Haida Transporter

[Neil]

Yes, I know this is a terrible photo- I'm only posting it because there has only been one other ever posted on this forum of this vessel. That photo is the second here, and is taken from a Retro post of a couple of years ago.





The vessel is the Haida Transporter, and I know virtually nothing about it. All I've been able to find out is that it was once owned by Kingcome Navigation, which was bought by WMG, and it had been chartered at one time to the CPR. It was built in '68 or '69, and was 2553 gross tons. I believe it was rail capable. I have no idea if it was ever on a regular run, or where that might have been. I recall seeing it a few years ago tied up in North Vancouver, and its TC registry ended in 2005, so presumably it is now out of the country, or scrapped.

Any information would be appreciated.

[Northern Exploration]

I used to see the train and car ferries come and go from the old docks below where the Guiness Building is. Sort of where the convention centre is being built. The ferry was quite similar to that but had the CPR colour scheme quite prominent.

[Mike C]

I was talking to a guy down at Riverport about this vessel one day a couple weeks back. He basically told me that everything you said above Neil, and that it was bought by the CPR and used for a while. He was unsure if the vessel was still in revenue service, and evidently, according to the TC website, like Neil said, it's registry has ended quite some time ago.

[landlocked]

Hi,

The Transporter was built in 68 from what I understand. She had two Stork Werkspoor engines, of the similar series to the Commodore Straits (ex Haida Brave) and the Island Monarch ex Seaspan Monarch ex Harold A. Jones. When they were paying $2,500 each for an exhaust valve by the early 80's, Peter Brown (Sealink Marine) the GM of Kingcome Navigation decided to rip out Storks and put in a couple of used EMD's from Texas. In addition, a lot of work was done to try to give her a few more years in the ballast tanks. They were in real rough shape. At the same time, new uprights were installed tween deck to support the deck. The problem with her was that she was never built to to hold the heavy rail loads that eventually came along. She was built primarily to carry railcars for all the M&B mills. She used to travel predominantly to Harmac, Squamish and Powell River, but did do charter work for CP.

When they were bought out by Seaspan, who already owned the Greg and Doris Yorke, they did use her for fill in until her engines needed rebuilding. They towed her around for a while, but she just didn't tow worth a darn and couldn't pack the loads the newer barges could. So, if she's not in N. Van still, she will have probably have gone to China for scrapping.

If I recall, she was built by Allied Shipbuilders prior to their move to N. Vancouver from False Creek.

The other boat that the other poster may have seen was probably the old Trailer Princess. She ended up in Vanguard Bay on Nelson Island the last time I saw her and was involved with some sort of logging show.

[corporalrabbinoff]

I can confirm she has indeed been scrapped! I used to see her in Departure Bay at the dock where the Cement factory is when I used to get the Queen of Alberni's 5:15am sailing out of Departure Bay before Duke Point opend.

Here is a picture of her in Seattle:
www.fortunecity.com/marina/greatpier/120/harb11.html

(3rd picture from bottom of the page)

[Deleted]

Jul 11, 2008 12:02:10 GMT -8 Neil said:

Yes, I know this is a terrible photo- I'm only posting it because there has only been one other ever posted on this forum of this vessel. That photo is the second here, and is taken from a Retro post of a couple of years ago.





The vessel is the Haida Transporter, and I know virtually nothing about it. All I've been able to find out is that it was once owned by Kingcome Navigation, which was bought by WMG, and it had been chartered at one time to the CPR. It was built in '68 or '69, and was 2553 gross tons. I believe it was rail capable. I have no idea if it was ever on a regular run, or where that might have been. I recall seeing it a few years ago tied up in North Vancouver, and its TC registry ended in 2005, so presumably it is now out of the country, or scrapped.

Any information would be appreciated.

Hi,

My Dad (Ted Jamieson) was the Skipper on the Transporter for the better part of ten years, from the early eighties through the early nineties.
The ship made a couple of regular runs while it was owned by Kingcome Navigation.
They did a run from the Burlington Northern docks, where it was moored,
(next to the BC sugar refinery) to Powell River, and another to Deep Point (Nanaimo I think) and Elk Falls?
It was a train-car ferry. Approximately 100 yards in length supplying the pulp and paper refineries with chemicals like chlorine. It would also carry big rig trailers to supply the grocery stores.
The crew was somewhere around 12 - 15 I think.
{Occasionally, my Dad would take my brother or me out for a weekend trip, and one of the cooks, Omar,(a very nice French Canadian man) would cook and bake from dusk until Dawn. Supplying the crew with three meals a day, and a cornucopia of gourmet snacks. He made the best Tor tier I have ever had.}
My Dad passed away last Friday unfortunately. But I do have an otherwise unseen photo of the ship out in the harbor. As soon as I get a copy I will post it here.
Last I saw her, was back in '97. Her engines had been removed I think, and she was being towed like a barge in the Frazer river, beneath the Alex Frazer bridge.

