Paul Wickman heard plenty about the Edmund Fitzgerald as he was growing up in Ashland. His godmother was Mary Louko, the daughter of John Simmons, one of the famous ship’s wheelsman — the guys who steer Great Lakes ore haulers. Louko’s mother’s walls were covered with photos of life on the water; her coffee table laden with books memorializing one of the world’s most famous shipwrecks and her husband, one of five Bay-Area men who died aboard her.
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Paul Wickman dropping off the model at the Historical Society Museum and signing papers cementing the loan as Bob Klamerus looks on.
Contributed photo
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The model is more than eight feet long, and the museum is seeking donations to cover costs of a protective case that needs to be built for it.
Contributed photo by Ed Monroe
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A photo of the fully loaded Edmund Fitzgerald as she plied the waters of the Great Lakes in the early 1970s. Contributed photo by Greenmars via Creative Commons.
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Every fixture and fitting on the ship was hand-crafted.
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When launched in 1958, the Fitzgerald was the largest boat on the Great Lakes, and she remains the largest ever to sink on the lakes.
AP photo
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Ashland's William Klamerus, an oilman, in the engine room of the Edmund Fitzgerald. He died at his station of a heart attack, and his son was a key connection on bringing the model to Ashland.
Contributed photo
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Even the ship's brass bell and the brass ring around the wheelhouse porthole are true to the original.
Contributed photo by Ed Monroe
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Even the camber or arch of the deck and hatch covers that helped the ship shed water are accurate. Wickman said those details immediately impressed him when he first laid eyes on the model.
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Clemmens built the propellor by hand, painstakingly recreating the curve of its blades.
Contributed photo by Ed Monroe
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The level of detail on the model is what makes it remarkable. It took Russ Clemmer 10 years to build — and repeatedly rebuild — to get every fixture and fitting right.
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Every time Russ Clemmen discovered a new photo of the ship, he would disassemble and reassemble his model to make it more accurate.
Contributed photo by Ed Monroe
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William Klamerus, second from right, relaxes with crewmates while at sea.
Contributed photo
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A mural in downtown Ashland celebrates the city’s shipping history, and includes paintings of William Klamerus, the Edmund Fitzgerald and John Simmons, who went down with the ship.
Peter J. Wasson/staff photo
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The trolley that removed hatch covers and traversed the ship's deck on rails is perfectly recreated, down to the shafts that drove its wheels.
Peter J. Wasson/Staff photo
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Paul Wickman, second from right, hands over the model to museum representatives at a local restaurant.
Contributed photo
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