Heritage Rail Alliance:
S.S. City of MilwaukeeJune 23, 2017
Anyone following railroading today is aware of the delays getting freight through Chicago. The multi-million dollar series of CREATE projects is gradually eliminating choke points, but has a long way to go. Canadian National found its own solution, buying the Elgin Joliet & Eastern to bypass most of the congestion.
The railroads bunch together because Lake Michigan is in the way. However, from 1892 to the early 1980s, the lake offered a way around Chicago in the form of car ferries.
SNIP
. . . It took about 60 employees to crew a ferry and in the long run the economics didn’t work.
The last operating survivor, the 1952-built Badger, still steams between Ludington and Manitowoc, but doesn’t carry freight cars. It’s twin sister the Spartan is tied up in Ludington and serves as a parts source.
The other survivor is the 1931-built City of Milwaukee.
It served the Grand Trunk Western until 1978, then was leased to the Ann Arbor, where it ran until 1981. The state of Michigan owned the Ann Arbor at the time, including the boat. The city of Frankfort bought the boat from the state and in turn sold it to the non-profit Society of the S. S. City of Milwaukee, which formed in 1985. Now docked in Manistee, Michigan, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990.
More here w/additional photos.