Edward L. Ryerson - A Beauty Slumbers in Superior

[@tabriff3832]

The muscle of a freighter, with the styling of a cruise ship. Must have been an amazing day when she was launched. Only one year older than me, and looking in better condition.

[@Delta_NWAB747fan]

Definitely one of the most beautiful lake freighters. Not really any Classic Straight Deckers left except for this. I hope the future is bright for this lake boat, I’d hate to see it get scrapped.

[@1Long2Short]

Yes, I hope she gets another chance to run!

[@kevinduveneck1504]

From what I have read a self unloading system would need to be installed which would include having to install steel plates at an angle inside the compartments so material would flow downward to the center of the hull. That makes it cost prohibitive

[@dakotah_anderson]

If it be getting scrapped would it haved already since it's been there for about a long time

[@rarleyposting5546]

@@dakotah_anderson not really. Sometimes they’ll get bought by another company and will run again. They are possibly planning to do something with her after all of COVID ends which who knows how long that’ll be.

[@dakotah_anderson]

@@rarleyposting5546 true

[@G011d3n]

Definitely a beautiful ship, hope she returns to service!

[@livinglikeananimal]

This boat has such striking lines! I get an elegiac feeling watching this video seeing an empty, unmanned ship that has been sitting for so long that her paint has been flaking off and rust streaks her sides over the many years, wondering what could have been and what she may have looked like brand new. Hopefully soon she'll be cleaned up and sailing again by her new owners and boatwatchers get to enjoy a classic vessel gracing the lakes once more. She's got that old school futurism that you see in lots of transportation design from that era and would be a delight to see in motion all polished up and given a fresh coat of paint. Good boat. Thank you for getting this excellent footage and documenting these boats!

[@davidsquires154]

Back in the day, when I was on vacation in Sault Ste.Marie, Michigan. I was at the Soo Locks, watching the freighters. I seen the Edward L. Ryerson. I was on the platform, and the Edward L. Ryerson was in the MacArthur Lock headed Upbound. I, managed to take a picture 📸 of the Edward L. Ryerson in Inland Steel Colors. I took the picture 📷 in 1995. I, hope that the Edward L.Ryerson would return to service someday soon.

[@TOTALCAMARO]

One classy grand veteran of the Great Lakes. It’s sad to see her just sitting there. It would be great to see her sailing on the lakes again but I have my doubts about that happening. Please prove me wrong. Thank you for all your years of service. Retire her and do something to memorize her please don’t consider scrapping her.

[@1Long2Short]

It will take the right combination of circumstances for her to sail again. But I remain hopeful. The fact they inspected her turbine last year means her owners are considering using her again.

[@TOTALCAMARO]

@@1Long2Short that’s great to hear. I just watched a video from 2007 that someone video taped riding on her. It was nice to come across that video. That horn of her’s definitely one of a kind. Keep us informed about her. Thank you 😊

[@tomjohnson9338]

To me her design has an old cruise liner look to it (not the new jumbos but the ones build in the 50s to 70s).

[@1Long2Short]

Yes, she has that classic mid-century streamlined look. We’ll never see another lake carrier built with such style in mind.

[@treatylinephotography]

Great video! Enjoyed seeing all of the detail of the Ryerson. Would love you see her sail again, but I personally feel it’s going to be tough without being converted to a self unloader… Thanks for sharing!

[@1Long2Short]

Thank you!

[@gregmctevia5087]

Poignant piece. Hope we see her on the water again. Great work, by the way.

[@kevinduveneck1504]

Ryerson was last freighter built at Manitowoc Shipbuilding in 1960. Have seen pic of how they had to excavate the land across from the shipyard in order to get her through a narrow railroad bridge opening. Manitowoc Company than purchased Bay Shipbuilding and moved shipbuilding operations to Sturgeon Bay because they needed more room and easier access in order to build the much larger boats. The Manitowoc facility than was changed over to building Manitowoc cranes.

[@ltpls1]

Her lines and style are remarkable. Her interior guest cabins were as well. Inland Steel knew how to build classic steamers as well as the Wilfred Sykes.

[@michaelkraley2456]

I used to work a coal plant down in good old Cleveland Ohio and would hear the Sykes coming into the Cuyahoga River then see her twenty minutes later.

[@joedesautel6092]

Is this ship going back to service and sailing for the season it's a good ship 🚢

[@1Long2Short]

They have been doing inspections on her for a possible return to service. So now it’s just a matter of waiting to see if anything happens.

[@jamesnelson6980]

I was standing on the banks of the Manitowoc river that cold January day in 1960, along with thousands of people, to watch the last freighter built by Manitowoc shipbuilding. When she hit the water, cheers went up and whistles and sounded. Later in the summer, when she was finished, she moved down river, and was open to the public for tours. She made quite an impression on me, an 8 year old at the time, that lasts to this day. I hope I don't see her at the end of a tow line, on her way to the scrap yard.

[@1Long2Short]

She is currently being inspected for return to service in 2023. Fingers crossed that her systems check out!

[@ronzinn7473]

What a sad site such a great lady

[@emfelling8384]

this is my favorite ship I'm so sad she's not going anymore, you think they will bring her back i love the horn so much on that ship she needs to return to the lakes

[@1Long2Short]

Maybe someday!

[@jonathanellsworth21]

So she spent basically all of last year in dry dock… was that just maintenance or is she going to to run soon? I can’t imagine that was cheap

[@1Long2Short]

She was docked inside the dry dock for a few months, but they didn't put her on blocks and they didn't drain out the water. I believe they were just getting her out of the way while some environmental cleanup work was being done in the slip where she was normally tied up. No real work was done to the ship that I'm aware of.

