Who Owned the Kingston Shipyards?

Kingston's main dry dock and shipyard was located at the west end of Ontario Street. Page one of its 1891-1928 Dry Dock Book (top photo). Its cornerstone was famously laid by Canada's first Prime Minister and Kingston's most famous son, The Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, on June 19, 1890.

Initially transferred from the British to local businessmen Counter, Gildersleeve and Kilpatrick in the late 1830's, a Marine Railway was flourishing on Mississauga Point as the main shipbuilding point west of Quebec. Various local ownership schemes lasted until the land was returned to the government and the drydock added in 1890-91. Designed by Henry Perley, the stones lining the sides of the dock were three feet square by four feet long, of locally-quarried stone, likely from Belleville. Locally (and on this blog) referred to as the Kingston Shipyards, there were changes in ownership over the years of shipbuilding on the site.

• 1891 - the drydock is owned and administered by the Department of Public Works
• 1909 - Secretary-Treasurer W.J. Fair writes to Department of Public Works (above) re: Collingwood personnel associated with leasing the drydock and the intent to form the Kingston Shipbuilding Co. 
• 1910 - Collingwood Shipyards took on the shipyard and drydock as a subsidiary, named the Kingston Shipbuilding Co., also known as Collingwood Shipbuilding Co., Kingston. On August 2, the dry dock was leased by Kingston Shipbuilding for 21 years at $10,000 per year.

• August 1914-December 1916 Improvements are made to the plant and buildings of the shipyard: Locomotive crane $6014.81; Railway track in yard $2177.28; their proportion of the railway track from the Grand Trunk yard along Ontario Street $1823.25; Railway spur from Ontario Street to yard $1054.66. The city bylaw to extend the siding was published in December, 1914 and passed on January 11, 1915. The extension ran from the end of Grand Trunk passenger track at the north-east corner of Ontario and William Streets, across William and along Ontario to West Street.

• January 1917 - Pres. R.M. Wolvin writes to request transfer of lease from Kingston Shipbuilding Co. to Collingwood Shipbuilding Co. though the Collingwood name disappeared shortly thereafter. H.B. Smith was Collingwood Shipbuilding President, H.C. Welch was the Kingston Shipbuilding Co. Manager, and T.F. McMillan the Secretary.
• June 1917 - Samuel Chapleau from Department of Public Works writes to Mr Welsh, Superintendent of Kingston Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co.:
  
• 1917 As of June 1, the drydock lease was reduced to a rate of $5,000/yr., one of only two drydocks on the Great Lakes, then known as the Collingwood Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., Kingston Yard as of December, 1917. On February 3, 1918 Kingston Shipbuilding assigned the lease for the drydock to Collingwood Shipbuilding. An Order-in-Council of December 1, 1921 confirmed the new rate for the years  1920-1924.

• 1920's-1942 - A 1927 statement of account from Collingwood's Kingston Yard (above - from online auction). Referred to as Kingston Shipbuilding Co. though name changed to Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering in 1942 (letterhead in use, 1943 and possibly as early as 1930's):
  
• 1946-1947 - Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) purchased the shipyards.in Kingston, Midland, Port Arthur and Collingwood. As early as 1944, John S. Leitch wrote a letter of recommendation for Shipyards superintendent R.W. Sutton, anticipating "going out of business shortly".
  
• 1953 - Officially known as Kingston Shipyards, Ltd.
• 1967 - CSL president T.R. McLagan ordered manager R.W. Sutton (manager of the Kingston Shipyards from February, 1953 to October, 1968) to shutter the shipyards. A Whig photo from 1964, while the fate of the shipyards hung in the balance:

• 1973 - In June, most of the shipyards' buildings were demolished. Two buildings remained, becoming the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes.

(Documents in this post from Kingston Shipyards Collection, Queen's University Archives.)

