S.S. City of Midland 41

by Art Chavez

Overview

The historic steamship City of Midland 41 sailed the waters of Lake Michigan for nearly half a century, transporting railroad cars, automobiles, and passengers. After her construction in 1941 by the revered Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, the nation's newspapers and newsreel services covered her launching and maiden voyage with enthusiastic flair. In time, she became the most beloved of all the Great Lakes car ferries.

She was built as the flagship for the Pere Marquette Railway's Lake Michigan ferry fleet, and signified a bold departure from traditional Great Lakes vessel design. Her sleek outboard profile, spacious passenger accommodations, and modern interior furnishings were a hit with the traveling public. By the time she was retired from service in 1988, she had served both the Pere Marquette and Chesapeake & Ohio Railroads, transported thousands of travelers as a passenger ferry, and become known as the "Queen of the Great Lakes Car Ferries."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738532530
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	07/21/2004
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Presenting a collection of rare archival photographs, most of them previously unpublished, car ferry historian Art Chavez details the unique legacy of this stately ship, from the inception of the car ferries in the 1880s through the City of Midland's venerable career in the last half of the twentieth century. Chavez is the author of S.S. Badger: The Lake Michigan Car Ferry, also published by Arcadia.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	6
	Acknowledgments	8
	Introduction	9
1.	Design Evolution of the Great Lakes Car Ferries: 1888-1940	11
2.	Construction at Manitowoc Shipbuilding: March-September 1940	19
3.	Launch Day: September 18, 1940	25
4.	Fit-Out: September 1940-March 1941	37
5.	Sea Trials and Maiden Voyage: March 1941	49
6.	Shipboard Views: March 1941	63
7.	The Pere Marquette Era: 1941-1947	75
8.	The Chesapeake & Ohio Era: 1947-1983	81
9.	The Michigan-Wisconsin Transportation Era: 1983-1988, The Midland's Final Years	89
Appendix A	General Specifications	116
Appendix B	Profiles and Deck Plans	118
Appendix C	The Skinner Unaflow Steam Engine	122
	Suggested Reading and References	128