A look at favourite D.O.Thorne photos

[Low Light Mike]

Back in September 2008, this forum's monthly flagship-banner photo contest honoured the ferry photography work of D.O. Thorne.

I've now moved the various photo-posts from that old "contest" here to this new thread, so that we can have some more discussion on that great portfolio of photos, and to also get some comments from the artist (Mr. DOT) himself.

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Here's my intro from that September 2008 contest thread:

The theme:
- The photographic work of Mr. David Thorne. If you own "The Ships of British Columbia" book (Bannerman), you can read about David on page-133 of that book.

- Here's what forum-member "WCK" had to say about his brother, in a forum interview, from June 2007:

How did you brother Dave's photos and drawings impact your own interest in ferries, and in their images?

Very large influence – David is a gifted artist. He has been drawing ships of our part of the world since the 1950’s. He probable has one of the best marine libraries in Canada. He has contributed to several books and magazine articles, including Janes’ Merchant Ships… A very huge influence.

- Here's what famed forum contributor "Biff Fisticuffs" had to say about David Thorne, when he was guessing if member "West coast" (ie. "WCK") was related to David, back in an August 2006 forum post:

I'm taking a chance here, but I'm pretty certain the "DOT" collection stands for: "David 'O Thorne" Longtime artist & historian with BCF. He's even mentioned in Bannerman's book.
Do you actually know David, Westcoast, or at least have ties to him? If you DO, then you will no-doubt have an UNBELEIVABLE source for old pics & drawings from back in the day:)

- Suffice it to say that David Thorne is one of the most respected ship photographers (and sketch artists) on the BC Coast, and expecially re his collection of BC Ferries photos. David's love of the pre-2003 BC Ferries look is evidenced in his many works of photographic art.

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The pool of photographs:
- from member "Wet Coast Kid"'s photo-bucket account page of "DOT banners". As some/most of us may know, Wet-Coast-Kid (WCK) is one of David Thorne's younger brothers. WCK has scanned many of David's wonderful historic/current photographs and has cropped many of them to banner-size.

Here's the photo-bucket page
s90.photobucket.com/albums/k268/wetcoastkidjst/DOT%20Banners/

(note: there is more than 1 page on this photobucket account: scroll to bottom to see link to "Page 2")

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Sept 1, 2008 12:17:59 GMT -8 Scott (Former Account) said:

I chose to nominate this photo.

It is an excellent shot of the Queen of Alberni pre-lifted, it is framed nicely and I like how the clouds in the foreground almost appear as mountains towering over the surrounding scenery.

[Canucks]

I'll be nominating this one. I think that it is fitting since the Esquimalt is now retired. The reason I like this photo in particular is that it has very nice colours to it. The green trees match well with the red and blue expo theme.

[Mill Bay]

I was going to nominate the Langdale Queen photo, but she is so rusty in it that it made me feel a little downhearted, so I'm going to nominate my other old favorite instead, which there is a very nice image of in this collection.

[EGfleet]

Sept 1, 2008 15:07:24 GMT -8 Mill Bay said:

I was going to nominate the Langdale Queen photo, but she is so rusty in it that it made me feel a little downhearted, so I'm going to nominate my other old favorite instead, which there is a very nice image of in this collection.

Oh, I second this one. One of the best shots of the Susie Q ever.

[Mike C]

Boy oh boy, this saves me a ton of time!

[Low Light Mike]

My oh my, what a scrumptious menu of choice:

Here are some pictures that I considered for my nomination:

- Prince George, sailing under Lions Gate Bridge. I like the white-look to the ship, and the crown logo on the funnel.
- Illahee at Sidney dock. I like the contrast at the left-side re the wooden dock structure, and then the blue seas & sky in the rest of the picture. Yes, David Thorne took a lot of photos of the Island Sky. This is also a DOT photograph of a DOT ship.
- Deas Dock lineup of 4 ships in different & partial liveries. The livery variety, both between ships and within a ship, is what makes this a great shot.
- Q-Burnaby stern-in at Tsawwassen. A great profile in pastel-blue.
- Seaspan Doris, looking down from above. I like the couple of passenger cars on the top deck. Good shot of the elevator, and I love the 1920's Ottawa-Senators' black-white-red colour scheme.
- Queen of Victoria, approaching berth at Tsawwassen. I like the head-on view of the Vicky. Expo livery looks smart, although the red-line on the roof above the upper car deck looks like too much lipstick.... ;D
- Princess of Vancouver, leaving Vancouver terminal. She's the only Princess ship that I ever traveled on. I like the simplistic black&white, although I'd have loved to see the red in the funnel.

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And here's my nomination choice:


The livery variety is super, the Q-North is a wonderful memory, and the 'Alberni has a protruding jaw-bone.

What a unique photo......

[Balfour]

I'm going to nominate this beauty.