Shipping Steel for Ships to the Shipyards, 1918-1920

The vast majority of paper records (and for legal reasons certainly the essential ones) were taken from  Kingston to head office in Collingwood, ON at the time of the closure of the Canadian Steamship Engineering Co.'s Kingston Shipyards. Some remained, apparently left high up in a ancient storage shed loft and discovered. An archivist named Wilson spent several days in 1968 checking out several tons of poorly-preserved records. Though perhaps mundane and workaday in nature, some of those records now comprise the five-box Kingston Shipyards Collection at the Queen's University Archives.

I can't imagine several tons. Having requested all five boxes, I felt badly that I could only make it part of the way through one, during each of two four-hour visits there! After viewing the photos of the first major ships built there, I was very interested to view some of the background correspondence. Specifically, steel shipments for use in building of the vessels. More specifically, car numbers containing the shipments! Being just over one hundred years old, they're a little early for my main era of interest, but to me they're engrossing for many reasons: their detail, the care taken forming the correspondence, and the variety of information that came in just a few small boxes from that high-up loft over fifty years ago!

Naturally, as in all government transactions, a paper trail was kept. The top letter records a shipment of steel plates from the Brier Hill Steel Co. of Youngstown, OH dated March 15, 1919. An example of the constant exchange of letters with notifications of cars arriving, weights and lading, and documentation for billing purposes. At the end of World War I, there had been difficulty in sourcing enough rolling stock to deliver much-needed products like steel.

I believe the ships the steel was used in are: CGS-148, CGS-164 likely the Canadian Beaver, CGS-179/Ship 16 the Canadian Coaster.

A sample invoice, this one from the Lackawanna Steel Co. in Buffalo, NY dated October 21, 1918. Routing is South Buffalo RR to Wabash RR to Canadian Pacific:

The steel plates were a variety of sizes, such as 300 x 72 x 3/4 inches or 240 x 73 by 5/16 inches. This car is found at the top of an August, 1919 list of carloads received (below) for CGS-148.

A January 3, 1919 letter notifying the shipyard of 300 tons of steel set to arrive for CGS-164, likely the Canadian Beaver, including keel plates, frames and floor plates:

 

A sample letter for a steel shipment, dated March 7, 1919:

A February 13, 1919 letter:

A few examples of railway paperwork are included, such as this Bill of Lading from La Belle Iron Works, dated January 1, 1919. Note the shipping route from Steubenville, OH to Kingston: Wabash RR. to Canadian Pacific Rly.

An April 13, 1920 letter describes 576 tons of steel plate to be sent from Dominion Steel & Coal Corporation (DOSCO) from Sydney, NS to Kingston. (Some of the steel shipped was not the correct size i.e. 92 inches instead of 192 inches in length!)

A March 17 and 19, 1919 accounting of cars received for CGS-164 between the Department of Marine and the shipyard from the Brier Hill Steel Co. The latter notes a discrepancy of four cars which have not arrived yet.

From all the documents, here's a list of the steel shipments by date, car number, lading, weight and originating steel mill/shipper. Note that some of the cars were likely travelling together, sometimes referred to as 'twins'. Perhaps one car was an idler car? A wide range of railway initials is evident (see bottom)

Canadian lines listed as Railway, all others are American:

B&O (Baltimore & Ohio)

B&S (Buffalo & Susquehanna)

C&O (Chesapeake & Ohio)

CCC&StL (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis)

CGR (Canadian Government Railways)

CN (Canadian Northern Railway)

CNO&TP (Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific)

FEC (Florida East Coast)

GET

IRC (Intercolonial Railway)

K&M (Kanawha & Michigan)

LV (Lehigh Valley)

MC (Michigan Central)

NYC (New York Central)

PL

P&LE (Pittsburgh & Lake Erie)

PMcK&Y (Pittsburgh, McKeesport & Youghiogheny)

P&R (Philadelphia & Reading)

PRR (Pennsylvania Railroad)

VRR (?Vandalia Railroad)

WM (Western Maryland)

D.C. Everest, Kingston's Canaller

The remarkable D.C. Everest, was a 259-foot pulpwood carrier for the Marathon Paper Company and the only lake freighter built at Kingston Shipyards (Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd.). The first vessel launched since the last of the Warrior-class tugs in 1946, the Everest was the only all-welded vessel built there. My brother provided some context for this launch on his Rolly Martin Country blog. In his just-published post, David notes that the ship's namesake, David Clark Everest, was president of the Marathon Corporation, whose pulp mill was constructed at the corporation's namesake town on the north shore of Lake Superior between 1944 and 1946. Mr Everest became President in 1938 and Chairman of the Board in 1950. Marathon Corporation was acquired by American Can of Canada in 1969. 

