cpr steamships and old ferries

[Shane]

back in november(when i was ferryfreak2000) i posted a thread about the pender queen and the quillayute sinking in the queen charlottes.
here is the thing that i posted(sorry if the spelling sucks):
the fishing camp pender lady(ex-pender queen)
sunk in naden harbor bc earlier in june
with the sampson IV(ex-quillayute) right beside it.
the pender lady was refloated on july 23rd.
it and the sampson were towed to kraft bay for being demolished.
they were demolished with d8 tractors and cranes.
the debrie was burned at the site but the unburnible stuff was towed to prince rupert by the Wainwrights tug Cadal. the pender lady sank in 50 feet of water, and salvage operations were made possible by burrard cleaning, canadian coast guard and wainwright marine towing.
when i read this the other day i thought i should make a page to talk about these old ferries(mostly the cpr ships).

[BrianWilliams]

A good topic, the CPSS service; plus Union Steamships, Coast Ferries and Northland Navigation, too.

I can't contribute much: I barely remember the end of Union and Northland operations, though I did ride Princess of Vancouver a couple of times between 1968 and 1971. By then, she was reduced to a 3 am departure from Pier A-1. Her big salons were pretty lonely.

[Scott]

I'd recommend the book "Those Beautiful Coastal Liners" by Robert Turner. A very beautiful book and tribute to the CP Ships.

[BrianWilliams]

Turner's book is terrific, and there are a couple of good books on Union Steamships, notably Gerald Rushton's "Whistle Up The Inlet".

History lives, even now. CP Steamships' 1931 pavilion at Newcastle Island is beautifully restored, along with a bandstand and other smaller buildings.

The pavilion on Saturday (16 July 2005):



This building has a wide, shaded wrap-around porch. Inside, there's a corridor of Newcastle historical displays, a popular cafe, and -- the CPR ballroom!

Saturday afternoon, a class re-learned the happy technique of dancing cheek-to-cheek. Everything old is new again.

[Shane]

ive read all of the books!

[Low Light Mike]

I've seen a Powell River Historical Society video on the sinking of the Cheslakee, at VanAnda warf in the 1920's or 1930's.

My in-laws had a wagon-wheel on their farm, that was salvaged from the wreck of the Cheslakee.

Cheslakee was a Union Steamship.