[@noahprice8968]

I will hate of thay scrap her I mean she haves history built all over her and I hope she will be a museum attraction one day

[@FortShenanigans]

As many said the same, I enjoyed the video thank you! I hope she and the Sherwin will sail again. There’s a great extensive 1hour + walking tour of her on KZbin; the Mate and a couple other guys giving tour-I think if I recall correctly -mentioned the Ryerson wasn’t the best candidate for a self-unloader upgrade due to the way her cargo holds were designed - non sloped? Does that sound right? You would think there’d be a go around fix to that with modern engineering etc. anyway, thanks again…

[@1Long2Short]

Yes, her cargo holds are squared-off to hold the maximum amount of ore. They would need to be converted to have V-shaped bottoms to funnel cargo towards an unloading belt. I have to imagine many of the conversations done in the 70s and 80s faced similar challenges, but perhaps I’m missing something.

[@thomasreinker3402]

From what I heard is that she’s in pretty good shape for sitting this long. I hope she gets another chance. I got a feeling something will happen soon. New paint and some updates and TLC and she should be good.

[@davidlambert3892]

I was recently in Duluth. I was talking to a lady in the museum at Canal Park and she said the Ryerson is being scrapped.

[@1Long2Short]

I’ve learned not to believe what anyone says about the Ryerson, unless it comes directly from the company itself. With all due respect to the “lady at the museum” they likely don’t have any inside information on company plans. A lot of people with important-sounding titles thought the Arthur M. Anderson was headed to the scrapyard too. And they were wrong. 😁

[@USS_UtahBB-31]

If you ask me, I think she'd make a great addition to either GLF or LLT.

[@jamesnelson6980]

Not LLT please! They run their boats into the ground. Just look at the CALUMET and MANITOWOC. Or any of their boats. The RYERSON deserves a better home than LLT.

[@ryledesirabelli4151]

And last but not least the john Sherwin which was layed up for a really long time ?

[@1Long2Short]

Yes, the Sherwin has been laid up for nearly 40 years. She almost got converted to a self-unloader around 2008, then the economy tanked. Now it might be too late to save her. 😕

[@ryledesirabelli4151]

@@1Long2Short that's bad and the j.a.w iglehart ?

[@ryledesirabelli4151]

What about the American Valor which is also laid up till now ? any news about her ?

[@1Long2Short]

No news. Just rumors.

[@ryledesirabelli4151]

@@1Long2Short keep me updated about it if you like

[@ryledesirabelli4151]

@@1Long2Short what are the rumors may I ask ?

[@1Long2Short]

@@ryledesirabelli4151 Depends on who you talk to. Some say she’s getting ready to sail. Others say she’ll be scrapped.

[@adriannegrillo8394]

What a fantastic looking ship! How long has she been out of service? Anyone out there know? Thank you!

[@1Long2Short]

She last ran in early 2009. There is talk she might be reactivated for 2023, but we will have to wait and see.

[@Maxislithium]

I should have followed my dreams and became a sailor. Now I'm in my 40's and hard work like that is for younger, or experienced men.

[@jamesnelson6980]

Do it, while you still can! Follow your dreams...A little thing called the Viet Nam war ended mine. Go for it, man! You only live once.

[@nascarfan88ta]

This thing is a unit. Surprised it's not in service. You'd think they'd have it running

[@CommuterRailProductions]

3 years until she is back up and running! She’s been there for almost 27 years. They better clean this beauty before she starts sailing again!

[@wordenentertainment1997]

Very beautiful ship. Such a shame that she sits slumbering like this. I hope she has a bright future and possibly become a museum ship. Such a classic laker and one of the last of her kind. She'd also be a good candidate for a potential Edmund Fitzgerald movie.

[@tuxedotservo]

The Ryerson has the same make/model steam horns that the Edmund Fitzgerald did. So if you go to the video in the description - or, if someday she gets back in service - you'll be hearing the voice of the Fitzgerald. The horn on Fitzgerald's sister, the Arthur B. Homer: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b16Tpn1nnNhmaqc

[@1Long2Short]

I had heard the same and even commented on it once in another video, but an armchair expert insisted I was wrong. So I didn’t mention it here, as I wasn’t 100% certain. But it makes sense that they would be the same or very similar. Wish we had a good audio recording of the Fitzgerald’s horn in action.

[@tuxedotservo]

​ @1 Long 2 Short what was their argument? That both Fitzgerald and Ryerson didn't have the Tyfon 300 and Tyfon 425 horns installed? Because that seems well established. the Fitzgerald was always an attraction for people with cameras and home video equipment. Someone, somewhere, has video of the Fitzgerald on a video in a closet somewhere, I'm almost sure of it.

[@1Long2Short]

I don’t recall what they said exactly. They were some know-it-all who probably didn’t know anything at all.

[@tuxedotservo]

@@1Long2Short You find those types around. Had someone @ me in a comment section about something they could've easily verified my info on with a Google search. Came across as knowledgeable, throwing info around - which turned out to be wrong (shrug) Ah, the internet...

[@spedsledproductions]

One of if not the most beautiful laker in my opinion, i hate to see her like this

[@orionharmon6017]

Well the good news is these guys didn't scrapped Edward Ryerson but to let her just sit there looking all abandoned like that.

[@1Long2Short]

She is currently under inspection to be activated for the 2023 shipping season, if all checks out good.

[@orionharmon6017]

@@1Long2Short Sounds good to me.

[@fedora997]

It hurts to see Fast Eddie in this type of condition

[@1Long2Short]

I'm hoping it's mostly just paint deterioration we're seeing. As long as they keep her buttoned up and protected from the elements (which they appear to be doing), the interior should be good.

[@eaglewolffox6275]

Eventually it will wake up sometime

[@braysfinds7479]

A very glamorous vessel, although she could use a good power wash and a paint job. Definitely looking a bit crusty.