Talk:SS Keewatin

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The assertion that this ship and the others were used to complete the CPR cross Canada railway is totally false. In the first place the CPR was completed with the driving of the Last Spike on November 7, 1885. Regular cross-Canada passenger trains began in the summer of 1886. This ship wasn't even built until 1907.

The primary purpose of the Great Lakes Steam Ship service was tourism. Plain and simple.R.L.Kennedy (talk) 19:54, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

CPR historian (ret'd) http://trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR/ships/GLSS.htm — Preceding unsigned comment added by R.L.Kennedy (talk • contribs) 20:01, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Incorrect; back then there was no TransCanada Highway. there was no way to drive to Western Canada - you could only go by rail. she was used to move cars in her car deck, bring lots of cargo up and down Lake Superior, and moved troops during wartime. she also moved prisoners for the RCMP, and had a dedicated room for the officers, and a couple holding cells in the stern. I'm pretty sure her becoming a tourism ship more came about during the 60s, which was around the time she was retired. The Legacy (talk) 16:40, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

@R.L.Kennedy:@The Legacy:. When RLK made the comment, the text read The Keewatin was originally designed to complete the link in the Canadian Pacific Railway's continental route, as it still does. I think that the average reader would assume that this refers to a rail route. The Lakes service perhaps more "complemented" the rail route, and began carrying passengers and freight (just) before the continental rail route was completed, not in 1907; the novel feature of the two new ships was indeed some capacity for passengers' cars. How do you think that could be better expressed? - Davidships (talk) 00:56, 14 August 2024 (UTC)

To clarify, I was specifically meaning the tourism part.

Although I'm sure there was a tourist element because of the elegance of the ship itself, for many years she was the *only* means of non-rail travel between eastern and western Canada without crossing into the US.

If you look at some maps from the 1920's, it looks like the road connection ended at Sault Ste Marie, though I can't confirm for sure.

It wasn't until the beginning of World War II (1939) that the bridge that connected eastern and western Canada was opened, and, from what I've read, there's about 100km of highly difficult terrain they had to cut through to build the highway.

Until that time, the only means to get between either side of Canada was to go by rail or boat, which made the Keewatin particularly valuable as a car ferry for much of her life.

I'm sure during her late years she was more of a novelty and tourist trap of a ship, but for many of her years, she filled an important role on the Great Lakes.The Legacy (talk) 09:34, 8 September 2024 (UTC)

Leaving Port

24 April 2023, the SS Keewatin left Port McNicoll today. Sad day on the Bay. 184.148.3.127 (talk) 00:47, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

Passed Peche island in Detroit River 2001:1970:5EA0:E700:3146:5154:92ED:EF7A (talk) 23:40, 26 April 2023 (UTC)