The Original Badger Crew, 1953
On March 16, 1953, a week before the SS Badger’s maiden voyage, its crew posed for a photograph on its bow. Seated centered, in front, is Capt. Bernard Robertson, the Badger’s first captain. Other officers included John Turner, first mate; J.E. Halden, second mate; Willis Cross, Jr., third mate; Sylvester Larsen, chief engineer; Raymond Hall,…
The Pere Marquette, the first Ludington-based car ferry
By Rob Alway In the mid-1890s, the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway began negotiating with the Wisconsin Central Railroad to construct a branch from its main line at Neenah-Menasha, Wisconsin to Manitowoc, where its rails would connect with tan F&PM ferry. The goal was to transport railcars across Lake Michigan on car ferries. The railroad…
The Great Lakes’ Largest Car Ferry Fleet: Ship Numbering
Photo: Pere Marquette carferries 15, 17, 18, and 19 in Ludington, 1913 By Rob Alway The tradition of numbering the Ludington ferries began in 1883 when the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway debuted its first two break-bulk freighters, F&PM Nos. 1 and 2. Its first car ferry, the Pere Marquette, which began service in…
William Mercereau, the father of the Ludington carferry fleet
By Rob Alway William Lincoln Mercereau served as the superintendent of the Pere Marquette Railway carferries for 31 years. He was born on June 9, 1866 in Union, New York, the son of Seymour and Mary Mercereau. According to his obituary, published on June 24, 1957 in the Ludington Daily News, he spent some of…
2025: 150 years of cross-lake service from Ludington
By Rob Alway The year 2025 marks 150 years of cross-lake service from Ludington, Michigan to Wisconsin. In 1875, the first steamships to transport goods across Lake Michigan were known as break-bulk freighters. Railcars at that time did not travel across the lake, so the contents of the cars were removed, loaded onto the break-bulk…