Old Boat Column

A look back into the rich history of the inland waterways transportation industry. From the earliest steam paddlewheelers to the grand sternwheel and sidewheel packets, and the eventual transition from steam to diesel, you’ll find fascinating stories and photos of a different steamboat every week.

Husky—The Rest of The Story Painting of the W.V. Keeley by Mike Hager’s father. (Courtesy Mike Hager)

Husky—The Rest of The Story

September 10, 2023

In the last column we looked at the Husky, built by F.W. Olcott at Paducah in 1937 as the initial vessel of the Upper Mississippi Towing Corporation. UMTC sold it… Read More

The Husky, First Boat for Upper Mississippi Towing The Husky in service for Upper Mississippi Towing Corporation. (Dan Owen Boat Photo Museum collection)

The Husky in service for Upper Mississippi Towing Corporation. (Dan Owen Boat Photo Museum collection)

The Husky, First Boat for Upper Mississippi Towing

September 4, 2023

While the large steam sternwheel Jack Rathbone was under construction at the Marietta Manufacturing Company at Point Pleasant, W.Va., in 1937, a small diesel towboat was also being built at… Read More

Revisiting The Steam Prop A.M. Scott Str. A.M. Scott at Point Pleasant in 1913. (David Smith collection)

Revisiting The Steam Prop A.M. Scott

August 27, 2023

We detailed the A.M. Scott in the April 10, 2023, issue of The Waterways Journal. This boat was an early steam twin-prop towboat, described in Way’s Steam Towboat Directory as… Read More

The Jack Rathbone, Last Steam Sternwheeler For Standard Oil New at MMC with the shipyard ways in the background. Photo from an MMC ad in the July 31, 1937, WJ. (David Smith collection)

New at MMC with the shipyard ways in the background. Photo from an MMC ad in the July 31, 1937, WJ. (David Smith collection)

The Jack Rathbone, Last Steam Sternwheeler For Standard Oil

August 22, 2023

While new diesel-driven towboats were making headlines in the 1930s, steam power was still king, and several significant new steamers were built in the waning days of steam construction. The… Read More

Alice M. Tyler The Alice M. Tyler new at St. Louis as pictured in the May 6, 1939, WJ.

Alice M. Tyler

August 14, 2023

After St. Louis Shipbuilding & Steel Company had delivered the streamlined J.H. Duffy (WJ, August 7), one would have thought that subsequent boats turned out by the yard would be… Read More

The Streamlined J.H. Duffy Launching as pictured in a St. Louis Ship ad in the June 4, 1938, WJ. (David Smith collection)

The Streamlined J.H. Duffy

August 7, 2023

In the July 17 column regarding the Str. Transporter, mention was made of J. Mack Gamble’s Annual Review column that had appeared in the December 31, 1938, issue of The… Read More

Odds And Ends Crew dining area aboard the Str. Sam Craig when new in 1929. (Courtesy of Ed Shearer)

Odds And Ends

July 31, 2023

I always appreciate hearing from readers regarding these columns. These “old boats” continue to stir memories that some may have not considered for years or make them think of items… Read More

The Unconventional Towboat Sugar USS LCS 102, last surviving intact LCS, now preserved at the US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, Vallejo, Calif. (U.S. Navy photo)

USS LCS 102, last surviving intact LCS, now preserved at the US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, Vallejo, Calif. (U.S. Navy photo)

The Unconventional Towboat Sugar

July 24, 2023

In the years following World War II, there were several former military craft converted into river towing vessels. In thinking about the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway issue, this week’s subject came… Read More

The Steamer Transporter Was The End Of An Era Str. Transporter on trials after rebuilding in 1921. (Capt. W.S. Pollock photo, David Smith collection)

The Steamer Transporter Was The End Of An Era

July 17, 2023

In January 1921, the Water Transport Company, Pittsburgh, of which Capt. Charles T. Campbell was head, purchased the Combine (Monongahela River Consolidated Coal & Coke Company) towboat Valiant and had… Read More

The ‘Goose That Laid The Golden Egg’ For UBL The Reliance at the Standard Terminal at Pittsburgh, 1925. (Dan Owen Boat Photo Museum collection)

The ‘Goose That Laid The Golden Egg’ For UBL

July 10, 2023

In the Old Boat column of the June 19 issue regarding the Sam Craig, brief mention was made of the Reliance. It was an important part of the beginnings of… Read More

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