This very impressive operation (built in the 30's) is pretty much immune to cyberattack. Sometimes, old technology is more robust than the latest cutting-edge, computer-driven techniques. You're commentary and drone/video work is superb! Thanks for it!
Cyberattack isn’t a problem if your not internet connected or using proprietary software. It’s an issue that’s exaggerated by the media and people selling tv appearances, books, or looking for a MIC job.
It's amazing how long maritime machines and ships last when they work around fresh water. I love the footage of this dock in action. It's satisfying to watch this ballet of railcars and freighter that's worked for almost a century.
@@KutWrite I’m pretty sure that the Great Lakes (combined) make up the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth. I live in Michigan near Detroit, and there are vehicle stickers with the outline of the Great Lakes, and the saying “Great Lakes, unsalted and shark free!” 😃
This ship has a unique and amazing history. Now an 826 foot bulk carrier laker, she was built as a 500 foot ocean going tanker in Maryland. Launched in mid 1942 as the Chipewa, she was "drafted" as a supply ship to the U.S. Navy in Europe, and later transferred into post-war service the Pacific. She later delivered refined petro products to East coast US city ports until 1960, when purchased by Cleveland Cliffs for conversion to a Great Lakes bulk carrier hauling iron ore. An entirely new 500 foot long 75 foot wide cargo hold fabricated in Europe replaced the original ~270 foot tanker mid-ship section at a Loraine, Ohio Lake Erie shipyard. She was lengthened another 96 feet in 1976, and converted to a self unloader in 1978. But wait... there's more! In 1984 she was one of three "sister" ships sold to Ford Motor Co.'s Rouge Steel Division, each ship renamed for Edsel Ford's three sons. While operated by Ford, she was badly damaged by a grounding accident and nearly sunk... she survived and was repaired. In 1989, Ford sold all of its ships and a contract to haul ore for Rouge Steel to Interlake Steamship, her current owner, and she was renamed Lee A. Tregurtha. Nearly 17 years later (then 64 years old!) her original steam turbine propulsion system was replaced by twin 4000 horsepower (each) diesel engines which power the now 82 year old ship today. Amazing!! This detail and more can be found at: boatnerd.com/
There are additional challenges with shipping on freshwater. Freshwater is less buoyant for example and there are some violent storms that can form over the great lakes. So it's not all sunshines.
Man oh man. I grew up in the Toledo area, and was a cop at Cedar Point in 2003. I know the area and those waters really well - spent a lot of time out there. Great drone footage and wonderfully narrated - excellent job!
Great job making this video. 👍👍👍 One of the best videos explaining how the whole process works for loading coal onto the ships 🚢. Also Great overview of the dock and the views of the transfer loading tower. Most coal gons are weight rated at 286,000 pounds. Load capacity 116 tons, or 232,000 pounds.
@17:05 - That large sheave with all the cables hoists that whole boom. I think that each turn of the sheave equated to about 10K pounds or at least it did on our yard crane. What a mechanism.
A Coal Car can weigh 100 to 120 ton fully loaded with a load of up to 25 tons dependent on size/height/length/design of car. Remember not all coal weighs the same. So it could be off by a few tons. I lived there and had relatives that worked here. I explored this extensively in my youth. Even worked here for a summer job. So I hope this helps. Also cars have become lighter using thinner materials so therefor allowing larger capacity.
Wow great video! A good friend of mine sails on the M/V Herbert C. Jackson of Interlake Steamship Co. and he has loaded in Sandusky a few times under his watch. It’s a slight pain as they have to move the ship and it takes along time. A lot of loaders on the lakes can move themselves to load the ship much faster but it is very cool they are still loading the ships like they did in the 1900s! Adding to what you said about the pilot house placement in the 1970s it started to become too expensive to build vessels with a forward pilot house so they started building all accommodations aft. Also the reason there is no smoke when they are moving is because the movement is fully controlled by the winches and usually the the propeller isn’t even used.
Thanks for the fantastic information! I really do appreciate it. That's very interesting about the pilot house cost and pushing them to the aft. I should have figured it was a winch system and not a propeller moving the ship.
I do have a question I forgot to ask you. I'm working on a video covering the CSX coal facility in Toledo. Any chance you know someone who has loaded there? I'd love to ask them a few questions. Thanks either way.
My friend hasn’t loaded at Toledo that I’m aware of but the Toledo loader is very similar to the Sandusky loader when it comes to loading. They have to wait for train cars once in a while and takes a reasonably long time to load as they have to shift. I’ve heard the now just recently retired Algoma Transport had to wait 4-5 for a coal train to arrive.
