LUDINGTON, Mich. — The S.S. Badger, the former Chesapeake & Ohio car ferry that is the last coal-fired passenger ship operating on the Great Lakes and last remnant of the once sizable fleet of railroad car ferries, has been sidelined until further notice by a mechanical failure of its ramping system, the ship’s owner announced.
A notice on the ship’s website says owners Lake Michigan Carferry Inc. have “engaged a quick-response team of Great Lakes partners to repair the issue as quickly and safely as possible. They are at work now assessing the situation. We apologize to our customers for this unexpected interruption in our service and we appreciate their patience as we work to resolve the issue.”
Those holding tickets can call 1-800-841-4243 for a refund or to change their reservation.
A photo at the S.S. Badger Facebook page shows a counterweight failure at the ship’s dock in Ludington on Friday.
The ship, a designated National Historic Landmark, carries passengers and automobiles seasonally between Ludington and Manitowoc, Wis. The Badger was operated by the C&O or successor Chessie System until the railroad sold its car ferries to a private owner in 1983; the ship has changed hands several times since then.
Ironic that my wife and I rode the Badger last summer WB to Manitowoc, and just returned from vacation this year in the Ludington area. Wish this board had a way to post photos, we have pictures of the boat passing the North Breakwater lighthouse on their evening cruise a couple of weeks ago.
After moving to Chicago in ’61, in 1963 my wife, new (2 years old) son and I decided to take a vacation and take our go to Milwaukee, use the C&O car ferry to bypass all the northern Indiana traffic and make a circle trip via the upper peninsula of Michigan. Ir was fall and the colors were . Boat trip was all we could want. Smooth trip, used State Room for wife and son for a nap. You are out of sight of land. Ship has change its port a couple of times. There had been many RR car ferries in earlier years PM had ferries to Milwaukee, Kewaunee, and Escanaba. Ann Arbor had ferries from Frankfort.
Fond memories.
Not sure if they are still doing it but several years ago my son and I were heading to Milwaukee and I wanted to avoid Chicago so you could book a state room on the Badger and stay overnight on the ship, neat experience was quite comfortable and you had the use of the room for the morning sail.
Lot longer trip than driving around the lake but we’ll worth it.
Never been on the Badger. Only the Lake Express —
The Lake Express has no railroad connection, no rail history, and no nostalgia — but it’s much faster. Day seats only and a snack bar. Goes from Milwaukee to Muskegon, 2 R/T daily in season. We’ve taken it twice, EB only, both times drove home via I-94 and Chicago.
The reason EB only — EB leaving from home near Milwaukee, we knew how long to the ferry dock . Returning WB from the Detroit or Lansing areas, we didn’t know how much drive time to plan the drive to Muskegon. So we’d probably would have built in slack time, got to Muskegon early, and sat on the Muskegon dock with nothing to do. So we drove all the way.
Spartan and Badger have Skinner Unaflow steeple compound reciprocating steam engines, said to be more efficient than diesels. She can make 15.6 knots and as a carferry operated year round, lake ice notwithstanding. The purpose of the Lake Michigan carferries was to bypass Chicago’s congestion.
My wife and our boys rode the Badger in 1972 the trip was great. We went all over the ship top to bottom, public areas and cabins that had pull down beds like Pullman sleepers. The view of the West and East shorelines was wonderful.
“The Big Badger” with a big maritime body and a big railroad soul was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 2016. It is named after the University of Wisconsin’s athletic teams, the Wisconsin Badgers.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The cross lake ferry operation actually originated with the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, which later became just the Pere Marquette. Then became part of the C&O.
Of the 3 built in 1953, the Clinton was scrapped, the Spartan is (as far as I know) still docked in Ludington MI for long term repairs (going on 20+ years) while the Badger tools on.
Yes, it still burns coal in the boilers, but under an EPA order the coal ash has to be collected and disposed properly. Someone told me its low sulfur Power River coal, but I can’t verify it.
There was no SS Clinton. Just the Spartan and the Badger. The Spartan isn’t under repair and was retired decades ago. She’s now stripped of spare parts for use on the Badger is an empty hulk awaiting scrapping or possible conversion to a barge.
SS Badger is a passenger and vehicle ferry in the United States that has been in service on Lake Michigan since 1953. It was constructed as a rail car ferry in 1952 by the Christy Corporation of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, along with its twin SS Spartan with a reinforced hull for ice-breaking. It was originally used to carry railroad cars, passengers and automobiles between the two sides of the lake all year long. Today, the ferry shuttles between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a distance of 62 miles (100 km), connecting U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) between those two cities from May to October.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The Christy Corp had constructed the Badger, (and sister Spartan), and launched it in 1952 for C&O RR, after the entire ferry operation was first purchased by C&O from the Pere Marquete Rwy in 1947.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Badger
A “National Historic Landmark” that some of us remember from its C&O days…hopefully powers that be will “move Heaven and earth” to get it fixed soon, and well.