I must admit that I assumed the 'Everest' in her name referred to the conquest of the mountain of the same name by Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953 - the year she entered service!

Specially designed to carry pulpwood by Montreal marine architects German & Milne, D.C. Everest's keel was laid October 4, 1951. Built at a cost of $1 million, following her October 15, 1952 launch, testing required seven different 10-foot propellers until a satisfactory one was found. Two photos above show her departing for a test voyage to the Bay of Quinte on November 28, 1952. She departed Kingston for Marathon on April 1, 1953. Equipped with a troublesome Wisconsin-built 1,200 horsepower Fairbanks Morse Model 37F16 engine, with a gross tonnage of 2,200 the Everest carried logs to customer operations at Green Bay, WI and Menominee, MI. Shipping reports indicate she could carry 220 tons of processed pulpwood bales, returning to Marathon with 3,500 tons of limestone as needed.

In 1980, the Everest was acquired by Johnstone Shipping Ltd. and renamed Condarrell, fitted with a travelling crane for steel handling. Subsequent owners included Marine Salvage in 1982 and McKeil Work Boats in 1987, with her original name restored in 1988. Idle at Toronto, moved to Valleyfield, she saw occasional service as a lighter, sold for scrap in 2006, and broken up in 2014.

(Photos in the post from Queen's University Archives.)

The Canadian Coaster

Kingston Shipyards (at the time, the Collingwood Shipbuilding Company, Kingston Yard) launched Canadian Beaver initially known as hull #15 or K-15, its first commercial freighter on December 10, 1919. The Beaver was officially received by the Department of Marine and Fisheries on May 10, 1920. The same year, work was underway on the second such ship built here, the Canadian Coaster,  initiailly known as hull #16 or K-16, slipped down the ways. Both steel vessels were for Canadian Merchant Marine Service and both were 2,400 gross tons with a length of 250 feet. Only ten years earlier, the Collingwood Shipyards had taken over operation of the drydock and shipyard. This 1920 aerial photo shows likely the Canadian Coaster being built at the shipyard:

After World War I, the need for a Canadian built and operated Merchant Marine fleet was identified with 66 vessels built and in service between 1919 and 1922. These photos show the construction and launch of Canadian Coaster. Both vessels built in Kingston were smaller than most of the fleet, and were intended for West Indies trade. Before long, the small size and mix of designs in the fleet, their slow speed and coal-fired power plants, plus the fact that no passengers could be carried rendered them uneconomical to operate.

Early start on the keel and ribs (above). Canadian Coaster was renamed Champlain  in 1929, Kingsley in 1930. Silvestre  in 1943, Santa Lucia in 1950, and broken up in 1966 in Santos, Brazil. An interesting September 24, 1920 in-progress photo which not only shows the lettering on the punch shed but also some of the Kingston skyline and some passing smoke over Ontario Street:

Progress as of February 24, 1921:

I was fortunate to view correspondence from the construction period. The Department of Marine & Fisheries made at least ten instalment payments to Canadian Shipbulding Co. Kingston. This is notice of the ninth instalment for $70,992.50 made on April 1, 1921. The tenth instalment was paid on April 20, 1921.

On the eve of the launch, March 23, 1921:

Launch day, March 24, 1921! The two figures on the bridge superstructure must have some vital function, or are perhaps thrill-seekers holding on for dear life:

Good news travels fast! A telegram was sent to Ottawa mentioning the 10:30 a.m. launch, from a Mr Pemberton to Charles Duguid, Chief naval Constructor at the Department of Marine:

A reproduction of the news item of the day:

A slightly different pre-launch view, with flags flying and support poles removed from the ways:

Trial trips were undertaken, as noted in this letter from the Department of Marine and Fisheries to the shipyard on April 11, 1921:

A further letter from April 21, 1921 noting dock trials two days later:

All photos from the Kingston Shipyards Papers, Queen's University Archives.

