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SOO LINE FLEETS Minneapolis, St. Paul & Buffalo SS.Co. Lower Lakes SS.Co. By Rev. Edward J. Dowling, S.J. The Soo Line Railroad, still in operation, chartered or had built 11 steamers from the late 1880's to 1908. The ships were in the package freight trade between Gladstone, Michigan, and Buffalo, New York. They all carried the familiar $00 Line logo. In 1900 the remaining vessels were operated by Lower Lakes SS.Co. and were sold in 1908 to Mutual Trans. Co. of Buffalo. HENNEPIN (US.86016) Wood freighter a) GEORGE H. DYER (1898). Built in 1888 at Milwaukee by Wolf & Davidson. 208.8 x 35.1x 21.6; 1372 gross tons. Chartered c. 1900. Later first self-unloader on the lakes. Abandoned 1926. Used as an unregistered barge. Foundered near South Haven 8-18-27. JOSEPH L. HURD (US.75154) Wood package freighter built in 1869 at Detroit by Detroit Dry Dock Company (Hull #10). 171 x 29.2 x 10.9; 759 gross tons. Chartered late 1880's. Reduced to a bulk carrier in 1895. Reduced to a barge in 1909. Stranded 9 miles NW of Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, September 23, 1913. Sturgeon Refloated but burned November 8, 1913. at Bay HURON (US.96425) Steel package freight canaller built for the fleet in 1898 at Lorain by Cleveland SB.Co. (Hull #32). 238 x 42 x 22; 1945 gross tons. Taken to coast in 1916. Sold Canadian (C.141664) in 1919 and renamed HURONTON. Sunk in collision with CETUS off Caribou Is., Lake Superior, October 11, 1923. LACKAWANNA - (US.140930) Steel package freighter built in 1888 at Cleveland by Cleveland SB.Co. (Hull #1). 260 x 39.2 x 21.6; 2015 gross tons. Chartered C.1907. Cut in two and taken to coast in 1916. Abandoned in 1929. MINNEAPOLIS (US.92769) Steel package freight canaller built for the fleet in 1897 at Chicago by Chicago SB.Co. (Hull #27). 238 x 42.2 x 22.2; 2029 gross tons. Taken to coast in 1916. Sold Cuban 1916 and renamed b) RAMON MARMION. Resold to U.S. in 1922 and renamed c) BURLINGTON(2) in 1922. Stranded off Muskegon December 6, 1936, and abandoned. Hull removed in 1938. HURON 225 Pesha Photo Oo