ShopTek

01/12/2024

Why and How to Build an Owl House
Full article in the first comment 💬👀

07/04/2023

07/04/2023

A rainy wet July 3rd. Let’s make ravioli with fresh garden spinach! So we did and enjoyed them for dinner and freezer for future meals.

06/09/2023

I love the history of the Great Lakes vessels!

An image from a dry plate negative of the whaleback barge 131 entering the Weitzel Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., circa 1900-1910 (Image Source: Library of Congress – Detroit Publishing Co. Collection).

The collection notes indicate the barge is waiting for its towing steamer to pass a line to the barge and tow it into the lock.

Additional Historical Information

Launched in 1893, the bulk freight barge 131 was built in West Superior, Wis. by the American Steel Barge Co. for the leasing and chartering division of the company based in Buffalo, New York. The 306-foot (LOA) vessel was the first whaleback to carry lumber.

In 1900, the American Steel Barge fleet was sold to the Bessemer Steamship Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. The Bessemer fleet was merged into the Pittsburgh Steamship Co. of Duluth, Minn. in 1904. Pittsburgh Steamship was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the U.S. Steel Corp.

The barge 131, along with six other whaleback barges, was traded to the Great Lakes Engineering Works of Ecorse, Mich. in 1910. The trade was part of the purchase price for three new bulk freighters.

In 1911, the barge was sold to the Harper Transportation Co. of Boston, Mass. for off-lakes service. The Great Lakes Engineering Works then shortened it by 32 feet to allow the vessel to transit the Welland Canal and the canals of the St. Lawrence River.

That same year, the barge was renamed the Salem and its title was transferred to the Philadelphia Trust, Safe Deposit and Insurance Co. In 1917, it was renamed the Freeport Sulphur No. 4 and listed as a tanker.

In 1923, the vessel was sold to the New York Pure Oil Steamship Co. and renamed the Pure Oil No. 10. It was purchased by the Sabine Towing Co. of Texas in 1929 and renamed the Pure Nulube. After being abandoned, it was scrapped at Houston, Texas in 1946.

Information Sources:
https://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/item/441034
https://greatlakeships.org/2899148/data?n=1
https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/numbers/131-2

06/09/2023

How’s this for green technology!!

03/29/2023

What! Just outside Poughkeepsie NY. It’s $4.89 in Rochester.

03/27/2023