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Post by Scott on Jun 29, 2009 17:49:32 GMT -8
Wow, good find Mike. That second one is pretty rare.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jun 29, 2009 18:11:36 GMT -8
Wow, good find Mike. That second one is pretty rare. And I paid the premium price for that rarity: $35 for the Clapp booklet. But it is in very good condition, no signs of use or wear/tear. I'll have to build a ferry-book vault to store it in. ;D
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jun 29, 2009 21:32:10 GMT -8
And I paid the premium price for that rarity: $35 for the Clapp booklet. But it is in very good condition, no signs of use or wear/tear. I would have thought that ferry books would be a little too esoteric for used book sellers to be aware of the rarity of a given publication, but that's not the case. I saw the little Peter Favelle picture book at a very good store on West 41st at Dunbar in Vancouver, and I believe they wanted about $30 for it as well. They had a number of other ferry titles there, including the North Van book you mentioned. Some time after the Clapp publication came out, I wrote to the Highways Dept. and asked for a couple of copies, and they sent them, gratis. Like a donkey, I sliced them up somewhat to put pictures into files I was making on individual ferries. Certainly wouldn't have, if I'd known they would be worth $70 some day. I really like Sabine's. I just hope it continues in it's present form under whoever buys it.
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Jun 30, 2009 3:48:04 GMT -8
And I paid the premium price for that rarity: $35 for the Clapp booklet. But it is in very good condition, no signs of use or wear/tear. I would have thought that ferry books would be a little too esoteric for used book sellers to be aware of the rarity of a given publication, but that's not the case. I would have thought the same, but then I ran across this website.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 11, 2009 18:24:44 GMT -8
I visited Sabine's Books on Salt Spring Island, today. I - The booklet "Ministry of Transportation and Highways Inland and Coastal Ferries" by Frank Clapp (1981, by the BC Gov't). Check out www.sabinesbooks.com for their inventory list. Now the fun part: reading them. The Clapp booklet includes a loose-leaf addendum from 1984 which has various corrections and updates, as well as a picture of a bow-less Princess of Vancouver approaching (with open bow-doors). Now that I've got the Clapp (pause for laughter ;D, as ferry STD jokes are rare gems), and now that I've just finished reading it, I can see where Neil gets lots of his minor-vessel facts from . There's a lot of good time-line information in that booklet. A favourite: The ferry Catherine Graham was named for a girl who was born on a Denman Island ferry in 1937.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 28, 2009 15:57:27 GMT -8
New book purchase today: "Ships of Steel - a British Columbian Shipbuilder's Story", by T.A. McLaren & Vickie Jensen. This book is re Allied Shipbuilders in North Vancouver, BC. It includes some stories / pictures on ferries (Texada Queen, Island Princess, etc). www.harbourpublishing.com/title/ShipsofSteelGood Choice Flugel. That is a very interesting book. At first I just read the ferries section, then I was consumed by the entire story. I love the depth it goes into, I learned so much about the BC shipbuilding industry I never knew. It has quite a bit about the start of BC Ferries and the building of Sidney and Tsawwassen. Have fun, The above-referred book is "Ships of Steel", about the McLaren's Allied Shipbuilders company, and the family's other shipbuilding work. I also learned lots about the BC industry and history. The book explains the once-upon-a-time Federal shipbuilding subsidy and how that program worked. I recommend this book to any of you who are interested in BC ship history and especially to all those who comment on the endless debate of "where should BC Ferries build it's new ships". Who else has read this book?
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Nick
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Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
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Post by Nick on Jul 28, 2009 22:02:18 GMT -8
I have this book. I haven't read the entire thing yet, but I have gotten more than half way through. I liked the descriptions on how the inland ships are built, being pre-fabbed and transported into place. I particularly liked the description of the Anscomb, since I have heard a few stories from my neighbour about his days as an engineer on board.
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Quatchi
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Post by Quatchi on Jul 28, 2009 22:36:20 GMT -8
I have the book as well. It is quite an interesting story. It really show how thing used to be done, and then compare to today and you want to vomit.
