I can’t directly answer about the real old ones, but I did spend couple months shipping as an engine cadet on a Laker a few decades years ago. I was always curious about those older fwd house ships but I never got to check any out.
I was on one of the 1000-footers with Interlake Steamship. We carried coal in one direction, taconite pellets in the other. I enjoyed it, learned more in those two months than years at the academy, hands on tracing lines, fixing leaks, troubleshooting boilers, pulling pistons and liners. Ports were perhaps less exciting than the stories I’d only heard about overseas, but certainly more frequent stops than international voyages.
I’m guessing opinions of work on the lakes changes with the weather. Companies up there run most of the year until they can no longer get through the ice, and start up again as soon as it thaws enough. Those winter weeks to a month of shut down are when they raft up and squeeze in major generator overhauls and repairs. The winter storms can feel like the north Atlantic.
I was there in the summer though. Hot in south of Lake Michigan, comfortable at the top of Lake Superior, as the functionality of the AC changed with the water temps. Onlookers line the shores of the cuts and locks to wave, take pictures, and sometimes flash the crew. Charts have areas marked for taking on potable, just filter it and good to go. No salt corrosion, the ships literally last forever.
The mates all had pilotage and were the best shiphandlers I’ve ever seen, swinging those severely underpowered thousand-footers around and parallel parking them like a Porsche, no tugs. For line handling, they nosed the bow of the ship in first and dropped the bosun over on dock on the grocery hoist to grab the mooring wires. Most officers seemed to have advanced licenses, pulling one hitch as 3rd Mate, the next as Chief. The 1st A/E’s would relieve the C/E. Generally a great group of mariners. Good food too, and when you’re pulling in once a week it’s easy to keep it fresh. At that time they still had a Steward/Baker in addition to the Cook.
As for work, pretty sure they’re all union outfits up there, though when I was up there I believe that company direct hired and then you joined the union, Interlake still lets you apply right on their website. It was a lot of work, but I still remember the lakes fondly.