@@GreatLakesStateProductions6708 gotcha. It is an interesting operation. The cars are rotary dumped and the coal is then sent to the ship. The facility isn't able to store any coal, only what's dumped from the cars. It doesn't make sense to me why it would not have a storage option (even a small amount) to keep the process flowing. I was up there a month or two ago and it seemed everything came to a halt several times. It was interesting to watch but raised a lot of questions too. Let me know if you ever come across anyone who has loaded there.
In the "Know Your Ships" book (consider getting one) she is listed as a Self-Unloader (SU), which is also evidenced by the 250 foot long unloading boom. All Self-Unloaders have an internal "hopper like" structure (vaguely V-shaped along the axis of the ship) to guide the load in the hold down to the central unloading belt, which pulls the bulk cargo back towards the base of the boom where other machinery lifts the bulk cargo up onto the boom to be expelled at the unloading destination. Because all of the bulk load needs to be carried by the unloading belt at the bottom of the hold space, even if each loading hatch opened into a separate compartment they are all open to the bottom any way to allow Self-Unloading. Not all bulk carriers are self-unloaders, but that is the trend. I am pretty sure that in this case that is all one big bulk cargo area. The hartches are only big enough to fit the old "Hulett" style unloader, Hulett unloaders were high tech in their day but are now completely obsolete and you would be hard pressed to find even one still in operation.. The bigger you make the hatches, the weaker they get unless you made them very strong, which would add too much weight, so their size has been standardized Not being an expert Boat Nerd (I am a junior boat nerd in training, a JeBNIT), I do not know all of the precise terms for all of these things, but I think I have explained the basic idea pretty well. Nice video footage, thanks for posting. If you like to learn about Great Lakes boats check ouy this channel: www.youtube.com/@authorwes
This particular ship has four bulk compartments, and for each loading door on top has a small 4foot by 6 foot door on the bottom to let cargo onto the belt. I miss working on these boats and have been on alot of them in sturgeon bay
Great video. If you want to get into a rabbit hole, look into tours of the laker ships. They show much of the ships including the conveyers, estate rooms, engine rooms & etc..
YT suggested this video to me, but I almost skipped it. I'm glad that I watched it, as it was very interesting and very well done 👍 It was interesting to see where Cedar Point is situated. All of it's steel supports for their amazing 'coasters and rides looks industrial from the distance, making it fit right in with it's neighbors. I have now subscribed to this channel.
Great shots of the dock loading operation! Been at that dock and on that vessel, and that loader is probably the most interesting on the Great Lakes! If someone hasn't already commented, the ships' crew moves it via their mooring whiches forward and aft; no engines required. The crew onboard of either end of the boat is operating the winches and vessel shifting. This particular boat has 5 cargo holds and 24 hatches (4-5 hatches per cargo hold) and uses the "2 belt" method to squeeze and bring material to its boom. The CSX coal loading dock in Toledo is also a interesting rail dock... you could also capture ship's loading from rail cars and unloading there, too.
Thank you very much. I really enjoy recording this dock. I'm hopeful to catch a CSX train unloading coal in Toledo and a ship loading. I have a couple questions for you about a future video. Any chance you could send your email to me? nkyrailfan@gmail.com Thanks either way.
Nice video. I would love to see any other industry served by the railroad that you can get your drone over for this type of coverage. Papermill. Steel mill. Automotive plant, shingle plant, etc. great video thx for sharing.
She’s a beautiful veteran ship. And unfortunately this is the last season for the Algoma Transport she will be permanently retired (scrapped) mainly because hauling salt shortened her life span 😢 It will be sad to see her go. Thank you for sharing this video. 😊
@@nkyrailfan your welcome. Fortunately she will live on through the many videos that others have made of her. I had the pleasure of seeingt the Lee Tregutha and the James Oberstar in Marquette this summer loading iron ore pellets at the docks. Those dock were built around 1912. It fascinating to watch.
The bays on the ship are 24' on center, this is because the loading chutes at the Iron Ore docks on Lake Superior are spaced at that distance because the Iron Ore cars are that length due to Iron Ore being much heavier than coal. Five separate holds is the most common on older ships, though the Lee A. Tregurtha might be different due to being lengthened a second time. The steel mill is located in Detroit, at Marquette, MI it will load Iron Ore pellets, probably for the same steel mill.
I've actually been looking at planning a trip there. It's about a 12 hour drive depending on traffic, but I think I can make it work. It'll have to wait until spring but I definitely plan on heading up there.
