Russel Brothers Limited OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO Steelcraft Boat Builders
| Mark Whitman
Canadian List of Shipping 1956: Mark Whitman [C.173699] registered at Port Arthur; built at Owen Sound in 1945. 38'7 x 11'6 x 4'3; 14 g.t.; 10 n.t.; 90 hp. Owned by Marathon Corporation of Canada Ltd.. Toronto. Canadian List of Shipping 1970: Steel tug Mark Whitman [C.173699] registered at Port Arthur. Built at Owen Sound in 1945. 39'; 14 g.t. Canadian List of Ships 1997: Owned by G. L. Robbins Construction Ltd., Courtright, Ontario. Mark Whitman ON 173699 Date of registry closing: 2002-04-19. |
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That is Harry Warkentin in the suit. Harry designed many of the Russel Brothers boats, this one is probably undergoing sea trials in the bay, probably either the Mark Whitman or perhaps the Cassell, late 40's before being loaded onto a rail car. Richard was Harry's son, and was the last CEO of Russel Brothers when it died in 1993.
Photo from Company Brochure Circular 46A, Steelcraft Warping Tugs |
Clipping from Gerry Ouderkirk archive. From 1947 Russel ad Logging Tugs In Standard Sizes
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Marathon Courier Sept. 1948 page 14. From article: The Tug "Peninsula"
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Stan Johnson of M&DH Society identifies these tugs L to R as Martin E Johnson, Mark Whitman and Polygon.
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Mark Whitman, and possibly Kagiano in background. 1969 river drive on the Pic River for Frank Moses, from Mike Caruk. Frank Moses comments: (Feb. 2014) "Hank Christianson, Bert Labelle, Pat Forget, Terry Blanch, Doug Pascoe, old mac Cameron, Ken Wagner on far left...bunkhouse-clerks quarters behind that, then the cookery. Worked with that gang."
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Rob Marchand comments
(April 1, 2011): Pic River Drive 1979 - Another look at what's going on during a typical day. Probably my favourite, as it shows a bunch of different things. It is also the last in my seemingly endless series of these pictures
The far sweeper has just pulled a pile of wood off the far bank, piled up by the two folks at left in the red hardhats. The near sweeper is just pulling something off the right bank.
The Mark Whitman is likely getting it's winch cable pulled under a pile of wood with a longpole so it can winch the wood off. Alan Mills (white shirt in foreground) has set up runners so that logs can be rolled out. Note the boots - they had kevlar in the front so you didn't punch a hole in your leg with a pickaroon. They were wide open at the top, the theory being that they would fill with water and slide off if you stumbled into deep water. Practically speaking, you were in the water all the time, and had clay silt sealing your feet into the boots shortly after the day started - you were better off being a good swimmer
I am still amazed by the amount of wood that got piled up.
Workers clear logs during the final river drive on the Pic River in 1983, Marathon's mill was the last in the province to be supplied with logs driven by river. Rivers such as the Nipigon, White and Kaministiquia were the original highways for the forest industry. Logs would flow to mills carried by high waters in the spring. Photo from an old calendar, courtesy Don Loponen.
Photos courtesy Leigh Cossey. Appear to be from the same day as the photo above (1983).
Mike Scruton notes (May 14, 2017): "The Mark Whitman was rebuilt in Port Dover, and a 12-71 Detroit Diesel was installed. From there it went to work in the St. Clair River for a while. After that it seemed to disappear, then about 5 years ago we listed it for sale for a customer in the Boston area (Edward X McDevitt III). It sold to a marina on the East Coast of the US. The owner informed me at the time he replaced the 12-71 with an 8-71, claiming it had too much power.
Rob Marchand's high res slide scans featuring the Mark Whitman from 1979.
For the full set of images see the Marathon ON Logging using Russel Tugs page in this archive
or Rob's flickr photo album here:
Marathon/Heron Bay - Russel Boats.
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Above: ROCKLAND (Ex Mark Whitman). Boston Harbor late 2000's - general towing ops. Photo by Edward X McDevitt III. She was rebuilt in the 90s. Deep keel and a rebuilt 12v71 Detroit diesel large rudder aded as well. Edward X McDevitt III sold the boat (then named Rockland) to a possible marina in New York, in Jan. 2011.
Al Circeo worked with Ed driving the boat. Al commented "sweetest backing single screw I ever ran - answered the rudder either way, even with the prop turning." and then owner Edward X McDevitt III added "Not too many old single screw boats back to starboard or in a straight line.The old Rockland's nice big rudder made it look easy!" |
For more Russel exhibits visit Owen Sound Marine & Rail Museum 1165 1st Ave West, Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K8
(519) 371-3333  http://marinerail.com |
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