Ninth-Decade Towboats In Amherst Madison Fleet

The sternwheel towboats Lady Lois and Laura J, owned by Amherst Madison, are both in their ninth decade of river duty. Pictured here on the Kanawha River in front of the state capital in Charleston, W.Va., the Lady Lois, below (photo courtesy of Amherst Madison), was built in 1928 by Nashville Bridge Company. The Laura J (top, photo by Keith Blount), the subject of a November 19 “Letter to the Editor” written by Amherst owner Charlie Jones, was built in 1929. “The benefit the sternwheelers have over conventional towboats is they can operate in shallow water, which provides us greater flexibility, particularly for our construction operations,” said Robert McCoy, executive vice president.