Cheers,
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 28, 2009 22:52:07 GMT -8
I have this book. I haven't read the entire thing yet, but I have gotten more than half way through. I liked the descriptions on how the inland ships are built, being pre-fabbed and transported into place. I particularly liked the description of the Anscomb, since I have heard a few stories from my neighbour about his days as an engineer on board. I like the built-twice inland ferry stories too. There are also stories on the building of the Seaspan Greg (ex Greg Yorke) and Haida Transporter. The book even mentioned the job of moving a ferry from up-north to Shuswap Lake, and that ties nicely into something that Neil posted about the MV Rolf Bruhn a couple of weeks ago.
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Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Oct 2, 2009 19:56:20 GMT -8
Found a bit of a good place to find some local Nautical Heritage books that are brand new, at "Falconer Books" at Port Place mall (The mall beside the Gabriola Ferry dock) in Nanaimo. Books such as "Ships of Steel", "Those Beautiful Coastal Liners", and a bunch more that had me drooling a bit.
I actually have a feeling that store was mentioned somewhere else, I just don't have the time to double check...
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Post by Low Light Mike on Oct 2, 2009 20:30:39 GMT -8
Found a bit of a good place to find some local Nautical Heritage books that are brand new, at "Falconer Books" at Port Place mall (The mall beside the Gabriola Ferry dock) in Nanaimo. Books such as "Ships of Steel", "Those Beautiful Coastal Liners", and a bunch more that had me drooling a bit. Thanks for mentioning that. I'll have to walk down to "Harbour Park Mall" sometime on a lunch break and check out their nautical books. I'd forgotten that we still have an independent bookshop in Nanaimo.
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Nick
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Post by Nick on Oct 2, 2009 20:47:01 GMT -8
Another decent place to look for books that are still in print is "Bolen Books", in Victoria in the Hillside Shopping Centre. All of Robert Turner's books are available, as are most of the other newer west coast nautical books.
The best part? It's still locally owned and operated, and is big enough that they compete realistically with Chapters et al.
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Mill Bay
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Post by Mill Bay on Oct 19, 2009 16:00:03 GMT -8
Another one to add to the list:
Union Steamships remembered, 1920-1958 by Arthur M. Twigg. Published Campbell River, B.C. by the Author, c1997.
I saw a copy of this book at the train show in Chilliwack and was discussing with one of the WCRA members what it's value was... It is an amazing book, very comprehensive with separate chapters for profiles of each and every ship the Union Co. ever owned or operated.
A significant portion of the book also covers profiles of significant employees and officers throughout the company's history as well as faily complete listings of company records and archival documents of the day relating to the company.
Suffice it to say, if i could have, I would have bought it, but the WCRA rep eventually decided it was such an important book and if mint condition that it would be a good addition to the museum library. I agreed with him on that, especially since the PGE railway a lot of whose history is contained at the railway park in Squamish, also had an important relationship with the Union Company ships. In the days before the rail line along Howe Sound was built, the Union Steamships were the key passenger connection for the railway, as it terminated in Squamish at the steamer wharf.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Oct 19, 2009 17:05:11 GMT -8
Another one to add to the list: Union Steamships remembered, 1920-1958 by Arthur M. Twigg. Published Campbell River, B.C. by the Author, c1997. Thanks for mentioning and describing that book. The title has me a bit confused, as it misses the company history from the 1889 incorporation until 1920: so only half the history would be covered? The early years would have seen ships such as Cutch, Capilano I, Cheslakee (and her sinking, before the Cheakamus transformation), Chehalis, Comox I, etc. There was also the Boscowitz purchase in 1911. Nonetheless, the Twigg book would include the fondly remembered ships of the company's second-half. Those C-ships and Ladies of 1920-1958 are admired by me.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Oct 19, 2009 18:10:26 GMT -8
Another one to add to the list: Union Steamships remembered, 1920-1958 by Arthur M. Twigg. Published Campbell River, B.C. by the Author, c1997. I saw a copy of this book at the train show in Chilliwack and was discussing with one of the WCRA members what it's value was... It is an amazing book, very comprehensive with separate chapters for profiles of each and every ship the Union Co. ever owned or operated. I referred to this book in reply #18 of this thread, although I couldn't remember the title. Have to disagree on this one, Mill Bay. I thought this was the least notable of the four books on the Union that I'm aware of. The standard of writing was not high, and it seemed to me that a number of the anecdotal stories would probably be of interest mainly to colleagues of the people described. I got the book from the Delta library, so if you're interested, perhaps you can do some sort of intra-library loan through Chilliwack, if the systems are connected at all.