It’s great that we have so many people who enjoy things like this video shows. RU-vid offers the world such a great variety of content that anyone can search for and find something interesting to watch. How mind numbing it would be if we were all limited to the dreck that’s being put out on mainstream network channels. 🤢🤮
The Lee Tregurtha is (obviously!) an old-style laker, with the bridge and wheelhouse at the bow. It also has a "steering pole"" at the point of the bow - whose function is also obvious! From the '70's (I think) laker design was changed, withe bridge, wheelhouse and accommodation all being located at the stern - and the ""steering pole"" being removed. Although this ship is 80+ years old, I suspect it has had several changes of motive power - marine diesel engines do not last forever, even in fresh water. I visited Cedar Point in 2017, but the season had finished and everything was closed. I missed the coal dock - I did not realise it was there - but i had a wonderful lakeside lunch at Port Clinton. Thanks for the video.
I understand the bridge, wheelhouse and accommodation were moved to the stern because of costs. I don't know much about these ships, so I'm curious why it was more costly when these were on the bow. This is a learning moment for me. Thank you!
My guess is since the rudders are at the rear of the ship, a mechanically-linked steering wheel would be a lot more complex and costly to put at the front instead of in the rear as well. Just a guess though.
If you look at the stern of the ship you will notices how it comes to a point or nose. All lakers need a stern anchor. So when it was converted from a war time vessel an anchor would have hit the rudder if drop. So a nose pice was added to extend the anchor so as to drop further out.
The ship is moved via two winches that the mooring lines run through. One winch heaves, one plays out and so on depending on which direction the ship needs to scoot.
This is called "warping the ship". The great lakes boat crews are exceptionally good at it as it is very much their "bread and butter" when loading at the lower lake ports.
@kevinzeh3559 Winches are generally located on the focsle ad quarter deck. I would also expect one midships on boats that warp so often but that will vary by shipping company age of the vessel and how many refit she has undergone.
Damn geese, everyone’s a critic. Oh yep, gulls too heh. Great video though, thanks for posting this stuff goes from really cool to incredible when we see the massive intricacies actually working. 🤯👏🏻
The sister ship, MV Paul R. Tregurtha, I believe operates in the same way. That ship was featured in the series Mighty Ships Season 1 Episode 5 - should answer a lot of the questions about how these ships work.
I grew up in Erie PA and my dad would take me down to the coal docks to watch the same machine that you show here. I think he did that to show me that the thunder like noise from the coal dumping onto the shute was not something to be afraid of. We lived 2 1/2 miles south of the docks and when the wind was right it sounded like the coal was being dumped in our yard. That was nearly 80 years ago. Thanks for the memories.
Your video was great, maybe, just maybe, the best filmed industrial video i have ever seen, quad copter skills are incredible, and makes for a great video as well, narration is exceptional as well, going looking for other videos you have made now.
Front pilot house ships are old classics, my favorite. Rear pilot house are the newer. Bow thrusters keep the ship close to the dock. There is a round marking on the side of the ship to show where the are located. She is 826 feet long.
An interesting technology, there's no such ship-loading machine in the Eastern Hemisphere. It's an engineering marvel. Well done. I hope it will operate for another hundred years.
Forward pilothouse ships are not common any more. The spear like projection helps the caption steer as it shows the angle of the ship. He/she lines it up with something in the distance.
Loading a ship such as this is a complex and criticality important process. When arriving empty to be loaded the ship will often have some ballast water that was needed to maintain her stability when traveling light in open waters that will be released when she is being loaded with cargo. When being loaded, especially a bulk carrier such as this, the loading must be specifically spread out thru the ship both in timing and amounts so as her structural integrity and stability not to be compromised. Too much in the mid ships section at one time could break her back. Too much at one end or other with center section still mostly empty could cause her to sag at bow or stern putting undue stress on her hull. Ocean going ships especially will have what is known as Plimsol markings on their hull to show how deep a ship can be loaded safely in all conditions (salt water, freshwater, winter, summer, and even a I believe a special "North Atlantic Winter" designation).
Loading too much in the middle to quickly will cause the ship to bend with the midships drafting more than the bow and stern. Loading the bow and stern to much and too quickly caues them to draft more than the mishaps and is called "hogging". But you are right, extremes of either case can break the ships keel.
That’s what I love about the internet. A few clicks and you can be transported to a completely different location and see the most interesting things that you may have never experienced!
That's awesome! How far do you take 858? I've been trying to record a coal train being loaded since I shot that first video but haven't had any luck. I know it's going into the slow season, but is there any consistency to the NS coal trains? I was thinking of just spending a weekend in PA trying to get lucky at one of the western mines. Either way, thanks for any information.
Gotcha. Are you based out of Portsmouth? I have been there a couple times but plan on going back to record the yard in action. Any time of day that's usually busy or does it vary everyday? I will say, I enjoy Moorman Yard a lot. It's nice and open with not much around it. Hopefully, you're staying warm up there.
