Badger Still sailing at 70
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- My first ever effort to create an iMovie...........
Completed in 1953, the Badger was built for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway for their railroad carferry fleet on Lake Michigan sailing from the port of Ludington, Michigan to the Wisconsin ports of Milwaukee, Manitowoc, and Kewaunee. Operating then year-round to transport rail cars, the Badger's construction like all the railroad carferries, is of the highest standards for strength and built for heavy ice breaking capability. As transportation trends by rail changed, the need for cross-lake rail transport was reduced then eventually eliminated. In 1990 the Badger, last ship of 3 railroad fleets of carferries on Lake Michigan, carried the final railroad cars and ended 98 years of this type of service. In 1991 retired businessman and Ludington, Michigan native Charles F. Conrad stepped forward to buy the Badger and remaining sister ships Spartan and City of Midland 41. Coming from a seafaring family and whose father was a chief engineer on the carferries in the earlier part of the 1900's, young Charles Conrad also worked on them in the 1930's as purser. Mr. Conrad with his executives then re-hired the crew, renovated the ship, and sailed her again as a passenger and vehicle-only ferry. Sailing from her home port of Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin May 16, 1992 on her maiden voyage for the newly created company, Lake Michigan Carferry, it was exactly 18 months to the day since the last crossing as a railroad ferry. In 2023 the Badger celebrates 70 years on Lake Michigan now under new owners, Interlake Maritime Services, which also includes of the family owned Interlake Steamship Company with its own storied history dating to the 1800's. The Badger continues in a seasonal role operating mid-May to Mid-October providing a welcome shortcut across Lake Michigan for passengers, autos, buses, and semi trucks. Food service, entertainment - including the famous "Badger Bingo - along with staterooms are also available on board. The creator of this video, and first ever effort to do one of this scale, first sailed on the Badger almost 50 years ago at age 13 and became captivated by these type of ships which mixed rail and marine technology. By age 14 biking ten miles one-way to see ships and get to know the crew members was commonplace, eventually leading to a secondary adult career as captain by age 26 on smaller dinner and passenger vessels. The carferry crews with other carferry enthusiasts, or "buffs", known for four decades all became good friends for a lifetime.
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Cette vieille dame est vraiment superbe pour son grand âge ...alors on lui souhaite encore une longue vie ...from France
Absolutely beautiful tribute. Very sad on Wisconsin side, awaiting 2024 season….to see The Great Lady sail back into Manitowoc. ❤️
Such a fantastic and artistic video Doug! Visually captivating and a wonderful way to honor those that shared a passion for the Badger that are no longer with us. Thank you for sharing this work.
I Love this and have wanted to take the Badger. My brother came to visit us in Minnesota and was then onto his way to Michigan. I told him to take the Badger and found that he already was planning to. If you even dare to think that the Badger could be obsolete try driving the dam- Chicago loop. Without going mad that is.
The badger is truly an icon hopefully it'll be around forever
we had the great fortune to board the Badger in Ludington bound for Manitowoc in the early 90s... when we arrived to board i couldnt find the ship...just a huge building....THAT was the BADGER! we had a pickup truck with 2 motorcycles in the back of it to cut cost ...4 passengers ... the lake was like glass....enjoyed our trip ! glad to see she is still ferrying people !
The Badger really is quite impressive as is her twin the Spartan.
I spent most of my life near Chicago and never heard of the Badger until now. I wish I had had the opportunity to ride her. Well done on the video, an auspicious start!
It will be running again next spring (May 2024).
Great video. Hope she sails for another 70 years. (Jan Griffiths).
Thank you! Hope she keeps sailing too!
this aged well
Good job Doug. I have a couple shipmates in WI and my last trip was in 2018 to visit the 115th Harley Anniversary. Can't make it for the 120th Ann as I'm working in Kuwait but I have to take a trip on the Badger. cheers and enjoy.
Really enjoyed this. Thank you for sharing. I would love to ride on the Badger one day.
This is an amazing video, there is not a whole lot of footage of the boat when it was a railroad ferry so it’s cool to see some and I’ve never seen footage of the launch, very cool! Love that sound of the horn, still the same after all these years. Great Video!
Thank you! Yes, her whistle just cannot be beat!
You know a ship is old when it’s radio call letters has only two letters instead of three.
She’s a tough old girl that’s pretty obvious that’s awesome she’s still sailing
It would be cool to do another video focusing on the interior deck space, cabins, lounges and bingo!
out for the season, :(
That's why they call her Badger
Do you by chance have any footage of the Spartan or the Midland? I love this old footage
Yes!
If you have time, I would love to see the other footage of the boats that you have.
And now she may be out of service for the remaining season due to needed repair.
I started to watch this but the video is all screwed up like it's 50 years old so I stopped. Not sure what went wrong it's only 2 months old must be the guy don't know how to record quality video. Oh well I'm sure there are other videos about this ship.
It’s old footage from the 70s or 80s that’s why