338’ Père Marquette Ferry

[pnolan48]

Between 1897 and 1947, the Pere Marquette operated a total of 13 ferries on Lake Michigan, running between Ludington, Mich. and Milwaukee, Manitowoc and Kewaunee, Wis.  Many of these ferries were similar in design: this model captures the features of most of them. They were steamers with dual engines, capable of 14 knots and able to handle winter storms on Lake Michigan. In the 1920s they began carrying automobiles as well as freight.

According to Pere Marquettes Lake Michigan Car Ferries (http://www.carferries.com/pmfleet/) “These ships were then an efficient means of bypassing the congested rail yards in Chicago.  They plied routes varying between 60 and 97 miles in length, and were often plagued by violent storms and heavy ice.  Given the fact that most of the cross-lake runs were made at speeds of 12 to 14 miles per hour, a remarkable volume of freight was carried.  In those fifty years the Pere Marquette car ferries made well over 160,000 lake crossings and transported roughly 4.5 million railroad cars loaded with over 75 million tons of freight. . .  They also carried approximately 1.6 million passengers and after the mid-1920’s, about 380,000 automobiles.”

Lifeboats and skylights are resin castings. Railings and stairways are photo-etched brass, with railings made to a scale 1.5” diameter. All other structures and details above the main deck are 3D printed.

Dimension are 25.5” (647 mm) in length; 4.2” (107 mm) in beam; and approx. 7.5” (190 mm) in height

The car deck is covered which presents some modeling challenges. I’ve modeled three of the four tracks, leaving one track off for automobiles. If you order a completed model, you must specify what code and brand of track. Main houses can be made to lift off in case of derailments; this is an extra cost option.

See nscaleships.com for details,

[w neal]

I have a friend looking for some AA boats...

[thomasjmdavis]

Railroad track just north of my house was the Pere Marquette line to Ludington (now a shortline called Marquette Rail). That was long before we lived here. So the loads to and from that ship once passed by on a daily basis.  One of the last "lakeworthy" ferries, the Badger, is still operational and runs most summer seasons to and from Manitowoc, but nowadays only carries cars, trucks, bikes and people, no railroad cars.
https://www.ssbadger.com/

I rode the Ann Arbor ferries back and forth between Kewaunee and Frankfort several times during my college years- including one winter crossing in a storm that was much worse than anticipated.

Well, this model goes on my "bucket list" for after roof repairs (lest the boat actually need to float)..   Perfect way to add a "staging yard" for 30 freight cars.

[nkalanaga]

Usable for a double deck layout that doesn't have room for a helix or ramp.  Put a dock at one end of each level, and move the ferry between them.

[ncbqguy]

I don’t want one!
We had a sailboat (named Aeolus after the Burlington’s streamlined Hudsons and lettered in correct Budd Zephyr font) and we were on a cruise returning from Green Bay in a really thick fog....pre-GPS and we were navigating by following the depth sounder....couldn’t even see the bow of our boat!   Boo-Wahh! We heard a ship’s  foghorn off Manitowoc and immediately got on the radio “security, security....” but the car ferry never acknowledged that he had us on radar.   This was just after the novel “Shipkiller” came out that had a sailboat’s rigging and mast tangled in the anchor on the bow on the cover.  We made it to Port Washington still shaking and lit some candles in the church!
Charlie Vlk

Nice model.   Operated on a N scale railroad during a Michigan ops weekend that had a car ferry as part of the scheme.  Good way of cycling equipment on and off the railroad!

[pnolan48]

Wow, Charlie, that was quite a sail--over 200 miles I'd guess. Were you sailing or motoring through the fog?

[ncbqguy]

Peter-
Motoring.   No breeze to disperse the fog.  We almost ran into the breakwater at Port Washington and had to follow it around to get into the harbor. 
Loved sailing at the time but selling the boat gave us our weekends back and I had time to really get active in N Scale. 
Great boats and ships!!
Charlie

[pnolan48]

Never been in a fog that thick on the sea or lake. Well, Lake Cochituate was all of six miles long and maybe half a mile wide, so if I ran ashore I probably knew the neighbors. Navigation must be scary. In a valley many (51) years ago I once had to get out and run in front of the car so my new bride could follow me. Literally could not see the road from the driver's seat. The road finally climbed out of the valley (pant! pant!).

[Sharky_McSharknose]

Good timing! The shipwreck of the Pere Marquette 18 car ferry (sunk in 1910) was located this July.

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/09/lost-car-ferry-discovered-110-years-after-sinking-in-lake-michigan.html

[signalmaintainer]

Super cool! Wish I had a reason to put one on my layout.

[pnolan48]

Super cool! Wish I had a reason to put one on my layout.

i knew when I started this in 2013 that it would take five to seven years for the itch to develop. Folks need to design a harbor for a new layout, or add a harbor to an existing one. I wish I could sell a boat or two to modelers of the Cumbres and Toltec--but that boat might be a canoe on the river. It took me three years to figure out how to add an electrified section to my layout, to accommodate the Kato GG-1s. It was a through the wall and shelf in the next garage--but an unexpected divorce scotched that planned addition to the PRR Portsmouth Branch.

I have found that once someone handles one of my ships, it is sold! But the pandemic and my increasing age have curtailed my exhibiting at shows.