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Post by Low Light Mike on Oct 13, 2007 15:57:31 GMT -8
And here's another story from same book, with more re Union Steamships and the old time life on the coast.... -----------------  .......(nothing else about the ships on the next page....but the hotel is now called the Rodmay...) ------------------------ |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 7, 2006 13:38:55 GMT -8
I bought Tom Henry's book "The Good Company - An Affectionate History of the Union Steamships". I bought it this week from the Cortes Island museum, during a vacation-trip to Quadra/Cortes.
I've just stated reading it, and "so far, so good".
I think Mr. Henry's books have been mentioned on this forum a few times by various posters.....now I'll know what you're talking about.
My late father-in-law remembered the Union Steamship days on Cortes and in Powell River, and even had a farm-wagon which was transported on the Cheslakee on the trip when she sank (they salvaged the wagon which I guess had been shipped to them from a store in Vancouver).
I'm glad that I bought this book, and I'm glad that I bought it from a local museum. It's a pretty neat feeling to walk into a small-town museum, and find pictures & stories of relatives, and to see the same pictures mounted in a museum exhibit that are also in your own family photo album !
I'll let you all know what I think of Mr. Henry's book.
Who elso has his book(s) ? I see from an older post that Shane has this book, as well as the "whistle up the inlet", and John H. was reading that one too......
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Post by Shane on Jul 7, 2006 14:28:56 GMT -8
Yep, I've got 'em all!
They are great books, I also got "Echoes of a Whistle" a few months back too.
I'm really into the history of the old Union steamers, they are really interesting, with all those old stories of drunken loggers, running aground, and alot more...
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Neil
Voyager 
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Post by Neil on Jul 7, 2006 23:24:19 GMT -8
Gerald Rushton's books are particularly insightful, as he worked for Union Steamships for almost forty years.
My parents had vivid memories of Union service to Bowen, particularly the Lady Alex, and the summer dances at the pavilion near the dock.
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Post by Shane on Jul 9, 2006 16:27:13 GMT -8
Ah...The old Lady Alex...What a beauty.
She was first built to haul canned salmon down the coast from the canneries(Thats why she had such a high cargo capacity) but on her first sailing she was rolling pretty badly so they decided to use her for excursions instead, which she was better suited for...
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Post by BrianWilliams on Aug 7, 2006 0:35:02 GMT -8
I rode Lady Alexandria just once, and I was too tiny to remember anything except a big, friendly dog at Bowen Island that soaked me when he shook off after a swim. I was maybe 2 years old.
Years later, Lady Alex was stored at Vancouver's Terminal Dock. I was 9-10-11 years old, and our gang of East Vancouver waterfront rats admired her.
She was our very own ocean liner, an elegant sight among the tramp steamers that called at Terminal Dock.
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Neil
Voyager
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Post by Neil on Aug 15, 2006 22:31:00 GMT -8
Brian, your post got me thinking about how the death of Union Steamships in 1958 was the end of an era, not just for that company, but for the entire way we viewed our ships here on the coast.
People used to have almost personal relationships with the steamers that plied our waters. So many smaller locales would get a weekly, or more or less infrequent visit from a CP, CN, Union or other ship, usually the same one, and it was a big event in the community. It would be a chance for locals to gather, people would even dress up, it was an opportunity to see what your neighbour had just shipped in (that you might need to borrow), and it was, even more than now, a lifeline to the rest of the world.
Then there were the dance cruises, the annual company picnics, and the charters that Union ships were famous for.
Most of the ships were one of a kind, and even the smaller ones usually were fitted out in a way our modern utilitarian ferries can't hope to equal. They had style, character, and often operational quirks that were peculiar to that ship alone.
I cannot imagine, forty years from now, anyone waxing poetic about their youthful cruises to Vancouver Island on the Queen of Coquitlam, or the camaraderie on those Saturday night trips to Bowen on the Queen of Capilano. As much as I like them, today's ferries fill a different role, have very little character, and because of the nature of their service, will never have the same place in the public's consciousness that the old steamers had. That's why the Queen of Sidney can rot away on the Fraser without anyone really caring much, outside of a few ferry fans.
Nobody would want to go back to the days of Union Steamships service, and I would also not want to try my luck getting on a sailing of the Motor Princess at Steveston as opposed to the much more efficient Spirits at Tsawwassen, but there's no question that our marine heritage lost a lot of colour as the time of the old boats passed. And it's even worse that it passed without anything being saved to show future generations what we once had.
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Post by poeticlives on Aug 17, 2006 21:24:39 GMT -8
There are a lot more ways to travel now- faster, particularly.
Not like when steamers toured and travelled the continents without many or any alternatives.
Their unique (under the circumstances) practicality was part of their appeal.
As for remembering our travels on ferries 40 years from now, we will, if not the traveller not so prone to dote on ferries!
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Post by poeticlives on Aug 17, 2006 21:27:29 GMT -8
I mean really, a travel on a steamer or any ship, changed the course of lives, reborn on the other side of the world.
Water travel I don't think is on such a grand scale anymore.
How could you not view the old days that romantically or at least with great emotion?
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,310
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Post by Neil on Aug 17, 2006 23:25:48 GMT -8
Indeed. Almost makes me wish I was even older than I am (well, maybe not), just so I could have ridden on something like the Princess Elaine or the Lady Alex.
