Car Ferry - Chief Wawatam - (1911-1984)

Railroad: Mackinaw Transportation Company (MC/PRR/DSS&A)

Built/Acquired: 1911, built by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company in Toledo, OH

Crossing: Straits of Mackinac

End of Service: 1984

Disposition: Became a barge in 1989 and scraped in 2009.

Size: 338' long, 62' wide. 2,990 tons

Type: Hand-fed coal steamer.

Notes

The last hand-fed coal steamer on the Great Lakes. Known as "The Chief".

Designed by marine architect Frank E. Kirby.

Designed to break ice floes with a bow propeller.

This was a 351-foot vessel designed to carry rail cars. Capacity was 26 rail cars. The ferry was equipped with three triple-expansion steam engines which powered three propellers, two on the stern and one of the bow. The vessel was often used for ice-breaking in the Straits of Mackinaw. [AGLMH]

Time Line

1916. The Mackinac Transportation Company begins transporting automobiles across the Straits. They were loaded on rail cars for the crossing. The service was discontinued in 1923 with the introduction of a state-run automobile ferry service across the Straits. [AGLMH]

1955. The last passenger train uses the Chief to cross the Straits. [AGLMH]

1977. The Chief Wawatam is acquired by the State of Michigan and operated until 1984.  [AGLMH]

1989. The vessel was sold and converted into a barge. [AGLMH]