Carferry across Lake Michigan
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:40 am
Here's a nice short video on the carferry Badger, the last coal-fired steamship in North America.
https://video.wcmu.org/video/ludington- ... oplay=true
Note that the term "carferry" originally referred to railroad cars. Charges for rail shipping around Chicago were excessive and there were frequent delays from congestion, so the railroads bypassed all that by shipping cars across the lake on big ferries. They had to year-round so the vessels were designed as icebreakers. Later, they began carrying automobiles, and now that is the only kind of car that crosses (cars, and occasionally oversized products on trucks).
Chris Campbell
https://video.wcmu.org/video/ludington- ... oplay=true
Note that the term "carferry" originally referred to railroad cars. Charges for rail shipping around Chicago were excessive and there were frequent delays from congestion, so the railroads bypassed all that by shipping cars across the lake on big ferries. They had to year-round so the vessels were designed as icebreakers. Later, they began carrying automobiles, and now that is the only kind of car that crosses (cars, and occasionally oversized products on trucks).
Chris Campbell