I didn't work on the river, I grew up on the river, my dad was assistant lock master at lock and dam #6 at Trempealeau, WI. And lock#8.at Genoa before that, I watched every boat I could, I learned alot and saw alot, saw them hit the walls so hard that they moved em 6" back in the 50s saw many 3" barge ropes blown apart when barges broke loose, most all were making tons of black smoke, loved when the EMD boats came out, dad finally retired in 63!
Barges are insane. I often kayak way out in the middle of Watts Bar on the TN River. Even staying back from them a few hundred yards or so they still look like a city floating on by. I never tire of seeing them.
I love American heavy duty engineering. I dont care for the compensator pickup truck era that we live in, but when it comes to massive towboats, steam locomotives, earthmovers and giant machinery, here in America we have done amazing things. I just wish that alot of these mechanically minded men who are in love with pickups would focus and use their God given mechanical passion for something like high speed rail and engineering cities, and also updating and upgrading the inland waterways. I mean monster jam is entertaining but I dont want to be part of it when driving my Volkswagen or riding my bicycle. I tell these guys who try to intimidate people with their pickup that a freight train or towboat or these giant cargo ships would make their lifted truck look like a gnat.
@@torquetrain8963 lol. I feel you on the pickup truck compensators. It's a funny stereotype, but oh so true. I was in the tooling and machining field for a couple decades. Giant machinery of any kind is indeed awesome. Large presses always got my attention. It's mind boggling what kind of considerations have to be thought of with the big stuff. Massive gun turrets on a battleship and how they're articulated and such.
I live in Idaho and have been out of the Pittsburgh PA/WV/Ohio tri state area for half my life now, but I grew up in a small river town hearing both towboats and locomotives often at the same time. Especially at night it was an amazing sound to hear. It forever resonates in my mind. Especially the Fairbanks morse opposed piston engines. I worked as a deckhand for a few years, but before I did that I delivered groceries to barge lines at the local grocery store. Great memories!!!!
@@torquetrain8963 yes. I'm mid 40s and the generations(s) coming behind me are doomed. No one has any hands on skills anymore. Work ethic seems lacking too from what I've seen. I'm worried for our future. Our govt is off the rails as well. Something's got to give at some point. Hopefully. I lived around Dayton Ohio for the better part of my life. We had the Great Miami River, which carries on to the Ohio. We didn't have any boat traffic though. In 1913 the Miami Valley area right there flooded severely. That installed several low head dams and it crippled the river. Most places it was deep enough to navigate but it didn't matter I guess because of all the dams and no locks. I bet being a deckhand was a cool experience. I also bet it was hard work and you were tired at the end of the day!
@torquetrain8963 just the old Dan c. Burnett, the missouri burned up, the America and the United States, are in the United States, out of service for years
@@challenger70fanI know that the United States became a Wharf boat at the end of her life. Which is a floating office boat. That had her name changed to the Al Paneer and was docked at Cairo IL back in 1990. As of right now that is no longer due to it age.
I used to work for Inland Marine Sevice back in the early 2000s we ran two vessels with two engines each turbo 16-645 E3A and then a few with normally aspirated roots blown 16-645E . All were twin screws. Non turbo was about 3600 hp(1800 hp each) and 5600 for the turbos(2800 hp each). I would have loved to have seen the towboats on some other lines that ran the alco 251 4 cycle prime movers.
0:1013:57 , very nice to hear those low rev engines. They are directly coupled to the propellers, and reversed by stopping the engine, changing the posistion of the camshaft, and then restarting it by injecting pressurised air. Here in europe there are very few left in our self propelled barges unfortunately, although recent emmision measurements of these sometimes over 60 years old engines revealed that some Deutz and MAK engines have even cleaner emmisions that modern high rev engines with reduction gears. In Eastern Europe and Russia there are still operating 50 year old towboats with these low rev engines, very durable stuff. I always love to encounter these ships, unfortunately i havent been a pilot on one of them myselfes yet.