Canadian Locomotive Co. Loads and Dimensionals, Part 3

In two earlier posts, ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) I'd published photos of dimensional loads leaving Kingston's Canadian Locomotive Co. (CLC) plant. Most of those photos are part of the Canadian Science and Technology Museum's Picturing the Past Collection. Recently, while viewing the CLC fonds at the Queen's University Archives, I found additional photos, hence this third post in what became a series. In no particular order, and with no caption information provided with the originals whatsoever, here are some more dimensional load photos taken at CLC:

Not only do these photos show the versatility of the workforce and its manufacturing output, they also speak to the diversification necessary to keep the plant operating in the face of disappointingly low locomotive orders. Chicago Great Western flat car 200xxx (above). CN flat car 600306 appears twice in this post. Top photo - with large load inside the plant and (below) carrying a load stencilled 'Auckland NZ':

CN flat car 663327:

Chassis and export parts on CP 3xx535. Though no dates are shown, a 'later than' date can be gleaned from build and shop dates stencilled on some of the cars. This flatcar was built in January, 1954:

CP 301x62. This flat car was built June, 1953:

CN depressed-centre flat car 6xx959 showing a built date of October 1923 and a shop date of June, 1953. Note that the car is being switched by what appears to be a CN steam locomotive:

Kingston and "97" Freight Car Chalk Marks

This post (300TH POST!) really gets down to the nitty-gritty details of railroading! In fact, these details are so far down in the weeds that no-one would probably notice them in photos, or give them a second thought. But they're meaningful for my Hanley Spur modelling.

In a January, 2016 post on my main railway blog, I showed some examples of 'hat checks' that were used to denote passengers' destinations on Canadian passenger trains. Specifically, these shorthand numbers were used on CN's Kingston Subdivision by CN and later by VIA conductors:

• Oshawa 14
• Cobourg 8
• Belleville 3
• Napanee 0
• Kingston 7
• Gananoque 90
• Brockville 91
• Prescott 89
• Cornwall 81

Former VIA trainman and current CN conductor Steve Lucas has noted that these numbers were shortened versions of previous Grand Trunk Railway station designations, for instance:

• Belleville 103
• Napanee 100
• Kingston 97

and that these designations may well have begun from the east in either Portland, ME or even Riviere du Loup, QC!

In another post from April, 2021 I discussed the prototype use and modelling of freight car chalk marks. In the pre-digital era, these marks were used by train crews to convey all sorts of specific messages to other train crews.

The top photo of this post is an enlargement of a chalk mark that was very much in the background of an undated photo showing Canadian Locomotive Co. (CLC) officials in front of a new diesel locomotive. Two hopper cars, one Delaware & Hudson and one New York, Chicago & St Louis "Nickel Plate Road" are visible, and the Richardson 97 chalk mark appears on the latter. This meant that the car was destined to Richardson coal at Kingston "97". Richardson's coal operation at the foot of Queen Street became Crawford in the 1950's, and was just a short shovaway from where the above photo were taken.

Then I started looking closer at some other cars carrying CLC loads, to see if similar chalk marks could be found. Calcutta C-1 steam engine on CP depressed-centre flat car 309928 bears a 'Kingston Rush' chalk mark, making me think that shipment of the first locomotive in this order was to be expedited!

A CLC diesel bound for Calcutta on depressed-centre CP 309925, taken on August 21, 1967 in front of the derelict canaller Bayquinte, is also chalked Kingston. 

Even as late as 1981, CN documents in my collection denote cars for Kingston with a handwritten "97" showing that the steam-era designation was very much alive well into the diesel era!

All photos in this post are from Canadian Locomotive Co. fonds or Kingston Whig-Standard Fonds, Queen's University Archives.