RUSSEL BROTHERS Ltd. Steelcraft winch boat and warping tug builders from Owen Sound, Ontario.

Russel Brothers Limited OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO Steelcraft Boat Builders

Beauchene

Hull 963. Canadian List of Shipping 1956: Beauchene [C.194387] registered at Ottawa, built at Owen Sound in 1952. 38’ 6 x 11’ 5 x 4’ 3; 14 g.t.; 10 n.t.; 165 hp. Owned by The Upper Ottawa Improvement Co., Ottawa. Canadian List of Shipping 1970: Steel tug Beauchene [C.194387] registered at Ottawa, built at Owen Sound in 1952. 39’; 14 g.t. Also carried in Candian List of Shipping 1994. Transport Canada List 2002: Built by Russel-Hipwell Engine Co., Owen Sound, Ont. Transport Canada List 2003: owned by Friends of The Haileybury Fire (Heritage) Museum Haileybury, Ontario. Brian Dobbs notes (Aug. 9, 2017): "The 'Beauchene' is presently on display at the Haileybury Heritage Museum. Following her lengthy career, she was driven by longtime, Lake Temiskaming Captain, Jack Cobb, up to Haileybury. She was lifted by crane out of the water and went through a year-long restoration. She is now on the grounds of the museum for visitors."

Larry Walls notes (Aug. 8, 2017): "Ottawa River between Mattawa (LaCav Dam) and Temiscaming. I finally found one of the pics of the tug Beauchene heading north with a long line of boom logs towed behind, right out in front of my camp, after a pull to the dam. It used to haul booms of logs and sweep the river shores for beached/escaped logs up until the late 80's! This pic was taken sometime in the early 70's. The last of its kind on the river, I made sure my boys had a ride, on the last pull, for a mile or so before it left us forever, sad!"

Notice the big anchor in the front, sometimes in a strong headwind from the the south/southeast they would have to tie up or anchor near shore to keep the tug and the log boom from being blown backwards! It had a big, coarse prop to give it that pulling power but in a strong wind and a heavy log boom in tow that could only do so much! The tug crew would stop in at Coxie's Camp to water up and we would trade fish for PV's, Cant Hooks, Pickaroos and Pike Poles that they had access to from the ICO warehouse, lol! Great times! I asked the young captain one time if he ever got tired of that relatively slow work when pulling a boom those 30 miles or so other than to take the scow and shove back into the boom an errant log hung up on shore or that the wind had pushed out! He said he never got tired, it was his life, lol!

Larry Walls comments (Mar. 18, 2018): "Here is a pic of the Beauchene pulling a boom in the early 70’s,
light winds, 1 mi.per hr. pull speed if you were lucky, lol ! Cameras weren’t the same back then as you can tell."