David Conwill
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,854
- Location
- Bennington, VT 05201
Meet the Milwaukee Clipper, built circa 1906 as the Juniata for the Pennsylvania Railroad’s steamship company, she was refit circa 1940 to art deco splendor.
The refit also included a new, steel superstructure, a false forward funnel, air conditioned staterooms, a children's playroom, a movie theater, facilities for live entertainment, a dance floor, and capacity to carry 120 automobiles.
The Clipper plied Lake Michigan between Muskegon and Milwaukee from the early ‘40s until the 1970s when operating a car ferry on the lakes finally became too unprofitable for her owners. After being shuffled around to various locations on the lakes, she finally ended up back in Muskegon in the care of a group of dedicated volunteers.
Unfortunately, despite her largely intact originality, there is little interest in her preservation and display from any community. The Clipper struggles to even find a permanent berth in Muskegon, with multiple attempts to find her a showcase location downtown thwarted by official opposition. Her future remains uncertain, as last I heard she was badly in need of a drydocking.
Still, couldn’t you just see her as a floating hotel? I’m imagining white-jacketed pilots ferrying guests from a downtown jetty in vintage wooden speedboats. Big bands playing every night, and luxurious, streamline-moderne staterooms to accommodate guests.
A fella can dream.
-Dave
The refit also included a new, steel superstructure, a false forward funnel, air conditioned staterooms, a children's playroom, a movie theater, facilities for live entertainment, a dance floor, and capacity to carry 120 automobiles.
The Clipper plied Lake Michigan between Muskegon and Milwaukee from the early ‘40s until the 1970s when operating a car ferry on the lakes finally became too unprofitable for her owners. After being shuffled around to various locations on the lakes, she finally ended up back in Muskegon in the care of a group of dedicated volunteers.
Unfortunately, despite her largely intact originality, there is little interest in her preservation and display from any community. The Clipper struggles to even find a permanent berth in Muskegon, with multiple attempts to find her a showcase location downtown thwarted by official opposition. Her future remains uncertain, as last I heard she was badly in need of a drydocking.
Still, couldn’t you just see her as a floating hotel? I’m imagining white-jacketed pilots ferrying guests from a downtown jetty in vintage wooden speedboats. Big bands playing every night, and luxurious, streamline-moderne staterooms to accommodate guests.
A fella can dream.
-Dave