In coal barge unloading docks we use barge haul system of wire rope and winches driven by electric motors. The crane operator moves the barge left/right using a spool on each end of the dock. By the looks on what was going on with the deckhands shifting cables around, they may have a similar system but the winches are on the ship and not on the dock, so the captain does not move the ship, the deckhands do. Oh, and that was not all smoke, most is steam. Steam dissipates into the air very quickly, smoke continues a long distance before eventually dissipating. Good video, thanks!
I'm planning on a return trip this summer to show how the coal gets from the loader to being stored on the dock. I'll definitely get plenty of ski jump action for you.
If you really want to get scale size of these ships, Go to Sauit Ste Marie locks and watch them pass through They pass within 50 ft. of the observation area.
Oh wow! I'm hoping to make a trip "up north" and see one of these on Lake Superior. I don't think I can make it that far but I am hopeful to make it to Marquette to see iron ore loading.
Or go to a port that serves ocean transport cargo container ships. Also the largest military ships such as amphibious assault ships or aircraft carriers are truly massive. As a U.S. Navy veteran, I’ve been on dockside line handling teams when an aircraft carrier came into port. Their size is overwhelming when they’re right at the pier! 🇺🇸⚓️
@@nkyrailfan If you’re based in Cincinnati, the Soo Locks are closer to you than Marquette is. Marquette is further west on the Lake Superior shoreline than Sault Ste. Marie, where the Soo Locks are located.
Amazing stuff, i did find it slightly amusing that despite all this massive machinery, and huge amounts of coal, there's still a guy with a rake moving a tiny amount of it to 'level it off'! And i mean this in the nicest manner. A cracking video and thank you for your time creating and uploading for our pleasure.
I have worked in the gas and oil fields of Pennsylvania Ohio W.Va. Coal mine trucks all over. Over on the Ohio river, Coal trucking was hot until a few years ago. I always wondered where those Norfolk Sothern cars/gondolas! Were going! Thanks!
Thank you for documenting and recording this relic. Its really beautiful in its own way, but as time marches on and we move away from using coal as a fuel source, it will unfortunately be lost. Videos like this are important for archiving the past!
After watching this I now realise how backwards we have gone in our railway system in South Africa. Today we have hundreds of road trucks waiting at our main coal export harbour for days to unload coal.
Nice video, thank you! Great format, great lenses, no music, just right! Of course I now wonder… chucking the coal in is comparatively easy - getting it out must be messier :)
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Robert. I hope to make it up to the Cleveland area this spring/summer. So, if you have any recommendations please do let me know.
This is fascinating, I just visited the decommissioned McMyler Coal Dumper in port reading NJ. It was amazing to explore up close. awesome ingenuity. Thanks for the video !
German here, we went to the lake to see the eclipse, and ended up sitting on a pile of rocks at Cedar Point road, that's behind the fun park seen in the end here. I knew about the industry, but totally missed this place, and now this showed up in my feed. Got a video on my channel showing the view over the lake during the eclipse.
Excellent documentary. I was surprised it was built so long ago and will probably go on a good number of years, unlike modern things that don't seem to be built to last I guess that took up a whole day to film so thanks for the effort you put in to make and edit it all.
Fantastic footage!!!! As a son of a german coaster captain I´ve always been into anything that has to do with ships and after spending a year over in the US Navy for training, I became very interested in Great Lakes shipping too! I find it especially fascinating that there are so many old ships still in service- surely due to the fact that they`ve been operated in fresh water only for their whole life, but still...... finally: The absolut best "feature" of your videos is the lack of any annoying music, wonderfull to just hear the seagulls and nothing else. Keep them coming, dude!
At 5:33, you can see sunlight on the compartment side and ladder. There are bulkheads between each section or every other section of the hold. The "steam" from the power plant is water vapor from the cooling tower not steam. The water-to-steam-to-water cycle is closed to preserve as much of the water as possible because it is treated to make it very pure and not have any contaminants because the steam is at at least 1200 degrees F and probably 1500 to 1600 psi pressure to drive the turbine to make electricity. From the turbine the steam goes to and through a condenser which turns the steam back to water for the cycle to start over. The water is demineralized to make it pure; an expensive process. The ship has bow thrusters.
Thanks for all the great information, Roy. I really do appreciate it. I had no idea the steam reached those temperatures. Good eye catching the compartment side and ladder.
If you're talking the steam from the ships stack, you are incorrect. The Lee A. Is equiped with sulfur scrubbers to remove sulfur oxides from the engine exhaust. The process takes a sodium hydroxide solution and sprays it into the exhaust, converting the sulfur oxides and sodium hydroxide into a sulfuric salt slurry and water which is converted by heat to the steam you see here. The sulfuric salt is separated from the slurry and stored, while the remaining liquid gets more sodium hydroxide and goes back into the cycle.