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| A History of Port Dalhousie | |
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Passenger Steamers DALHOUSIE CITY - NORTHUMBERLAND - LADY HAMILTON |
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The "DALHOUSIE CITY"
"DALHOUSIE CITY" inbound with a full load of passengers It became apparent that the "LAKESIDE" was too small to accommodate the traffic and so she was taken out of passenger service. In 1921 all of the superstructure was torn down and she was made into a tug boat to tow barges. Her replacement, the "DALHOUSIE CITY", was built in Collingwood, for the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Navigation Company, in 1911. She was not designed for overnight accommodation and proved to be one of the last "Day Boats" built on the lakes. On Labour Day of that year she made her maiden voyage carrying a load of passengers to the Canadian National Exhibition The vessel crossed the lake in two and a half hours and burned 3.5 tons of coal per trip. "DALHOUSIE CITY" was also a popular chartwe boat for moonlight excursions. An upper deck with a dance floor was added in the twenties. She sailed each season thereafter, until 1950, crossing the lake between Toronto and PortDalhousie. A special company was set up to operate the 'DALHOUSIE CITY" This was the Dalhousie Navigation Company Limited. Meanwhile the owners, the N.S>&T., became part of the Canadian Northern Railway in 1908 and then a subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway in 1917. As an interesting side note the CNR had been involved in a number of wireless experiments and demonstrations in and around Toronto. Working with the Canadian Marconi Company, the CNR broadcast special programs from the "DALHOUSIE CITY", to a radio equipped CNR coach on display at the Canadian National Exhibition.
The "DALHOUSIE CITY" continued alone until 1920, when the "Northumberland" appeared on Lake Ontario replacing the "GARDEN CITY". She was built in 1891 in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England and had to be battened down (waterproofed), in order to make the ocean crossing. The "NORTHUMBERLAND" was faster and more comfortable than the "DALHOUSIE CITY" and made regular trips from May through Labour Day, occasionally calling at Hamilton and Grimsby beach. The "NORTHUMBERLAND" burned in Port Dalhousie harbour on June 2, 1949, but the crew escaped serious injury. As she had been painted at the Port Weller dry dock a few weeks before. She burned quickly and totally and had to be broken up for scrap. The "DALHOUSIE CITY" remained in service for one more year before falling victim to economics and the competition created by land transportation. She was sold to Inland Lines Limited of Montreal, renamed ISLAND KING II and began operating in excursion services until she too was destroyed by fire at Lachine, Quebec.
Dimensions & Tonnage
DALHOUSIE CITY leaving for the last time in 1950
In Montreal as the ISLAND KING II
The "NORTHUMBERLAND"
SS
NORTHUMBERLAND in Port Dalhousie harbour Length 220ft. Width 33ft Gross tonnage 1255, Reg. Tonnage 519. Number: 040470, Propulsion: Screw Propeller, Official Number: 96937, Dimensions: 220x 33 - 1255 tons, Built in: Newcastle, England, 1891, Closing Information Date Closed: 1949/06, Reason Closed: Burnt, Where Closed: Port Dalhousie, Ontario, Canada. Addendum: Northumberland; 220x33x20 Owned by Charlottetown Steam Navigation Co.; to Dominion Government; to Niagara St. Catharines & Toronto Navigation Co. 1920.
The Northumberland began in ferry service between Prince Edward Island and the mainland across The Northumberland Strait, which accounts for iher name. She was built in 1891 at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England for the charlottetown Steam Navigation Company. She served on the strait until 1916 when her owners sold her to the government. She then lay idle until she was transferred to Lake Ontario in 1920. She was transferred to lake service to meet the increased need for tavel to and from Lakeside Park in 1920 after Canadian National Railways (CNR), which ran the PEI service, took over the NS&T. Her transfer necessitated her rebuilding in Toronto in the fall of 1920 by the Toronto Dry Dock company. The Northumberland had her cabins removed, her upper deck made suitable for lake excursion and her lower deck converted from freight space to crews quarters. She also was improved with the addition of plush seats and a dance floor to entertainment passengers during the trips to and from the park. Then, in 1927, she again underwent further change when a shade deck was added around her lone funnel. In the late '30's she again was modified due to her age, but, to the end she retained her origianl engines and boilers. She could travel at about 14 m.p.h. and used 4.4 tons of coal per trip across Lake Ontario, which required between two and two an a half hours to complete. The "NORTHUMBERLAND" was a faster and more manoeuverable ship than the "DALHOUSIE CITY" and was also more comfortable. She was licensed to carry up to 1,050 passenger per trip and often did, especially so with so many Toronto Sunday Schools using her as an excursion vessel to their church picnics at Port Dalhousie.
NORTHUMBERLAND (CN photo)
Stern view of the NORTHUMBERLAND (CN photo)
Interior view of the NORTHUMBERLAND (CN photo)
NORTHUMBERLAND entering Lock One of the Welland Canal "NORTHUMBERLAND" Destroyed Headline: Jine 2, 1949 The St. Catharines Standard The S.S. NORTHUMBERLAND" was destroyed during the night of June 2 in a fire that raged until 9 a.m. that morning -- three hours after it was discoverd by Miss Anna Buchold of Toronto -- a stewardess of the 25-35 member crew that fled the ship in the night clothing around 6 a.m.
The burned out hull tied up on the east side of the harbour
In Lock One on her way to Port Weller Dry Dock The interior of the ship was destroyed and the steel hull a charred skeleton when the fire was brought under control. It was believed one reason that the ship burned so totally was the new paint she had put on her in Port Weller Dry Docks when being overhauled only weeks earkier. The loss, at the time, was placed at $300,000 but this was later scaled down to $250,000 or about a third of her replacement price. The cause of the fire was never determined as a thorough examination failed to find the cause bu there was reason to believe that it was caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette. Before her removal to Port Weller for breaking up, thousands of spectators visited to recall, sadly, the loss of an old friend. Lady Hamilton
LADY HAMILTON on her first trip to Port Dalhousie
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