JR Manning

In the late 19th Century, the preferred method of transport in the United States was the railroad. Numerous railroad lines sprang up around the country to haul freight and carry passengers to their destinations. As the automobile, followed by the motor truck, became more and more practical, railroads began to fail. Many of the abandoned lines left behind long, straight alignments that became roads, today they are mostly recreational trails. Some of the bridges still exist and are being documented on James Baughn’s Bridge Hunter website, the topic of yesterday’s blog entry.

James is also documenting ferry crossings. One of the most impressive ferry crossings is the one that continues US 10 across Lake Michigan. The ferry, SS Badger, fulfills this continuation from April to October every year.

The SS Badger steaming into the harbor at Manitowoc.

The route also started out as a railroad. The Pere Marquette Railway, which had its primary trackage in Michigan, saw a need to get freight cars from Michigan to Wisconsin. The Pere Marquette did not have any tracks to the congested rail hub of Chicago, nor any trackage rights with other railroads to go through Chicago. The only alternative was to cross Lake Michigan from Ludington. In 1897, the PMR began to operate a car ferry on Lake Michigan and within a few years, had a fleet of six ferries operating between Ludington on the east shore, to Milwaukee, Manitowoc and Kewaunee on the west shore.

The Ann Arbor Railroad actually was the first to offer car ferry service in 1892. The Grand Trunk Railroad began car ferry service in the 1920’s.

The Pere Marquette operated the most successful of the ferry services from 1897 through 1947 with as many as 13 ferries in the operating fleet. In 1947, the PMR was absorbed into the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway and ferry service continued as the Pere Marquette District.

Many of the PM car ferries were built by Manitowoc Shipbuilding and, initially, they all bore the name “Pere Marquette.” The entire fleet had numbers appended to their names, so the fleet operated ferries such as the Pere Marquette 21 and Pere Marquette 22. Six ships were built to that same design, including the SS City of Milwaukee for the Grand Trunk fleet. The Pere Marquette 21 and 22 are long gone, but the SS City of Milwaukee is extant as a historical museum in the city of Manistee, Michigan.

In 1941, the PMR contracted with Manitowoc Shipbuilding to build a new ferry. The naming sequence of the Pere Marqutte names was broken with the City of Saginaw 31 and City of Flint 32 but the tradition of numbering the fleet continued, the new vessel christened the SS City of Midland 41.

In 1952, the Chesapeake & Ohio, new owners of the Pere Marqutte ferries, contracted with Christy Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin to build sister ships that were to be the flagships of the fleet. They were named to honor universities in both states, the SS Badger and SS Spartan. (One can only speculate that the Spartan was so named because the Wolverines play in Ann Arbor, the same name of a competing ferry line.) The twins were put into service in 1953.

The peak of car ferry service was in the late 1950’s when an incredible amount of freight, passengers and automobiles made the Lake Michigan crossings. In the 1960’s, however, life in the United States began to change. Railroads were shrinking and merging. The Interstate Highway system was progressing and with the completion of a bypass around Chicago, driving times were reduced and the ferries became less important. On January 9, 1982, the Badger left Ludington for the last time as a Chessie System railroad car ferry.

A private operator attempted to continue the ferry service after purchasing the SS Badger, SS Spartan and SS City of Midland 41 from the Chessie System. The attempt failed.

In 1991, entrepreneur Charles Conrad purchased the fleet and refitted the Badger. On the car deck, the rails were paved over to accomodate automobiles and trucks. The former automobile deck was enclosed and made into a passenger area. Center staterooms were converted to a movie theatre, a quiet lounge and museum, arcade, children’s play area and a gift shop.

The slip in Ludington still has the wood-piered ramp that was used to load automobiles on the old Chessie ferries. With the old auto deck refitted to passenger space, this ramp no longer has a purpose.

The first cruise as a non-railroad car ferry was on May 15, 1992 and the Lake Michigan Carferry Service has never looked back.

The operators of the Badger dream about refitting and putting the Spartan back into service. For now, the Spartan is a source of parts to keep the Badger sailing.

At one time, plans called for the Spartan to be rechristened the Wisconsin Clipper, making runs between Milwaukee, Ludington and Muskegon. The plan never materialized and may never do so, with the 2004 inauguration of a competing high-speed ferry service between Milwaukee and Muskegon. However, some travelers feel that the slower Lake Michigan Carferry vessels could compete with the Lake Express by offering lower rates and/or service to Ludington from Milwaukee. The former Chessie route between Milwaukee and Ludington is missed by many. The Spartan could also ply the waters between Milwaukee and Muskegon offering a service that the Lake Express ferry cannot - hauling of huge trucks and oversize loads.

The SS Spartan is tied up in Ludington, adjacent to the main dock.

So long, Ludington! The cruise to Manitowoc will take about 4 hours, covering a distance of about 60 miles averaging 15 mph. A GPS screen in the passenger lounge allows cruisers to see where the ship is located during the voyage.

Welcome to Manitowoc! The screws are churning up water by thrusting forward against the momentum of the ship as she moves backwards toward the loading ramp.

The old railroad docks are still used for docking and loading. Note the yellow dogs that hold the stern to the bridge that links the cargo hold to the shore.

The SS Badger, shown here in her slip in Manitowoc, makes two crossings per day in Spring and Fall, four crossings per day during the peak Summer hours. The Badger sails May through October. For this voyage, she arrived in Manitowoc in the middle of the night. Check the Lake Michigan Ferry Service Schedule on their web page for more detailed information.

The trip across Lake Michigan via the Badger offers both a shortcut and a chance to relax. On a recent business trip that required travel from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Iron Mountain, Michigan, the Badger cut more than 300 miles from the drive and gave me a chance to sleep during the voyage. I’m looking forward to cruising Lake Michigan next Summer. You can, too.

Check the Lake Michigan Carferry Service website to see how you can cruise Lake Michigan. There is more to learn, if you like. The Pere Marquette Historical Society has a website, and if you would like to learn more about the history of the SS Badger and car ferry service on the Great Lakes, see The Car Ferries of the Great Lakes website. See you on board!