N 338’ Père Marquette Ferry

Pete Nolan Sep 11, 2020

  1. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    Between 1897 and 1947, the Pere Marquette operated a total of 13 ferries on Lake Michigan, running between Ludington, Mich. and Milwaukee, Manitowoc and Kewaunee, Wis. Many of these ferries were similar in design: this model captures the features of most of them. They were steamers with dual engines, capable of 14 knots and able to handle winter storms on Lake Michigan. In the 1920s they began carrying automobiles as well as freight.


    According to Pere Marquettes Lake Michigan Car Ferries (http://www.carferries.com/pmfleet/) “These ships were then an efficient means of bypassing the congested rail yards in Chicago. They plied routes varying between 60 and 97 miles in length, and were often plagued by violent storms and heavy ice. Given the fact that most of the cross-lake runs were made at speeds of 12 to 14 miles per hour, a remarkable volume of freight was carried. In those fifty years the Pere Marquette car ferries made well over 160,000 lake crossings and transported roughly 4.5 million railroad cars loaded with over 75 million tons of freight. . . They also carried approximately 1.6 million passengers and after the mid-1920’s, about 380,000 automobiles.”


    Lifeboats and skylights are resin castings. Railings and stairways are photo-etched brass, with railings made to a scale 1.5” diameter. All other structures and details above the main deck are 3D printed.


    Dimension are 25.5” (647 mm) in length; 4.2” (107 mm) in beam; and approx. 7.5” (190 mm) in height


    The car deck is covered which presents some modeling challenges. I’ve modeled three of the four tracks, leaving one track off for automobiles. If you order a completed model, you must specify what code and brand of track. Main houses can be made to lift off in case of derailments; this is an extra cost option.

    See nscaleships.com for more details. 6890PereMSternSTBD.jpg 6888PereMarquetteSTBD3-4Bow.jpg
     
  2. coolengineer

    coolengineer TrainBoard Member

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    Very nice build. I always did love those ships.
     
    OlyPen likes this.
  3. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Beautiful work! I'd love to see the railcar deck detail. Plenty of tiedowns, no?
     
    OlyPen likes this.
  4. gmorider

    gmorider TrainBoard Member

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    Looks great and more operating possibilities!
     
    OlyPen likes this.
  5. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    No, not yet. It would be easy enough to add them for perhaps six inches at the stern, but otherwise they would be hidden forever. Likewise the intricate supporting posts and trusses could be done, as like the tiedowns they would be just a step-and-repeat maneuver. But to what point? I just used integral lateral supports, as in the Incan Superior. at far greater intervals that the prototype would use. I just can't see doing that amount of work on a level you are not going to see. Of course, one could go nuts and make the whole top deck and superstructures removable, but that might be a once in a lifetime effort. The hull and decks are still styrene, as they are far too large for my 3D printers. So who wants to glue perhaps a hundred teeny tiedowns onto a deck? Not me!
     
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  6. OlyPen

    OlyPen TrainBoard Member

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    Nice to see that there are folks here on this forum who appreciate Pete's work developing models of this kind!
     
    Kurt Moose likes this.
  7. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Hard not to appreciate it, beautiful work!(y)

    One of these days, (the day after I win the lottery!:D), I want to have a Z-scale Milwaukee Road "Milwaukee" steam tug and matching barge for my Milwaukee Road layout that'll be set in the 50's, on Puget Sound out of Seattle.

    Aaaaaah, one can dream.....:rolleyes:
     
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  8. Pete Nolan

    Pete Nolan TrainBoard Supporter

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    I am working to convert many ships from 2D layered styrene to 3D printed bodies. It is sometimes a complex and frustrating process. But it does make the kits much easier to build, often achieving a 10X or even 100X reduction in parts. I need to do an educational campaign on just how easy these ships and boats are to build. Now, I often model bigger ships with parts so big or complex that I can't 3D print them. I always knew this was a market that would take a long time to develop, and what was outrageously expensive in 2012 might seem very reasonable in 2020. The Pere Marquette was built because I made a promise long ago to someone at a show; it's been so long ago that I can't remember who asked me to do it. Must have been a Pere Marquette modeler? One of the things I've learned in seven years is that the promise "If you build it they will come" rarely bears fruit.
     
    BNSF FAN likes this.

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