Shipdaughterwife, if you're out there, please don't take this the wrong way, but I've gotten the impression from your posts that you might be over fifty (said he, cringing in anticipation of getting hit).... any memories of the Union ships?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 3, 2006 7:50:14 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 3, 2006 8:24:05 GMT -8
Another pic, from the book mentioned in the previous post. Here's a homework assignment: does anyone have an idea which Union Ship that is, in the background: knowing the year and location, and seeing a bit of the ship should narrow it down. Shane: any ideas??  |
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Post by Queen of Nanaimo Teen on Sept 3, 2006 9:27:43 GMT -8
I believe that is the S.S Lady Alexandra? (I have been researching the old union steamships and C.P's Princesses recently)
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 3, 2006 11:56:10 GMT -8
My guess is the "Lady Cecilia", as shown on page 66 of Tom Henry's book.
Both the L-Cecilia and the L-Alexandra had 2 smokestacks.
My reasoning for Cecilia, rather than Alexandra, is that Cecilia was more of a Sunshine Coast working ship, whereas Alexandra was a excursion-ship that stayed close to Vancouver.
Just guesses.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,310
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Post by Neil on Sept 3, 2006 12:35:30 GMT -8
I think you're right 'Nanaimo. If anyone has 'Echoes of the Whistle' the pictures of the Alex on p.78 and the Cecilia on p.82 show it's definitely not the Alex; it looks exactly like the Cecilia. The Cecilia was sold to Coast Ferries in 1951. As far as I know there has been no history written of Coast Ferries- that's a real gap in our marine history literature.
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Post by Queen of Nanaimo Teen on Sept 3, 2006 17:18:01 GMT -8
Since you guys seem to know so much about union steamships, I would like to learn more to! So could you guys list all of the books that you know about union steamships?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 3, 2006 17:34:44 GMT -8
Since you guys seem to know so much about union steamships, I would like to learn more to! So could you guys list all of the books that you know about union steamships? I bought mine (Tom Henry's book) at a local museum. I'm not sure what books you will find locally in Okanagan, but who knows what you'll find. |
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Post by Queen of Nanaimo Teen on Sept 3, 2006 18:43:34 GMT -8
So are those three books the only ones I should be looking for? Or is there more that are out there?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 3, 2006 19:09:50 GMT -8
Those are the only books that I've heard of. At the start of Tom Henry's book, he mentions the "Whistles / Echoes" books.
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Post by Ferryman on Sept 3, 2006 19:20:07 GMT -8
I've just recently purchased a copy of, "A Princess Story". Whenever I have a bit of sparetime on my hands, I read the odd bit here and there. It's taught me a bit about those old ships. Very interesting stories with the routes, and competition of different ships doing the route, faster (Familiar sounding..?). Nothing has changed, besides the ships themselves.
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Post by Queen of Nanaimo Teen on Sept 3, 2006 19:26:19 GMT -8
Who is the author?
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Post by Ferryman on Sept 3, 2006 19:52:41 GMT -8
I'm sorry, it's actually called, "The Princess Story - A Century and a Half of West Coast Shipping", and not "A Princess Story", as I first mentioned. This book was written by Norman R. Hacking, and W. Kaye Lamb.
Just an interesting note, about the copy I have. There is a sticker on the first page that says, "Presented as a momento of the Canadian Power Squadrons' cruise, Vancouver to Ketchikan aboard the Princess Patricia, October 1975. We're glad you came" So I'm not sure if this is a rare copy that was produced for the event as mentioned above, or they just happened to be giving out free copies of the book, as it was just published at the time.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,310
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Post by Neil on Sept 3, 2006 20:16:37 GMT -8
Gee, Chris, I don't know about "nothing has changed besides the ships themselves". Since Union Steamships went out of business in '58, all the companies have changed, routes and terminals have changed, the nature of the services and ships have changed, the volume of traffic has grown exponentially; I don't think someone from '58 would even recognize the cross - Strait shipping situation of today. But maybe I misunderstood what you were saying- if so, sorry.
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Post by Queen of Nanaimo Teen on Sept 3, 2006 21:25:55 GMT -8
Well, I hope it is a good book Chris. I just bought it on Abebooks! Thanks for telling me about it, it is much appreciated. Oh ya, and how much did you pay for yours?
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Post by Ferryman on Sept 4, 2006 7:37:30 GMT -8
Gee, Chris, I don't know about "nothing has changed besides the ships themselves". Since Union Steamships went out of business in '58, all the companies have changed, routes and terminals have changed, the nature of the services and ships have changed, the volume of traffic has grown exponentially; I don't think someone from '58 would even recognize the cross - Strait shipping situation of today. But maybe I misunderstood what you were saying- if so, sorry. Sorry hornbyguy, I guess I wasn't too specific. Yes, all of the services, terminals, and most of the routes have changed. What I was refering to, was the compition among the different companies. ie: Blackball competing with CP, with trying to do the Nanaimo-Vancouver route faster, and more comfortably. I just thought that has been the motivation ever since ferry services started. I could be wrong though, as I'm still fairly uneducated on those ships and companies. Well, I hope it is a good book Chris. I just bought it on Abebooks! Thanks for telling me about it, it is much appreciated. Oh ya, and how much did you pay for yours? Glad you have just purchased your copy. I haven't finished my book, but I'm enjoying it so far. I bought mine for $14 at an antiques store in Sidney two weeks ago, which was the same store that I finally got my copy of the Ships of BC at. |
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