Lansdowne Railcar barge-restaurant/bar-What happened to it?

[One Shot]

Anyone remember this thing tied up I believe where the Detroit Princess ties up now. I remember the cool looking rail cars on there.
Anyone have any stories or pics from back in the day???

[Mikie]

Here's a link to an article about it from 2005

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05361/628309.stm

[douglasm]

My understanding is that she was broken up for salvage in 2009 after sinking at her dock [[again) in Buffalo. The passengher cars [[ex MILW observation cars which, though badly altered, still had historical value) are now in a museum in Montevideo, MN.

As an aside, the Landsdowne's running mate, the Huron, still exsists, kinda, at a slip in Ecorse. A picture, from Boatnerd.com is here....

http://www.boatnerd.com/news/newpict...n7-31-01mn.jpg

I believe that's one of her stacks behind the marker.....

As for stories, I used to watch both of them go across the river from the Detroit ferry slip, behind Brush Street and the Robin Hood flour mill. You'll find a discussion about why the Lansdowne was turned into a barge and the most recent [[2009) news on the ship and "cargo" here....

http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/...t=11009&page=6

The fireman's post about blowing a piston is very interesting.....

[Ragtoplover59]

The only two pictures I have, back in the day, and not so long ago?

Attachment 6894

Attachment 6895

[Zacha341]

Cool. Thanks. Fascination stuff for those who dig it... Thanks for the postings... and links. I found this photo on the railroad link. I don't recall the observation cars when it was down at Hart Plaza...

My understanding is that she was broken up for salvage in 2009 after sinking at her dock [[again) in Buffalo. The passengher cars [[ex MILW observation cars which, though badly altered, still had historical value) are now in a museum in Montevideo, MN.

As an aside, the Landsdowne's running mate, the Huron, still exsists, kinda, at a slip in Ecorse. A picture, from Boatnerd.com is here....

http://www.boatnerd.com/news/newpict...n7-31-01mn.jpg

I believe that's one of her stacks behind the marker.....

As for stories, I used to watch both of them go across the river from the Detroit ferry slip, behind Brush Street and the Robin Hood flour mill. You'll find a discussion about why the Lansdowne was turned into a barge and the most recent [[2009) news on the ship and "cargo" here....

http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/...t=11009&page=6

The fireman's post about blowing a piston is very interesting.....

[douglasm]

The observation cars were "Skytop" obversations that ran on the Milwaukee Road's Olympic Hiawatha between Chicago and Seattle. The MILW sold the sleeper/lounges, which went to the Canadian National for service on the Super Continental.. The cars on the ferry were the Arrow Creek and Gold Creek. There's some information on the history of the cars here....

http://www.trainweb.org/hiawatha/skytops.html

[Hermod]

The observation cars were "Skytop" obversations that ran on the Milwaukee Road's Olympic Hiawatha between Chicago and Seattle. The MILW sold the sleeper/lounges, which went to the Canadian National for service on the Super Continental.. The cars on the ferry were the Arrow Creek and Gold Creek. There's some information on the history of the cars here....

http://www.trainweb.org/hiawatha/skytops.html

Skytop observation cars were also used on the Morning Hiawatha and the Evening Hiawatha from Chicago to Minneapolis. Back around 1970, I rode one from Chicago to Milwaukee during a blizzard. It was amazing to see the snow eddying in the slipstream of the car while downing an adult beverage.

Here is one of the cars stored on a siding in the UP after AMTRAK.

[douglasm]

Sorry, I should have made myself clearer. There were 6 parlor/sleeper observations that ran on the Olympian Hiawatha between Chicago and Seattle. Widthdrawn from service in 1964, they were sold to the CN. They were in the "Creek" series, and 2 ended up on the Lansdowne.

Four parlor/observations...no sleepers....of the "Rapids" series were in Chicago/Minneapolis Hiawatha service until 1970, The one pictured in the post above is the Coon Rapids at Wells, MI. It's been moved indoors.