The Queen of Vancouver sailing through the First Narrows fresh from lifting in 1981:

[Deleted]

this is quite an appropriate selection.
shes the longest serving vessel


the snow in the back ground gives it a nice touch.

**modified to fix spelling mistakes**

[Ferryman]

Sorry, despite all the bad things everyone says about her face....My long time favorite Queen of Oak Bay on what looks like her inaugural sailing at Swartz Bay is my nomination.

[cohocatcher]

I feel as if I'm in a boat, fishing, with a line in the water, and I look up and see ....

[Barnacle]

Sept 1, 2008 16:59:08 GMT -8 EGfleet said:

Sept 1, 2008 15:07:24 GMT -8 Mill Bay said:

I was going to nominate the Langdale Queen photo, but she is so rusty in it that it made me feel a little downhearted, so I'm going to nominate my other old favorite instead, which there is a very nice image of in this collection.

Oh, I second this one. One of the best shots of the Susie Q ever.

I was about to pick the other Suzie Q photo, but in the interest of solidarity and not wanting to split the vote...

[SS San Mateo]

So many choices...

I nominate this one:

[Canucks]

Okay I will nominate this one too.



I chose it because it is a classic shot at sunset.

[Nick]

My first nomination:


It seems like the Spirits are overlooked somewhat in these flagship nominations. I like this shot of a spook in her native stomping grounds of the SGI.

[Nick]

Outlining the generations of ships to serve route 1, here's the Queen of Tsawwassen at around the same place as the spook in the above photo. This is my other nomination (two are permitted, correct?).

[SS San Mateo]

2'nd nomination...

[Curtis]

Wasn't this image a Flagship Winner at some point?

Cause I think I recall that it was. So this should really be a void entry.


I'm going to nominate this photo...

[Mill Bay]

I'm also surprised no one has nominated the Princess of Vancouver yet... we all seem to be sticking with regular BCFerries vessels, so I will make it my second nomination.

[Low Light Mike]

Here's the Prince George:

I love the white paint, the crown on the funnel, and all those port-holes.



Some history, from this page:
cruisepacificnorthwest.com/grandtrunk.htm

Determined to remain in the lucrative Alaska trade, the company built a handsome new Prince George that was launched in 1947 and went into Alaskan service in 1948. At that time the ship was the largest commercial vessel built in Canada; Prince George sailed for Canadian National Railways until 1974.

The ship is likely named for the BC City, and the city was named for the English prince who was to become King George III (the monarch who was mentally-ill and who lost the American colonies....)

[WettCoast]

Sept 22, 2008 12:09:14 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Here's the Prince George:



The ship is likely named for the BC City, and the city was named for the English prince who was to become King George III (the monarch who was mentally-ill and who lost the American colonies....)

The ship actually was named after an earlier CN BC coast ship of the same name which burned 'to death' in 1946 in the Alaskan port city of Ketchikan. The original Prince George was a sister to the Prince Rupert, and predates the creation of Canadian National Railways. The two Princes were ordered by Charles M Hays, President of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, the man who lost his life in the Titanic sinking. He named his ships for the two BC 'Prince' cities through which his railway was being built. He chose the Prince prefix for his ships so as to mark the competition that he was expecting to have with the CPR's Princesses.
Several years later, after the collapse of the GTP, the CNR was formed. Some years later the then CNR president Sir Henry Thornton, commissioned new Prince ships and gave them names such as the Prince Henry. Any guesses on where that name came from?

[Queen of Nanaimo Teen]

I know this is a little late, but i would like to nominate my namesake ship, Miss Nanaimo:

[WettCoast]

From the Flickr photo site of Wett Coast

I will use this thread to post new & old scans of my brother's art and photographic work. The profile drawing here of the QPR is fresh this evening from my flat bed scanner. As time allows I will add much more material.

Cheers
Jim aka WCK, on behalf of Mr. DOT.

PS: I am uncertain of the date that David did this drawing though I would guess that it was circa 1970.

[mrdot]

first of all, my ego does not need all this dot prase, but the recognition is fine. I have another signature strip which I did in my kelsey bay days which I should release as Queen of Kelsey Bay to compete with the Queen of Richmond crew.mr.dot.

[Low Light Mike]

So I had looked back at the 2008 flagship pool, saw all those great DOT pictures, and it occurred to me that some newer members might not have seen them yet.

And now we have Mr. DOT as a member, so he can give his comments on these pics too.

So that was the purpose of me creating this here thread.

- I normally like to avoid duplication, but I will be happy to periodically copy the photo-posts from this here thread into the separate ship-specific photo threads, so that those separate threads will have these pics too.

So pardon the duplication, but I thought this would be a good place to introduce these photos, and then of course I'll make sure that our ship-specific threads are a complete & enduring resource too, that people 5 years from now can use to see many photos of each ship.

Yours in happy moderation,

F.Horn.