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Post by Scott on Oct 19, 2009 20:35:41 GMT -8
Yeah, try the library:) Just checked it on Abebooks and it starts at US$ 85 for a "very good" (ie. not perfect) copy.
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Mill Bay
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Post by Mill Bay on Oct 20, 2009 8:24:39 GMT -8
Yeah, try the library:) Just checked it on Abebooks and it starts at US$ 85 for a "very good" (ie. not perfect) copy. I already know it's in the Fraser Valley library system. I didn't actually read any of it, so I'm not sure about the style of writing, but I find words so easy to absorb, I often find it hard to describe a detached technical break down of particular writing styles at the best of times... (except I could tell you my feelings on a lot of boring text books). I was more impressed by the section on ship profiles and the pictures of each ship. I believe I did say, it only looked like a nice book . As for the date reference, I believe there was some sort of reorganization at some point in the company which may have caused the author to bracket around those dates. Or maybe that's just as far back as he could remember.
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Post by ryan888 on Nov 6, 2009 13:57:23 GMT -8
Speaking for my son who would love to see any such book written, I must say thank you to all of you. He has discovered a passion for BC ferries (he was a BC ferry captain for Halloween) and I used so much information from here and Evergreen to make him a scrapbook for his birthday which he was over the moon for. If there any book titles that you can suggest even in rare used books, I would love to get him some for Christmas. I only have so much time to find him all of the info he is looking for and he's not quite old enough to sift through all of this to get the good info. He has made spread sheets on them, he is trying to make a timeline for his wall on all of the ships and their evolution, and his baby he is working on is a powerpoint on all of his favourite ships. Trying to collect it all from the entire web really can be a full time job. Anyways, Thank you again to all of you for making this daunting but meaningful experience easier!!
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 6, 2009 14:11:19 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 14, 2009 22:36:36 GMT -8
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Mill Bay
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Post by Mill Bay on Nov 29, 2009 22:32:57 GMT -8
Just if anyone is interested, the Fall 2009 issue of Beautiful BC has a few neat ferry pics in it. There is one article on Klemtu and route 40 with a couple pics of the Chilliwack, and an article on the 'new' Sea-to-Sky highway with a couple pics of Horseshoe Bay with a nice aeriel of the Renaissance rounding the point.
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Post by lmtengs on Jan 10, 2010 20:09:42 GMT -8
Hullo... I scanned a copy of the book "Advancing the Fleet, Building the Province", which is a great case-study style statistical book issued by BC Ferries back in the early '90s. It's 22 pages long, and covers information about early passenger growth, the aging fleet of ferries, recent terminal and fleet expansion (as of the early '90s), their ten year plan, the potential, yet to be designed fast-ferries (we all know what happened with those ), industry and jobs, and some more. Here is the covershot I scanned: It's really a very interesting book. If anyone wants, I'll send you a copy of the book on compact disc for $2.50 per book + shipping. The $2.50 covers "labour costs" for scanning the book, a 1.5 hour process. Just message me if you want a copy.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 15, 2010 22:07:10 GMT -8
From the book-section of Western Mariner magazine. The focus has been narrowed. Not just a book about coastal ships, but specifically about the china patterns.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 15, 2010 23:02:07 GMT -8
Quote: The first comprehensive guide to china patterns used by shipping companies and marine services on the north Pacific coast.Finally. I was getting really tired of all those less comprehensive books that always seemed to miss a teacup or saucer. A steal at $75.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Apr 3, 2010 16:45:41 GMT -8
I visited a wonderful shop in Nanaimo today, called "Bygone Books". It's at 99 Commercial St, which is right across from the Conference Centre (close enough for Neil to walk to, from the waterfront walkway).
I've noticed maritime books in his window before, enough of them to suggest a pattern. Items such as Tom Henry's books on west coast wood ships.
So today I went inside, and bought a nice signed copy of A.M. Twigg's "Union Steamships Remembered", a 420 page hardcover history written by the man who was pursar on many of the ships.
I also noted other tempting items such as "Nicholas Morant's CP train photos" (or some similar sounding title). From talking with the owner today, he is interested in maritime books, so add this shop to your list of bookstores with ship books.
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