SwtM - S.S. Badger Traditional Geocache

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Hidden : 5/7/2019
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


[2016 series / Historic Landmarks]
SS Badger is a passenger and vehicle ferry that has been in service on Lake Michigan since 1953. Currently, the ship shuttles between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, a distance of 62 miles, connecting U.S. Highway 10 between those two cities. It is the last coal-fired passenger vessel operating on the Great Lakes, and was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 2016.

The ship is named after the University of Wisconsin's athletic teams, the Wisconsin Badgers. Badger runs on Michigan time (Eastern Time Zone, whereas Wisconsin is in the Central Time Zone) and riders pay Michigan taxes on their fares. It runs on a seasonal basis from May to October.

Badger was constructed as a rail car ferry in 1952 by the Christy Corporation of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, along with its twin SS Spartan (named after the mascot of Michigan State University) with a reinforced hull for ice-breaking. It was originally used to carry railroad cars, passengers and automobiles between the two sides of the lake all year long. Today, the ferry connects the eastern and western segments of US 10 in the two cities from May to October.

Launched September 6, 1952, SS Badger entered service March 21, 1953, for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (from 1973 a subsidiary of the Chessie System). The C&O had acquired the rail car ferry operations in Ludington with its acquisition of the Pere Marquette Railway in 1947. After 1972, service was gradually curtailed; all but the three newest vessels were retired, and sailings to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, were discontinued, leaving only the route between Ludington and Kewaunee, Wisconsin. On July 1, 1983, the Chessie System ended its car ferry service when it sold the steamers Badger, Spartan, and City of Midland 41 to Glen F. Bowden of Ludington. He organized the Michigan–Wisconsin Transportation Company (MWT) to continue the operation.

The railroad car ferry concept on Lake Michigan was facing serious economic troubles during the 1980s and by November 1988, Badger was the only vessel running. It was the last of the 14 ferries based in Ludington remaining in service. On November 16, 1990, facing bankruptcy, Bowden laid up Badger, ending 93 years of railway car ferry service out of Ludington and 98 years on Lake Michigan as a whole.

After sitting idle for a year, the three ferries were purchased by entrepreneur, philanthropist and Ludington-native Charles F. Conrad of Holland, Michigan. He undertook a major overhaul and refit of Badger exclusively for carrying passengers and automobiles. The only operating ferry of its kind in the world, the ship is an icon of car ferry heritage on the Great Lakes. Conrad retired as president of Lake Michigan Carferry Service in 1993. He died on February 9, 1995. Since 1993 the company has been headed by his son-in-law, Robert Manglitz.

On average, Badger completes a trip across Lake Michigan in about four hours, covering 60 miles. SS Badger rarely misses a sailing due to weather.

SS Badger is also unusual in that it is a registered historical site in two states. The Michigan Historical Commission and the Wisconsin Historical commission each named Badger as a registered historical site in 1997. In 1996 Badger's propulsion system was designated a mechanical engineering landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 2002 Badger was named Ship of the Year by the Steamship Historical Society of America. The ship was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 2009. On January 20, 2016, the National Park Service designated the ship a National Historic Landmark.

Badger's large deck space allows it to transport tractor trailers and larger commercial loads. In 2012, it carried more than 1,000 commercial loads. In 2015, the ferry was officially designated as part of US 10, thus linking together the two disconnected segments of the highway
Visit 14 geocaches in the SwtM series. At each geocache collect a letter and number combination. Insert them into the phrase: FiTS LIKe A GlOVE
Use the coordinates from the phrase to find the final geocache and become a Mitten Master
Tannery Falls S.S. Carl D. Bradley Fort Gratiot Lighthouse
Norway to Wakefield Gordy Howe Intl. Bridge ElvisFest
S.S. Chicora Jacob's Falls Fox Theater
Point Iriquois Lighthouse S.S. Badger ArtPrize
Grand Island Calumet Mitten Master

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