American Barge Line

Innovation has always been prevalent in the river industry. Some ideas have been highly successful and widely accepted while others did not pan out. In the May 17, 1941,… Read More

In 1952, there were still many steam towboats roaming the Western Rivers of the United States. American Barge Line had seven in its fleet, all DPC prop steamers built during… Read More

This column has previously detailed two towboats built by the fledgling Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company that eventually morphed what’s now commonly known as “Jeffboat.” Those boats were the Progress… Read More

The subject of this column in the January 22, 2024, issue of The Waterways Journal was the twin-screw, diesel towboat Progress of the American Barge Line (ABL) which was built… Read More

Capt. Mike Herschler sent out some photos to a group of friends and river aficionados last week. These shots depicted a burned towboat, which just happened to be one… Read More

Last week in the June 5, 2023, issue of The Waterways Journal, it was noted in the “This Week (From back issues of the WJ)” column that 100 years… Read More

As mentioned previously in these columns dealing with early diesel towboats, the Charles Ward Engineering Works of Charleston, W.Va., was an early proponent of prop-driven vessels. However, in 1927,… Read More

The Charles Ward Engineering Works, Charleston, W.Va., was a pioneer in the advent of the screw propeller as a means of providing thrust to towing vessels. The James Rumsey,… Read More