The ''Radium Express'' is a Russel Brothers tugboat operated by the Northern Transportation Company. The vessel was built in

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attr ...

, disassembled, and then shipped by rail to

Waterways, Alberta Waterways is a locality within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta, Canada. It is now a neighbourhood within the Fort McMurray urban service area along the west bank of the Clearwater River, south of the river's confluen ...

, which was then the terminus of the North American railway grid. Like the other vessels in the "

Radium Line Marine Transportation Services (MTS) formerly Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) is a marine transportation company operating primarily in the Mackenzie River watershed of the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, and the A ...

", she was reassembled in Waterways, on the Clearwater River, a tributary of the Mackenzie, and then proceeded down the

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is p ...

and

Slave River The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the Rivière des Rochers and Peace River in northeastern Alberta and empties into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river's name is thought to derive from the ...

to Fort Smith, and portaged to the lower river, where she could navigate most of the remainder of the extensive Mackenzie River system.

Operational career

In 1938 the ''

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'' reported the vessel was designed to travel at up to , faster than the Radium Line's larger vessels, so it could take over tows in regions of particularly rapid current. The

Canadian Transportation Agency The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA; french: Office des transports du Canada, OTC) is the independent, quasi-judicial tribunal of the Government of Canada that makes decisions relating to federally-regulated modes of transportation ( air, ...

reported her speed as in 2011. On November 16, 1945, the ''Radium Express'' and the '' Radium King'' were caught by freeze up in Yellowknife. 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 of rapids with her winch. 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

Disposal

In 2005

Atomic Energy of Canada Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the 1950s, and in October 2011 licensed this ...

published a study of the toxic legacy of the mining of radioactive ore at Port Radium. 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''. The 2005 study said the ''Radium Express'' was being stored, in Hay River.

External links

Russel Brothers Boat Archive

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , url = http://russelbrothers.ca/xradiumexpress.html , title = Russel Brothers Boats Archive , publisher = teve Briggs, author = Steve Briggs. , date = 2018 {{cite news , url = https://www.andra.fr/dvd_radium/pdfs/Status%20Report%20for%20the%20Historic%20Northern%20Transportation%20Route%20redacted%20colour.pdf#page=88 , title = Status Report for the Historic Northern Transportation Route redacted colour , work =

, date = December 2005 , page = 86 , accessdate = 2018-01-13 , quote = 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. {{cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vxaIWrR2LUYC&q=Radium+ellGilbert&pg=PA36 , title = Highway of the Atom , publisher = McGill-Queen's Press , year = 2010 , author = Peter C. Van Wyck , page = 36 , isbn = 978-0-77358-087-9 , accessdate = 2018-01-13 , quote = 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. {{cite news , url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=27870776&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjUwMDAwMDU1NCwiaWF0IjoxNjA4MzAwMDk3LCJleHAiOjE2MDgzODY0OTd9.4s-221gmC2j6WthB0vuuJiCvxriINYbBUXCuUR0dbv8 , title = On the Waterfront: Kitimat Terminal to Open Week Early , work =

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's onl ...

, author = Norm Hacking , date = 1953-08-13 , page = 21 , location = , accessdate = 2020-12-18 , quote = 1939 ships Tugboats of Canada

Express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...

Water transport in the Northwest Territories