[Low Light Mike]

Jun 11, 2012 17:48:19 GMT -8 @rimfire78 said:

My Dad (Ted Jamieson) was the Skipper on the Transporter for the better part of ten years, from the early eighties through the early nineties.

Thanks for the info and for sharing some of your father's story with us.

[Mike C]

Thank you for the information, rimfire78. You refered to the Burlington Northern docks located next to the Rogers Sugar refinery. There is a ferry berth located between the refinery and Balentine Pier - was this home port for the Transporter?

I have long wondered about that berth, and if that is the case, then suddenly it all makes sense...

[Deleted]

Jun 12, 2012 12:10:05 GMT -8 Mike C said:

Thank you for the information, rimfire78. You refered to the Burlington Northern docks located next to the Rogers Sugar refinery. There is a ferry berth located between the refinery and Balentine Pier - was this home port for the Transporter?

I have long wondered about that berth, and if that is the case, then suddenly it all makes sense...

That sounds familiar. Next to the Rogers Sugar refinery, (excuse me).
The ship was docked at several places throughout the years, but started out behind the Kingcome offices - down near Carroll and waterfront, across the train tracks.
(At that time there was an outdoor farmers fish market there, with an orange awning for a roof) This was pre-Granville island spectacle. (Near Portside park I believe).
I've marked the map with the spots where the transporter was docked or loaded/unloaded over that decade, as best I can remember.
I've also included a picture of the Haida Transporter's wheelhouse.

1.Original Kincome offices and dock (no longer there)
2.The second home of the ship
3.The end of the run for the Transporter
4.Loading/unloading of rail cars

Attachments:

[Deleted]

The original address for Kingcome Navigation was "Foot of Columbia". Which would put it at Portside Park exactly.
The dock is gone now, but that was her original home.

Attachments:

[Mike C]

Thank you for this wealth of information, map and photo. The berth you indicated was the same one I had mentioned. That helps put the puzzle pieces together.

[Deleted]

[Deleted]

[lmtengs]

Thanks for those great photos of a little-known ferry on our coast!

[Deleted]

Thanks for all the info.

[Deleted]

[Deleted]

[Neil]

Thanks muchly for all these shots, rimfire. Up until now, the Haida Transporter was definitely the least known ferry in our recent history, on this forum at least. Now I would guess the mystery boat is the Trailer Princess... maybe someone will come along with some shots of that one. (Owned by Helifor, presumably still in service somewhere up our coast.)

[Deleted]

So glad I could contribute!

[Deleted]

The last Pic in my posession

[Low Light Mike]

Aug 26, 2012 19:17:56 GMT -8 @rimfire78 said:

The last Pic in my posession

Many thanks for this and the others.

[Low Light Mike]

I've moved this thread into the retired-ships section of the forum.


And here is a 1968 newspaper clipping that I saw at the Powell River Museum

[Neil]

Now, that's intriguing. 'Train ferry' to Powell River?

[lmtengs]

Sept 23, 2012 21:19:31 GMT -8 Neil said:

Now, that's intriguing. 'Train ferry' to Powell River?

For the pulp mill and logging operations in the area. There's basically the railbarge dock, then a railyard, and nothing else. It's used to load boxcars full of the pulp mill's product, then the loaded railcars are loaded onto the barge. I believe it's also been used to ship out logs from logging operations on the Sunshine Coast in the past as well.

Here's the railyard on Google Maps:
goo.gl/maps/f3oPL

[WettCoast]

Here are a couple of decent photos of the Haida Transporter that I found while surfing around on Flickr... I noted a Seaspan logo on the side.

www.flickr.com/photos/kittycashmere/2429656305/in/faves-morten812/lightbox/

www.flickr.com/photos/kittycashmere/2429656475/in/faves-morten812/lightbox/