Yes, she had low rev engines, but the United States and the America were the biggest air polluters on the Mississippi River. I know from experience. Do you remember seeing that little grocery delivery boat? I operated that boat for about 1.5 years back in 1969 when I was at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was named "The Capitol" back then and belonged to Capitol Marine Supply and Boat Store, a division of Chotin Transportation. I delivered groceries to the United States and the America many times. She had 8 cylinder Cooper-Bessemer opposed piston engines that were started on diesel and run on diesel until they warmed up and then switched over to bunker-c fuel oil. The engine room was always covered with a layer of soot and oil vapor unlike the modern engine rooms of today with oil tight EMDs and operating room sterile cleanliness. But she was the largest monster on the river at the time and she was much admired by all who saw her. For a bit of history, the Pat Chotin was built in 1965 to have more horsepower than the United States, and was originally supposed to have three 16V645 for a little over 8,500hp to kind of one-up the United States, but at the last minute Captain Chotin decided to go with fuel savers and put in three 12V645 for 6600 hp. She has recently been re-powered with 16V645 and she is knocking on 8,500hp now and renamed David G Sehrt at Ingram Barge Lines. see: www.towboatgallery.com/The_Towboat_Gallery.php?mnu=
@@lewismohr1 no, i dont rember, I wasn't born back then, and I live in Europe. But i can imagine it being so polluting when using heavy fuel, that's never good for the air quality, which is also why it is forbidden here, long ago. But I know from German made well maintained low revs, the emissions when using diesel aren't worse when compared to modern emission standards of high rev engines in some cases.
@@lewismohr1 but nice to hear your story though, always love to hear from the past. I heard there is a book about the mv America (read it somewhere in the waterways journal) called "Man and His River" by Capt. Jesse Marks, but can't find it nowhere unfortunately
@@lewismohr1interesting. Some of the books said the United States and the America ran Superior Diesels. Cooper Bessemer I know was what the general electric 7fdl prime mover was based on.
This is deja vu for me because when i was stationed in South Korea,01/1969 - 02/1970, in the u.s. army, i was part of a terminal service transportation battalion consisting of 2 permanently docked barges in the Pusan harbor, one of which i lived on for 13 months, which beat living in the Quonset huts, My first week or so living on the barge, i thought my equilibrium was messed up until realizing it was the tide slowing moving in and out.😂
6 on and 6 off sounds much more appealing than working 12 hour shifts. I see why they did it. I'm sure people were much more productive working the 6's.
I’ve worked both and much prefer 12 on 12 off to 6 hour watches. By the time you eat take a shower do your laundry ect. Your lucky to get 3 hours of sleep. You can forget about watching a move or any other recreation working 6 hour watches. 12 hour watches are so much better especially if your onboard for 30 or more days. For some reason most people like the 6 hour watches these days.
The Alco 251 engine was approved for manufacture in Feb. 1951. It was a turbo-charged and after cooled engine. I know many boats built in the 60’s through early 80’s had those engines.
The video I watched before this one, I've just come from, it was one of those audit the police/police transparency type jobs. And I'm halfway expecting someone to tell these barges they have the right to film them, and ask for their barge number, before saying they're violating our constitutional rights somehow!!
I didn't work on the river, I grew up on the river, my dad was assistant lock master at lock and dam #6 at Trempealeau, WI. And lock#8.at Genoa before that, I watched every boat I could, I learned alot and saw alot, saw them hit the walls so hard that they moved em 6" back in the 50s saw many 3" barge ropes blown apart when barges broke loose, most all were making tons of black smoke, loved when the EMD boats came out, dad finally retired in 63!
Barges are insane. I often kayak way out in the middle of Watts Bar on the TN River. Even staying back from them a few hundred yards or so they still look like a city floating on by. I never tire of seeing them.
I love American heavy duty engineering. I dont care for the compensator pickup truck era that we live in, but when it comes to massive towboats, steam locomotives, earthmovers and giant machinery, here in America we have done amazing things. I just wish that alot of these mechanically minded men who are in love with pickups would focus and use their God given mechanical passion for something like high speed rail and engineering cities, and also updating and upgrading the inland waterways. I mean monster jam is entertaining but I dont want to be part of it when driving my Volkswagen or riding my bicycle. I tell these guys who try to intimidate people with their pickup that a freight train or towboat or these giant cargo ships would make their lifted truck look like a gnat.
@@torquetrain8963 lol. I feel you on the pickup truck compensators. It's a funny stereotype, but oh so true.
