Ann Arbor #1
Ann Arbor #1 burning in Manitowoc port.
On November 24th, 1892 the Toledo, Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan Railroad started what many people thought was impossible, crossing Lake Michigan in the winter with a car ferry. The Ann Arbor #1 set out on that date from Frankfort Harbor, Michigan and was loaded down with four railroad cars filled with coal. Her destination after a five-and-a-half-hour journey being Kewaunee, Wisconsin. These railroad cars on the Ann Arbor #1 were “the first loaded freight cars to cross the lake, ever” as Grant Brown, Jr. says in his book Ninety Years Crossing Lake Michigan.
The Ann Arbor Car ferries were an important part of the railroad system. They accomplished what many people thought was not possible, crossing Lake Michigan during the winter and with railroad cars onboard, nonetheless. The car ferries crossed the lake in rain, sleet, snow, and ice. Ice would be one of their biggest challenges. The Ann Arbor #1 was able to push through ice that could be as thick as one and a half feet and the car ferries that came after her could push through even thicker ice. Although mostly successful in crossing the lake, the Ann Arbor Railroad Company as it became known did run into troubles with their car ferries, as you will read in the case of the Ann Arbor #1.
The Ann Arbor #1 was built in Toledo, Ohio in 1892 and designed to be part of the railroad system. She was a 260-foot wooden car ferry, which could hold up to 24 railroad cars if loaded to capacity.
The Ann Arbor #1’s demise happened in the Manitowoc Harbor on March 8th, 1910. She was parked in a Chicago and Northwestern Railroad car ferry slip when she went up in flames. The fire lasted all night and into the next day with the Ann Arbor #1 eventually burning to the water line. It is believed that while the Ann Arbor #1 burned a few thousand people came out to view it.
At the time of the fire the Ann Arbor #1 had twenty-seven railroad cars onboard which were loaded with lumber, along with varied cargo. In total, losses were slightly greater than $150,000. After the fire, the Ann Arbor #1 was purposely sunk. Attempts were made to salvage her engines after she was sunk, but they were unsuccessful.
Just over a year after the Ann Arbor #1 was sunk, the Coast Guard ordered that what was left of her be removed from the water. They considered it a navigational nuisance. A wrecking company from Muskegon, Michigan came to Manitowoc to remove the vessel. Once removed from the water, the Ann Arbor #1’s remains were brought to Muskegon, Michigan. There she was made into a sand scow.
The cause of the fire was never revealed to the public, but crew members believed that a young deckhand caused it. Frank Hefernan, son of the chief engineer of the Ann Arbor #1, stated that his father saw a young deckhand come running out from where the fire was with a flaming torch. It is believed that young deckhand may have carelessly caused the fire by getting to close to kerosene drums with his flaming torch. The young deckhand Hefernan saw running out from the fire was never seen again.