[Magnatomicflux]

"As an aside, the Landsdowne's running mate, the Huron, still exsists, kinda, at a slip in Ecorse. A picture, from Boatnerd.com is here....

http://www.boatnerd.com/news/newpict...n7-31-01mn.jpg

I believe that's one of her stacks behind the marker....."

That's Huron for sure douglasm. Here's a shot of her in better days........note the stacks

Attachment 6921

there seems to be another running mate, who seems to be quite well cared for. This is Pere Marquette #10. As far as I know, she still sits in the Morterm slip here in Windsor. I was e-mailed the photo on the bottom, I'm not sure who the author is.

Attachment 6922

Attachment 6923

Detroit is floating around somehwere too. She could still be at Nicolson.

Anyways here's a little Lansdowne

Attachment 6924

Attachment 6925

Attachment 6926

Attachment 6927


if I dig up more I'll post'em. I love these old ship threads.

[Bearinabox]

Google Maps still shows the Lansdowne docked in Erie, PA. The Lansdowne is no longer visible in the Bing Maps image of the same area, which looks to be more recent.

[douglasm]

Anyone got a picture of the Lansdowne done up in "modern" CN/GTW paint? The only shots I ever see of her has black paint.

As to the Pere Marquette #10, she was not a running mate of the Huron and Lansdowne. She would have run from the Pere Marquette/Wabash/N&W Boat Yard to Windsor.

[Magnatomicflux]

poor choice of words on my part douglasm. maybe river mate?

I find it hard to tell which maps are more outdated. Google still shows the mighty Aquarama in Buffalo! And Bing interestingly enough shows a car ferry moored at Amherstburg at the General Chemical docks. Rails are stripped and no ques as to her name.....not to me anyways. I've been wondering if google has been updating their maps here and there. For example both Ste Claire and Columbia are still at Nicolson, but Columbia seems to be all buttoned up on top, and Ste Claire seems to be having some of the hurricane deck removed. I thought it had Ste Claire sitting at Chene Park for the longest time. Also the riverwalk has been updated.And the Detroit is gone from the next slip to the south. You can still clearly see Hurons hulk under the water though.
Maybe I just havn't been paying attention.

[Whitehouse]

In an older aereal shot of Bingmaps, she still is berth at that location.


But in a newer view of the same location she's gone. The dockside has now been developed.



The original picture from which the coloured postcard above was made. Shot in 1904. Damn shame they couldn't save this important piece of maritime history. The Lansdowne was build in 1884. She was broken up for scrap just over a year ago.


You can download an incredible 153 MEGABYTE version of this Here.

Look at the incredible detail in the picture!


Here's a Youtube clip from July 16 2007 when the Lansdowne was towed away from Erie to Biffalo NY.

Wikipedia page of the SS Lansdowne.

Another picture from Boatnerd,com.

And another one, with the superstructure more or less intact.

Picture from September 2006. So this must be her last portcall in Buffalo, New York, since she was towed earlier that year. She never left that dock again. So sad.

More pictures from Buffalo with more details. It also shows that the original [[starboard side) paddlewheel was still in place, partially. [[If you want to see the pictures, follow the link that Flickr provides. If you want to view the original size of the pictures, rightclick on them and chose "Original".)

Windsor, Ontario, 1920. with a railroadferry on the docks. Possibly the Lansdowne.

Fantastic panorama shot.

And take a look at this!

Sun sets on the Lansdowne.

A sorry sight to see.

And judging by the stock they have it is understandable why the two cars that were on board are an asset to the collection of the Minnesota Railway museum in Montevideo.

Look at this stunning sister!

Railport Winsor.

And again, with Renaissance Center in de background.

All tracks are gone but the ramps are still there.

[Magnatomicflux]

wow! I have that picture too but never did I see so much detail!
Thanks Whitehouse!

