFan]

PRR and RDG had ore operations off the  Philadelphia piers for moves to Beth Steel. Add to that the RDG traffic from Johanna Mine near Morgantown that ran over to Bethlehem.

I believe most of the PRR ore moves out of Philly were actually destined for Pittsburgh, Youngstown and West Virginia, the RDG would have had most of the Bethlehem ore since they had the direct route north to Bethlehem via their Bethlehem Branch. The Reading's Port Richmond facilities could only transload 600 tons of ore per hour, whereas the PRR at Pier 122 could move 2800 tons per hour.

[Blazeman]

PRR and RDG had ore operations off the  Philadelphia piers for moves to Beth Steel. Add to that the RDG traffic from Johanna Mine near Morgantown that ran over to Bethlehem.

I believe most of the PRR ore moves out of Philly were actually destined for Pittsburgh, Youngstown and West Virginia, the RDG would have had most of the Bethlehem ore since they had the direct route north to Bethlehem via their Bethlehem Branch. The Reading's Port Richmond facilities could only transload 600 tons of ore per hour, whereas the PRR at Pier 122 could move 2800 tons per hour.

Sorry, but had a boss who had worked for E-L traffic dept and attended meetings of the old Trunk Lines/Central Territory carriers monthly in Buffalo. He told me how PRR would consistently object to RDG rate proposals for ore moves just to mess with RDG. Occasionally, they would get a move of the ore up to Beth Steel. RDG has the overwhelming amount of tonnage.

[GonzoCRFan]

Interesting. I guess they didn't try to undercut each other enough. I recall reading that the per-ton costs for Bethlehem to move the ore from ports to the plant was actually higher than what it cost them to ship it from their mines in the Southern Hemisphere to the ports.