S.S. Conveyor
S. S. Conveyor was one of 5 steamers operated on the Skeena River by Foley, Welch and Stewart who were the main contractors for the construction of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway along the Skeena.
According to Macdonald’s Steamboats & Steamships of the Pacific Northwest, she was built by G. A. MacNicholl of Victoria BC.
Engines were built by Polson’s of Toronto and boilers were built by the Albion Iron Works of Victoria. She was equipped with an electric gas plant on the cargo deck and electric search lights.
She carried construction cargo and pushed a barge with 100 ton of freight. Capt. Douglas was the Master. In August 1910, a small dinky steam engine weighting 10 tons and destined for up the Skeena rail construction was accidentally dropped on the capstan of the Conveyor, putting it out of commission while it was repaired.
| Name, Reg | Tonnage | Len x Wid x Draft | NHP | Engines | Passengers | Info |
| Conveyor, C-126250 | 583 | 137.5×31.4×5.4 | 15 | 15×72 | 150 | 200 ton cargo |
In 1912, after working on the Skeena from 1909 to 1911, she was dismantled and hauled to Tete Jaune Cache and reassembled with new hulls and continued to work on the construction of the GTP Railway. After completion of the Railway, the running gear and engines were shipped up north for use in sternwheelers in the Athabaska-McKenzie region.
Captains:
Douglas
John Shannon
Ships Registry for the Conveyor courtesy Library and Archives Canada:
Sources:
Armstrong, Cliff Sternwheelers on the Skeena , 2001
Bennett, Norma V Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River, 2001
Macdonald, Joseph F. Macdonald’s Steamboats & Steamships of the Pacific Northwest.
O’Neill, Wiggs Steamboat Days on the Skeena River, 1963
Wright, E. W. Lewis & Drydens Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, 1967.
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