Name Radium Queen Launched Waterways, Alberta Length 29 m Draft 1.2 m Builder Manseau Shipyards | Laid down 1937 Completed 1937 Construction started 1937 Beam 6.1 m | |
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Owner Northern Transportation Company Operator Northern Transportation Company | ||
The Radium Queen and her sister ship the Radium King were built in Sorel, Quebec in 1937, for the Northern Transportation Company, a subsidiary of Eldorado Gold Mines. The Radium Queen was a cargo/tug ship that served on the Slave River. It made runs between Lake Athabaska and Great Slave Lake is generally navigable. The Radium Queen towed barges from the railhead at Waterways, Alberta to a portage around the rapids. Cargo was unloaded there and transported by land, and loaded on barges on the lower river that were towed by the Radium King, and later by other tugboats, like the Radium Charles, Radium Express and Radium Yellowknife.
It was built at the Manseau Shipyards, then disassembled and shipped by railroad to Waterways. The Radium Queen was shipped first, and reassembled at Waterways, so she could tow the parts to assemble the Radium King downstream to the rapids on the Slave River. The parts to the Radium King were then portaged around the rapids to be assembled on the lower reaches.