Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: presque isle

On Tuesday, we went to see the Presque Isle lighthouses.

On Tuesday, we went to see the Presque Isle lighthouses.

Here's Joan, on the patio of the reconstructed cottage. The light tower is original; the cage atop the tower and the fresnel light are authentic but were originally in other lighthouses. We were told that the original keeper's cottage was a total loss; this building seems to look like it from the outside but is in no sense authentic. It is, however, delightful.

Replaced by the New Light in 1871, and long since a museum. We were a little annoyed by the bait-n-switch tactics of the historical society--the roadside sign didn't mention the (quite reasonable, actually) fee, so we shot this from the beach, down the road. On Lake Huron, between Alpena and Rogers City, Michigan.

Marquette, Michigan; late 1980s. That's Presque Isle Park in the background, and Lake Superior in the foreground. Taken from the foot of the LS&I dock. Camera: Minolta Freedom 100

With a train overhead. I just love the long stair up to this dock.

The LS&I Railroad (a Cleveland-Cliffs subsidiary) built this iron ore dock in Marquette's upper harbor 99 years ago. It's still in use, though the cargo's evolved from raw ore to taconite pellets. This is one of the best places on the Great Lakes to view ore carriers up close. The not-quite-visible ship in this photo is Kaye E. Barker.

At Port Huron, with Sarnia across the way. Presque Isle is technically a barge with a tug tucked into her stern, but both have the same name and they've rarely been separated and have always operated as a single ship. In fact, they're so effectively a single ship that the Coast Guard didn't buy Litton Industry's argument that the combination justified the (lower) staffing levels required for tug-barge operations, so she carries a full crew. Now operating as part of the CN Great Lakes fleet, but for many years she was the only ship on the Lakes wearing Litton colors on her stack.

Been playing with m' scanner again this afternoon. This is Interlake's Elton Hoyt 2nd at the Lake Superior and Ishpeming dock in Marquette, Michigan. Photo was taken on August 19, 1989 with a Minolta point'n'shoot camera (one of the Freedom series, but I've forgotten which). The lousy quality is mostly because I liked (still like) to shoot with fast film. Some things just never change, by the way. The boat's now called Michipicoten; Marjorie O'Brien shot a picture of her at the same location just yesterday. ============================== Reposted: A cleaned-up version, 11/24/2008.

Here's a better illustration of the layout of the Marquette upper harbor coal dock. The ship Presque Isle is snugged up against the ore dock, and has run its unloader to the coal dock. The whole thing's conveyors and similar transport mechanisms. The really neat thing about the Marquette upper harbor is how close you can get to the boats. This photo shows that well.

August 1990: The ship named Presque Isle beside the ore dock called Presque Isle in Marquette, Michigan. Beyond the dock is Marquette's Presque Isle Park, which may explain something. But the ship's probably named after Erie's Presque Isle. I posted another photo of this ship some time ago, with a comment on the mixed paint job the ship would be sporting a couple years hence. This photo shows the original paint scheme. The ship is unloading coal into the conveyor system known as the Presque Isle Coal Dock. A piece of that facility clips the upper right corner of the photo. The conveyor moves the coal to piles around Wisconsin Electric Power's generating plant (still another facility named Presque Isle). Strangely, the (ship) Presque Isle is too wide for the ore dock to reach the hold's center, so she'll head elsewhere for an ore load. Properly speaking, Presque Isle is not a ship at all; she's a barge with a tug boat built into her stern. If you study the details in this photo, you'll see how they fit together.

This ship is Presque Isle heading into Lake Superior from Sault Ste. Marie in the summer of 1992 (I think). When Presque Isle was under the control of Litton Industries, the hull was black ; since her lease (then sale) to the Steel Fleet, she's been red. This certainly looks like a transition paint job. The odd paint plainly shows why this is no ordinary Laker. The red hull's a very large barge, and the black paint defines the tug which propels the barge. Litton had a notion that they could reduce the operational costs by creating a barge/tug combination which could be staffed according to Coast Guard regulations governing such combination vessels. That didn't work out for Litton--the two are apparently too closely integrated to be a convincing combination--but the model's worked for owners who've converted existing hulls to similar configurations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When we were at the Soo last summer it looked someone seemed to be building condos where I took this picture. Good place to live, but it won't help the view.... Camera: Chinon Genesis III

Marquette has two ore docks; the long-abandoned downtown dock and the Upper Harbor (commonly called Presque Isle, or LS&I) dock pictured here. This is a grainy picture, but it shows good detail about the operation of this old gravity dock. As you can see, there are excellent vantages for watching that labor at this dock. The photo dates from around 1990. When the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad built the Presque Isle dock in 1912, this was a state-of-the-art structure. It's now well past its prime, but it's a great place to watch ships. And trains. Camera: Minolta Freedom 100