I was in the tooling and machining field for a couple decades. Giant machinery of any kind is indeed awesome. Large presses always got my attention. It's mind boggling what kind of considerations have to be thought of with the big stuff. Massive gun turrets on a battleship and how they're articulated and such.
I live in Idaho and have been out of the Pittsburgh PA/WV/Ohio tri state area for half my life now, but I grew up in a small river town hearing both towboats and locomotives often at the same time. Especially at night it was an amazing sound to hear. It forever resonates in my mind. Especially the Fairbanks morse opposed piston engines. I worked as a deckhand for a few years, but before I did that I delivered groceries to barge lines at the local grocery store. Great memories!!!!
@@joshuagibson2520I hope and pray that youth would stop the social media crap and get involved in engineering.
@@torquetrain8963 yes. I'm mid 40s and the generations(s) coming behind me are doomed. No one has any hands on skills anymore. Work ethic seems lacking too from what I've seen. I'm worried for our future. Our govt is off the rails as well. Something's got to give at some point. Hopefully.
I lived around Dayton Ohio for the better part of my life. We had the Great Miami River, which carries on to the Ohio. We didn't have any boat traffic though. In 1913 the Miami Valley area right there flooded severely. That installed several low head dams and it crippled the river. Most places it was deep enough to navigate but it didn't matter I guess because of all the dams and no locks.
I bet being a deckhand was a cool experience. I also bet it was hard work and you were tired at the end of the day!
Thank you for sharing
🏆🤗🇺🇲🤗
A streamtime live regular.
I really enjoyed this short film! Thanks so much for sharing
Awesome video thank you for posting. Hard-working people
Our pleasure! This film is one that came to us via the son of filmmaker Dean Moore, Sr. We are grateful to him for allowing us to scan and post it.
I dedicate this film to my Uncle Ernest. He worked the River his entire life. R.I.P.
Those old quadruple screws, the United States, the America, the lachlan mcleay, and the missouri, were fascinating boats..
I believe some quad screw towboats are being used on the Orinoco river in South America in the greater Amazon River system today.
@torquetrain8963 just the old Dan c. Burnett, the missouri burned up, the America and the United States, are in the United States, out of service for years
@@challenger70fanI know that the United States became a Wharf boat at the end of her life. Which is a floating office boat. That had her name changed to the Al Paneer and was docked at Cairo IL back in 1990. As of right now that is no longer due to it age.
I remember the paneer. Worked for cgb as lead man when I was not on my regular boat for artco
Thanks for posting this!! I'm watching this from an 8k horsepower towboat on the river. Not much has changed in 60-plus years.
Twin or triple screw?
@@torquetrain8963 Twin. She's got a pair of 16-710 EMD'S swinging 113"x113" wheels.
I used to work for Inland Marine Sevice back in the early 2000s we ran two vessels with two engines each turbo 16-645 E3A and then a few with normally aspirated roots blown 16-645E . All were twin screws. Non turbo was about 3600 hp(1800 hp each) and 5600 for the turbos(2800 hp each). I would have loved to have seen the towboats on some other lines that ran the alco 251 4 cycle prime movers.
I like the smoke belching that alcos do because of the turbo lag timing. It's pretty awesome, not to mention the chugging sounds.
0:10 13:57 , very nice to hear those low rev engines. They are directly coupled to the propellers, and reversed by stopping the engine, changing the posistion of the camshaft, and then restarting it by injecting pressurised air. Here in europe there are very few left in our self propelled barges unfortunately, although recent emmision measurements of these sometimes over 60 years old engines revealed that some Deutz and MAK engines have even cleaner emmisions that modern high rev engines with reduction gears. In Eastern Europe and Russia there are still operating 50 year old towboats with these low rev engines, very durable stuff. I always love to encounter these ships, unfortunately i havent been a pilot on one of them myselfes yet.