[Whitehouse]

I found an article in the Internet Archive about the scrapping taking place. Sadly the pictures were lost now. According to the article the engine and a flagpole were saved, along with the railcars of course.

[Slipkid]

I rode the Hiawatha to Wa state in '77.....didn't know it ended up as the restaurant....I dated one of the waitresses there in the 80's.

[Whitehouse]

Found some information on the fringes of the internet. Some more names of paddlesteamers

Exit The Lansdowne



For well over one hundred years there have been carferries operating across the Detroit River between Windsor and Detroit, and a large portion of this period, 87 years in fact, could well be called "The Lansdowne Era." For exactly this long, a major item on the Detroit River scene has been the paddle-driven railway ferry, LANSDOWNE.
This veteran, 294 feet in length, was completed in 1884 by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. at Wyandotte, where her iron hull was known as Hull 66. Her horizontal, low-pressure engines were built in 1872 by E.E. Gilbert & Sons at Montreal for the wooden carferry MICHIGAN [[I) and they were placed in LANSDOWNE at the time of her completion. Originally equipped with four stacks and two pilothouses, the ferry now carries but two stacks and one bridge and looks somewhat gaudy in the Canadian National Railway's new livery. Nevertheless, she is the last sidewheeler operating on the Great Lakes and holds a great charm known to anyone who has observed her or made a crossing in her.
But as in all other areas of marine transportation, progress is coming to the Detroit River. Already the Norfolk & Western Railway has cut its three steam carferries DETROIT, MANITOWOC and WINDSOR down to barges and operates them with the pusher tugs, ST. JOSEPH and S.P.REYNOLDS, and work is currently progressing on the cutting down of the Lake Michigan ferry CITY OF FLINT 32 to another river barge. Not only are the tugs able to separate from the barges and go about other duties, but a considerable saving is made in that the crew per unit is decreased from eleven to four. This fall, the Canadian National started to experiment with pushing their 1875-built iron propeller HURON with the McQueen tug AMHERSTBURG and the project seems likely to continue. At present, the only two river carferries operating under steam are LANSDOWNE and PERE MARQUETTE 10, the latter serving on the Chesapeake & Ohio crossing between Port Huron and Sarnia on the St. Clair River.
Now C. N. has called for tenders on the building of ferry docks at Point Edward and Port Huron and it seems that the new route will be operated by the ST. CLAIR [[the former PERE MARQUETTE 12 cut down to a barge and pushed by a tug) as well as possibly the SCOTIA II, now lying idle at Windsor and possibly a candidate for the barge conversion. The railway has also let it be known that the Detroit-Windsor service will also be operated with barges by September 1970. Not only will HURON be made a full barge, but LANSDOWNE will shortly be treated similarly. An 87-year old steamer with 98-year old engines doesn't have much of a future. It is not yet known whether she will be stripped of her cabins and the upper portions of her machinery, but this seems likely in view of the restricted clearance on deck.
Suffice it to say that our old friend will no longer hold the same attraction for so many people when she is reduced to a flat scow shunted about by a diesel tug. The decision of the company is to be regretted but it is to be hoped that all friends of the LANSDOWNE will make it back for one last look before she is retired. She has now become a living legend in her time and will make her exit just when her popularity is reaching its zenith.

This is my call to unleash the powers of Google Search for pictures of those Great Lakes steamers! Some of those are still around, albeit now only as barges.


MICHIGAN. Eventually never build. Her engines powered the LANSDOWNE.

Her namesake is the oldest surviving paddle steamer in the world!! Well, as a wreck yet to be salvaged....


This is interesting! Urban exploration of the Lansdowne in 2004.
Detailed views from the inside. Also pictures from the lower decks and two pictures of the scapping.

I hope this was saved!!



This is how the trains ended up....



Another VERY interesting link found on Google Books!! Also worht while to search within the other pages!

