Hull of Radium Express being shipped to Waterways, Alberta, 1939.
History
Canada
NameRadium Express
OperatorNorthern Transportation Company
BuilderRussel Brothers, Owen Sound
Laid down1939
Launched1939
Completed1939
Commissionedas Radium Express
General characteristics
Tonnage60 tons
Displacement88 tons
Length21.94 m (72.0 ft)
Beam6.03 m (19.8 ft)
Draught2 ft (0.61 m)
Installed power100 hp (75 kW) diesel engine
Speed9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph)

The Radium Express is a Russel Brothers[1] tugboat operated by the Northern Transportation Company.[2][3][4] The vessel was built in Owen Sound, Ontario, disassembled, and then shipped by rail to Waterways, Alberta, which was then the terminus of the North American railway grid.[5]

Like the other vessels in the "Radium Line", she was reassembled in Waterways, on the Clearwater River, a tributary of the Mackenzie, and then proceeded down the Athabasca River and Slave River to Fort Smith, and portaged to the lower river, where she could navigate most of the remainder of the extensive Mackenzie River system.[5]

Operational career

In 1938, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix reported the vessel was designed to travel at up to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), faster than the Radium Line's larger vessels, so it could take over tows in regions of particularly rapid current.[6] The Canadian Transportation Agency reported her speed as 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) in 2011.[4]

On November 16, 1945, the Radium Express and the Radium King were caught by freeze up in Yellowknife.[7]

An account, published in 1953, of her first trip up the Bear River, said her propellers were first removed from their tunnels, and the ship slowly hauled herself up the river's 27 miles (43 km) of rapids with her winch.[5] The account said the winching was complicated because permafrost caused the trees to which she tied her winch-line had shallow roots. The account said this took 13 and a half hours.

Specifications

specifications[4]
Gross tonnage:88 t
Net tonnage:60 t
Length:21.94 metres
Breadth:6.03 metres
Depth:1.67 metres
Draught:0.91 metres
Self-propelled power:474 brake horsepower
Speed:9.0 knots [sic]

Disposal

In 2005 Atomic Energy of Canada published a study of the toxic legacy of the mining of radioactive ore at Port Radium.[8] According to the report the Radium Express and all the other surviving vessels of the Radium line were found to be free of contamination, with the exception of the Radium Gilbert.[2] The 2005 study said the Radium Express was being stored, in Hay River.

References

  1. ↑ Steve Briggs. (2018). "Russel Brothers Boats Archive". [Steve Briggs].
  2. 1 2 Peter C. Van Wyck (2010). Highway of the Atom. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-77358-087-9. Retrieved 2018-01-13. There is material leakage all along the sides of the Highway, as well as on the vessels and barges used to traverse it. The merchant fleet Radium line: the Radium King, the Radium Queen, the Radium Lad, the Radium Express, and of course, the Radium Gilbert ... and so on. The rest of the list: Cruiser, Prince, Gilbert, Charles, Scout, Yellowknife, Franklin, Dew, Prospector, Trader, Miner.
  3. ↑ "Radium Express". Owen Sound Sun Times. 1939-05-05. Archived from the original on 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  4. 1 2 3 "Vessel: Radium Express". Canadian Transportation Agency. 2011-12-22. Archived from the original on 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  5. 1 2 3 Norm Hacking (1953-08-13). "On the Waterfront: Kitimat Terminal to Open Week Early". The Province. p. 21. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  6. ↑ "Mackenzie Supplies arrive by River Boat". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. 1938-05-30. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  7. ↑ "Boats Are Caught In North Waters". Edmonton Journal. 1945-11-16. p. 14. Retrieved 2012-05-31. Both the Radium King and the Radium Express are frozen fast in ice just off Joliffe Island, a stone's throw from the town of Yellowknife. With them are their three barges, being unloaded at the Negus mine dock when freeze-up caught them deciding to make the last short haul as far as Yellowknife's dock, the boats nearly made it, but were caught just a few hundred yards offshore.
  8. ↑ "Status Report for the Historic Northern Transportation Route redacted colour" (PDF). Atomic Energy of Canada. December 2005. p. 86. Retrieved 2018-01-13. Ships were used along the NTR to move barges loaded with uranium ore and concentrates (among other materials and supplies). Some vessels also transported cargo on board. Fifteen Radium Series vessels used along the NTR were identified in SENES (1994). Three were determined to have been scrapped, and the disposition of one, the Radium Cruiser, was unknown. Radiological investigations were conducted on the other eleven vessels. Only one, the Radium Gilbert, showed any evidence of contamination.
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