freighter and passenger steamship, specifically for the Georgian Bay and North Channel route—but, reflecting the practicality of its Grey County ownership, like its predecessors the Norgoma could also transport cars (if only a limited number of them). The Norgoma operated on five-day (Owen Sound to Sault Ste Marie) and weekend (Owen Sound to Gore Bay) cruises, which remained very popular throughout the 1950s. However, the OSTC depended on its package freight trade to balance its books. By the early 1960s, that trade had largely dried up; the formerly isolated ports along the Turkey Trail were now served by roads and trucks. For some years, largely in order that their historic service could continue to the delight of tourists and Manitoulin Island communities and their leaders, OSTC was heavily subsidised by the Federal and Provincial governments. The volume of car and passenger traffic on the Tobermory-South Baymouth run, however, continued to expand year by year. In 1962, Collingwood Shipyards converted the S.S. Norgoma to diesel-power, thus she became M.S. Norgoma, and in 1963 she began renewed life as a car and passenger ferry, sister-in-trade to the S.S. Norisle—and occasionally, at the beginning, to the old M.S. Normac. Traffic continued to mount on the ferry run. The Government of Ontario, through its Crown corporation, the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, acquired the Owen Sound Transportation Company in 1974. This development resulted in the S.S. Norisle and M.S. Norgoma joining M.S. Normac in retirement; and a new vessel being commissioned. The M.S. Chi-Cheemaun—translating to "Big Canoe" in Ojibwe—was the largest vessel to ever operate on the route. At the time of her commissioning, she was one of Canada's newest state-of-the-art ferries, having been designed by British Columbia naval architects and built on Georgian Bay by the ever-reliable local Collingwood Shipyards as one of their last "hulls". Her service continues the story of that of her distinguished and well-loved predecessor ships. OSTC was spun off from ONTC in 2002. Ships of Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited References External links Owen Sound Transportation Company Ferry companies of Ontario Companies based in Ontario Transport in Manitoulin District Defunct shipping companies of Canada