Algorail (2)

Her cargoes consisted of coal/coke, aggregates, slag, iron ore/oxides, salt, fertilizers, grain products, gypsum, quartzite, or sand. Her smaller size allowed her to visit ports that may not have been considered accessible to larger carriers.

Algorail was powered by four Fairbanks-Morse 10-38D8-1/8 10-cylinder diesel engines producing a total installed 6,662 horsepower, a 600 horsepower bow thruster, and a 1,000 horsepower stern thruster. Algorail had 17 hatches feeding into 4 holds where she could carry 19,975 tons at maximum Seaway draft of 26 feet and was capable of carrying 23,813 tons at her maximum mid-summer draft of 29 feet 2 inches. Her bow-mounted self-unloading equipment consisted of a three-belt gravity system with two cleated steel chord belt elevators feeding a 250 foot discharge boom that could be swung 105 degrees to port or starboard discharging at a rate of up to 3,810 tonnes per hour.

The Algorail name has been associated with the Algoma fleet since 1936, derived from the parent company name (Algo) and the company’s now former related railway operations (rail). The Algorail (2)’s predecessor was launched as the William S. Mack on Sept.21, 1901. William S. Mack was acquired by the Algoma Central and Hudson Bay Railway Co., Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., late in 1917. She was renamed Home Smith in 1918 when she was painted the Algoma colors. After a rebuild, the vessel was renamed Algorail (1) in 1936. The Algorail (1) remained a part of the Algoma fleet until she was retired at the close of the 1962 season. She was scrapped in Toronto, Ont., in 1963.

On Oct. 6,1972, Algorail (2), loaded with salt from Goderich, Ont., was driven by rough seas into the pier at Holland, Mich., opening a 12-foot gash in her bow. After settling on the bottom, she was patched, refloated, and put back into service in quick order. In September 1983, the vessel hit the Grand Haven, Mich., seawall. She received a stern thruster in 1988. On December 31, 1990, she became lodged against the Conrail Bridge in Toledo with no visible damage to the vessel. Algorail ran aground on April 20, 1999 in the Fox River Turning Basin, Green Bay, Wis. She was not damaged but the prop wash from the tugs attempting to free her damaged two City of Green Bay docks. Her unloading boom snapped while unloading salt at Thessalon, Ont., on November 28, 2014, and she arrived at the Law dock at Port Colborne for repairs on December 6.