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SAM TURNS SIXTY 4. It may seem hard to believe, but three of the five active Toronto Island ferryboats now have achieved the age of sixty years. TRILLIUM, the steam sidewheeler, was built in 1910 and has been busier with charters this year than she has in recent memory. WILLIAM INGLIS, (a) SHAMROCK (II)(36), was built in 1935 and is the "Ward's Island boat" for most of the summer and the mainstay of early and late season service. The 1964-built carferry ONGIARA runs mostly to Hanlan's Point in the summer and does all the winter service. THOMAS RENNIE, of 1951, mainly runs to Centre Island in the summer, along with her older near-sister, the SAM McBRIDE of 1939. The SAM, built by the Toronto Dry Dock Company, this year celebrates her sixtieth birthday, but Toronto Parks & Recreation certainly found a strange way to celebrate it. For a sizable "consideration", in a year when they also increased ferry fares by a whopping 25%, they covered the sides of SAM McBRIDE's main deck cabin with rainbow-striped, smiley-faced plastic appli­ que advertising a well-known children's fruit drink. Labelled by many as "corporate graffiti", the advertising has attracted much criticism from around Toronto Bay. Not only do many people consider it unsightly, but it acts rather like wartime dazzle paint, causing the SAM to be hard to see in thick weather. The authorities don't seem to care. We congratulate the SAM, named for a former mayor of the city, on this important anniversary, and only wish that the city could have found a better way to recognize it. The SAM was built to replace the 1890-built sidewheel steamers MAYFLOWER and PRIMROSE, which were retired at the end of the 1938 season, and the SAM's upper deck benches actually were used on PRIMROSE in her last season of service. SAM McBRIDE already has run more than ten years longer than the two boats she replaced, and we wish her many more years of operation on Toronto Bay. But no more years of being "Kool"... * * * * * NIAGARA'S SHIPBUILDING HERITAGE Commissioned by Port Weller Dry Docks, Skip Gillham has written a 22-page, illustrated booklet, subtitled "From 1828 to Port Weller Dry Docks", to give a brief overview (and not a detailed analysis) of shipbuilding in Niagara. It will be placed in Niagara area schools and libraries, but Skip has a few extras and they are available to collectors for $8. 00. Contact Skip Gillham at Box 443, Vineland, Ontario LOR 2C0. * * * * * MARINE NEWS After considerable delay in completion, and reported cost over-runs of a significant nature, CSL NIAGARA, the reincarnation of J. W. McGIFFIN, final­ ly pulled away from the Port Weller Dry Docks fit-out wall on July 26 and proceeded to Lake Ontario for trials lasting well into the next day. She was upbound in the Welland Canal on July 28th on her maiden voyage, bound to Sandusky for a load of coal for Hamilton. Despite the fact that she still is a snub-nosed stemwinder, the ship looks much better than she did before because of the upper bow design. She is also considerably larger, at 740 ft. overall length and 78 ft. beam. The new hull section is two feet deeper and three feet wider than the stern but there is a gradual transition over seve­ ral frame spaces. Increased hull strength is provided by longitudinal fra­ ming throughout, supported by vertical web frames every eight feet. Bulb plates are used in the secondary hull structure instead of the channels nor­ mally used in lake ship construction. The unloading system features improved gate and hopper systems, computer interface to allow unloading to be con­ trolled from remote on-board locations, and ballast controls integrated with the unloading system. H. M. GRIFFITH will get the same upgrade next winter. Continued - Page 13