Yes, she had low rev engines, but the United States and the America were the biggest air polluters on the Mississippi River. I know from experience. Do you remember seeing that little grocery delivery boat? I operated that boat for about 1.5 years back in 1969 when I was at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was named "The Capitol" back then and belonged to Capitol Marine Supply and Boat Store, a division of Chotin Transportation. I delivered groceries to the United States and the America many times. She had 8 cylinder Cooper-Bessemer opposed piston engines that were started on diesel and run on diesel until they warmed up and then switched over to bunker-c fuel oil. The engine room was always covered with a layer of soot and oil vapor unlike the modern engine rooms of today with oil tight EMDs and operating room sterile cleanliness. But she was the largest monster on the river at the time and she was much admired by all who saw her. For a bit of history, the Pat Chotin was built in 1965 to have more horsepower than the United States, and was originally supposed to have three 16V645 for a little over 8,500hp to kind of one-up the United States, but at the last minute Captain Chotin decided to go with fuel savers and put in three 12V645 for 6600 hp. She has recently been re-powered with 16V645 and she is knocking on 8,500hp now and renamed David G Sehrt at Ingram Barge Lines.
see: www.towboatgallery.com/The_Towboat_Gallery.php?mnu=
@@lewismohr1 no, i dont rember, I wasn't born back then, and I live in Europe. But i can imagine it being so polluting when using heavy fuel, that's never good for the air quality, which is also why it is forbidden here, long ago. But I know from German made well maintained low revs, the emissions when using diesel aren't worse when compared to modern emission standards of high rev engines in some cases.
@@lewismohr1 but nice to hear your story though, always love to hear from the past. I heard there is a book about the mv America (read it somewhere in the waterways journal) called "Man and His River" by Capt. Jesse Marks, but can't find it nowhere unfortunately
@@jfz4759 thanks for the reply. yes, extremely high compression, long stroke, direct injecting engines do pollute the least.
@@lewismohr1interesting. Some of the books said the United States and the America ran Superior Diesels. Cooper Bessemer I know was what the general electric 7fdl prime mover was based on.
Classic...Thank you.. !
Very interesting video. Thank you for uploading and sharing!! 😊
I was a welder @ St. Louis Shipyards. I then went to Chrysler Fenton,Mo. "Retired"
What years were you there? My grandfather Robert (Bob) Niemann worked there from 1940 to 1976.
Name dropping the Queen Elizabeth. Nice.
This is deja vu for me because when i was stationed in South Korea,01/1969 - 02/1970, in the u.s. army, i was part of a terminal service transportation battalion consisting of 2 permanently docked barges in the Pusan harbor, one of which i lived on for 13 months, which beat living in the Quonset huts, My first week or so living on the barge, i thought my equilibrium was messed up until realizing it was the tide slowing moving in and out.😂
Love the tows and barges!
6 on and 6 off sounds much more appealing than working 12 hour shifts. I see why they did it. I'm sure people were much more productive working the 6's.
I’ve worked both and much prefer 12 on 12 off to 6 hour watches. By the time you eat take a shower do your laundry ect. Your lucky to get 3 hours of sleep. You can forget about watching a move or any other recreation working 6 hour watches. 12 hour watches are so much better especially if your onboard for 30 or more days. For some reason most people like the 6 hour watches these days.
@@Trump985 good points there.
I worked 6/6 and 12 straight. 12 was better
Pretty sure some of those old boats are still going with modern upgrades
I big board w tags on it. A system that took years to perfect.
Any old timers out there know of any towboats that ran the Baldwin 608SC engines? Thanks.
I wonder where all the tow boats are now.
On or under the river. Have u seen condition of lots of these barges? Surprised tows don't get pulled under more often.
I think you’d be surprised how much material still moves down river via tow boat. However rusty they may be
Are you referring to the motor vessels America and United States specifically, or just towboats in general?
Bill Curtis
The united states come out in 1958, the America come out in 1960, this looks like early 60s footage!!
Just wondering if United States and America had superchargers or turbos pretty sure they didn't have turbos at that time and I might be wrong
Big low rev engines. I've heard they were either Cooper Bessemer or Superior . Not sure if they were turbocharged.
The Alco 251 engine was approved for manufacture in Feb. 1951. It was a turbo-charged and after cooled engine. I know many boats built in the 60’s through early 80’s had those engines.
The video I watched before this one, I've just come from, it was one of those audit the police/police transparency type jobs.
And I'm halfway expecting someone to tell these barges they have the right to film them, and ask for their barge number, before saying they're violating our constitutional rights somehow!!
Seen the old dan c. Burnett, it was the lachlan mccleay in federal yellow colors..