In the last column we looked at the twin-screw towboat Dorothy H, built by Nashville Bridge in 1938 for Capt. Walter G. Hougland (later doing business as Walter G. Hougland… Read More
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.
In 1937, Capt. Walter G. Hougland contracted with the Nashville Bridge Company, Nashville, Tenn., for a new twin-screw diesel towboat. The Hougland fleet at this time consisted of two steam… Read More
In 1880 there was a small towboat built at Wheeling, W.Va., that would prove to have a very versatile career over the nearly 40 years that it existed. The sternwheel… Read More
While the Marietta Manufacturing Company (MMC) was completing and outfitting the big steam towboat Alexander Mackenzie (WJ October 9) at its Point Pleasant, W.Va., shipyard, the first steel for the… Read More
In the September 18, 2023, issue of The Waterways Journal, this column detailed the Kansas City Socony and mentioned that it had initiated the first oil tow into both Omaha,… Read More
The August 6, 1938 issue of The Waterways Journal carried a small story on page 5 concerning A.C. Ingersoll accepting a position with a new company on the Illinois and… Read More
The question of exactly when a vessel becomes an “old boat” and a fit subject for this column has been addressed before, and it was touched on specifically in the… Read More
In the last column, we looked at the Kansas City Socony, built by the Elliott-Fairfax Shipyard at Kansas City, Kan., in 1937. It was 125 by 32 (a typo in… Read More
Capt. Phil C. Elsey was one of the founders of the Sons & Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen. A group of river personages gathered at the Hotel Lafayette in Gallipolis, Ohio,… Read More
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