[Whitehouse]

Ferries of the great lakes:

Chief Wawatam.
100 years old next year. Still around as a barge. A rather undignified fate...

Pere Marquette 10.

[douglasm]

If the engines on the Lansdowne were saved, it would probably be for display purposes only. Remember, she threw a piston in '70 or '71. That was what prompted CN to turn her into a barge.

[Whitehouse]

A general question from me. As I browse the internet to search for photomaterial of ships I see a lot pictures of the classic coal transporters. Virtually all of them have the pilot house at the bow. I live in the Netherlands. There are rarely any freighters on the big rivers like Rhine, Maas and Waal which have the pilot house on the bow. Why is it that the pilot house in America is at the bow?

[Hermod]

A general question from me. As I browse the internet to search for photomaterial of ships I see a lot pictures of the classic coal transporters. Virtually all of them have the pilot house at the bow. I live in the Netherlands. There are rarely any freighters on the big rivers like Rhine, Maas and Waal which have the pilot house on the bow. Why is it that the pilot house in America is at the bow?

The Great Lakes freighters [[Lakers) were built that way. A pilot house and cabins for the deck crew forward, a very long and narrow cargo hold, and the engines and cabins for the "black gang" in the rear. Most of the "Lakers" were built to haul iron ore from the Lake Superior area down to Lake Erie ports serving the Pittsburgh area steel mills.

The standard ocean going ship was the "three island" type with a small superstructure forward, engines and pilot hous amidships, and a small superstructure aft.

Nowadays, pretty much all shps are built with the superstructure, engines, and pilot house aft. In the older days, only small cargo ships were built that way.

Big difference between Great Lakes ships and river barges in size and in the rough waters to be faced..

[Magnatomicflux]

[quote=Whitehouse;167343]
This is my call to unleash the powers of Google Search for pictures of those Great Lakes steamers! Some of those are still around, albeit now only as barges.]


Great finds on Lansdowne Whitehouse!

Here's some of what I have....I'm answering that call....so I hope I don't put up too many pics

Guess I'll start with the ferry Detroit, seen here during construction...
Attachment 6983


This is one of my favorites of Detroit. She's seen here with the 241st Highlanders, many of which are the 21st Essex Fusiliers [[Essex&Kent Scottish today), and many Scottish Americans joined the ranks of the 241st drawn in by the strong Scottish garb they wore.
Attachment 6984

and Detroit some time in the recent past.....

Attachment 6985




Next up is another Lansdowne.

Attachment 6986


Lansdowne again.....and quite a few others. I can't Imagine what bustling cities we'd have to require a river scene like this again
Attachment 6987


Next is the Manitowoc

Attachment 6988

A real oldtimer here, the Great Western

Attachment 6989

A favorite photo of mine of Michigan Central, turning in the ice

Attachment 6990


Two other oldies first Transfer, then Transport
Attachment 6991

Attachment 6994
Can't have Detroit without the Windsor

Attachment 6992

These are the loading ramps you have the aerial of.....
Attachment 6993


This picture here Whitehouse, claims these two ships are CPR's Ontario....and Michigan. Looks just like that drawing. Could be wrong though.

Attachment 6995


And just a couple more
The great Tashmoo
Attachment 6996


my favorite shot of the Tashmoo. St. Claire flats I beleive.....

Attachment 6997


Hamonic

Attachment 6998

[Whitehouse]

Foud other information that the Michigan indeed did excist but Lansdowne inherited the engines.

found another picture on Boatnerd. Caption reads: "Rail barge Detroit scrapping continues in Dean's Slip in La Salle, ON."
Another pic, same location. Safe to say "Detroit" is no more....

[Magnatomicflux]

awwww I thought Detroit was still around Thanks for the info. That Dean company in LaSalle has been responsable for the scrapping of alot of these fine old vessels. They do seem to use them to the bitter end however, so I suppose it's better than just ending their life for scrap value alone. I wonder if they used her as a barge still or just cut her up.