Floating like a log

Another thing to put on you list of things to not do in the Ohio River: Grab a log and float along for a while. Things turned out okay for these two teens, but it could have been a lot worse.

Be sure to read the comments to get more on the story.

In the Waterways Journal

Several people have written me to compliment my photos in last week's edition of the Waterways Journal. I haven't seen them yet, as my copy is still in the mail. I thank everyone for the compliments.

By the way, Adam has started putting towboat photos on another wall in his bedroom. So far, he's put up 14, with more to come after he discovers a stash I've been hiding. The boats so far: Detroit (3), Mary Ellen Jones, Chuck Zebula, Paula Ruble, Steven J. Mason, AEP Mariner, Buckeye State, Hoosier State, D.A. Grimm, Bill Stile, Aliquipppa, Tennessee Hunter. We have another that I'll be putting up as soon as I get an 8 x 10 copy and a frame. I'll post a photo of that, as it's special.

This weekend, Adam is supposed to meet someone who works on one of those boats. The guy is the husband of someone Adam's grandmother works with. It could be an interesting conversation.

The most photographed tree in Gallipolis, Ohio

Generations ago, someone wisely set aside land on the highest ridge overlooking Gallipolis, Ohio, for a cemetery and a park. It's a pretty big place for a city of fewer than 5,000 people. Restauranteur and sausage maker Bob Evans is buried up there, as is one of my nephews.

Mound Hill Cemetery and Fortification Hill park are popular spots for photographers. You have an unobstructed view of miles and miles of Ohio River valley. There at the top of a vertical drop is this old dead tree that works its way into many photographs that people take of Gallipolis from up there.

It's like that tree that was at the mouth of the cave at Cave-In-Rock, Ill., when I was there in 1986. You went back in the cave and pointed your camera back toward the mouth. All around you was blackness except for the light at the opening, and there below the opening, between you and the river, was a single tree.

I don't know if the tree is still there. I'd like to get back down that way sometime and see for myself.

If anyone knows of any other high points along the river that are good for wide shots of the valley, I'd appreciate hearing about them.

mv. Robert P. Tibolt

I was pretty amazed. At least three people had posted several photos of the towboats Indiana and Ohio on their final trip down the Ohio River on their way to South America. I didn't think that so many people were so interested in these old boats. Cool.

And I felt bad that I missed it. All the photos of these boats that I had taken over the years, and I missed it. Bummer.

I've been looking in my archives for some photos of the boats back in their Ohio River Company days. I've found some, and there are more archives to search. I spent a lot of years photographing boats and such on the river, and it takes time to go through all those pictures.

I found this one of the Indiana in its first incarnation, as the Robert P. Tibolt. It's heading upriver past Gallipolis, Ohio, with Mason County, W.Va., in the background. This is from the early 1980s, I think. A lot of my photos from that era are experiencing deterioration in their colors. Either that or the processor back then did a lousy job. I'm going with the first, because I don't remember thinking back then that the colors were so bad.

I've played with the colors some to get them back closer to what they should be. It's a skill I'm still learning. Maybe I should find the money to get some lessons from someone who knows what they're doing.

Heading south ... way, way south

Dick's Towboat Gallery has photos of the Indiana and the Ohio boarded up and ready for their trip to South America.

Soon I hope to post one or more old photos of the Indiana as the Robert P. Tibolt once I find and scan them.

mv. Detroit on the upper Ohio

For the first few months of its life, the mv. Detroit of Marathon Petroleum operated on the Ohio River below Catlettsburg, Ky. That was mighty frustrating for me because I live several miles above the Catlettsburg refinery, so my ability to see the Detroit on the river were few. And when it was in Catlettsburg for a few days, it would tie up at a place where it was almost impossible to get a good view from shore.

But for the past couple of weeks, the Detroit has been making trips northbound. That's given Adam and me a few opportunities to get some shots. Here is one.

And here's another. It wasn't until I read an article in the Waterways Journal online that I noticed how wide the Detroit is compared with its height.

I hope to get a much better shot of its width by being at the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam when it goes through, but that takes a combination of luck and planning.

In the past couple of weeks, the Detroit has become one of my favorite boats to photograph. It's a good-looking boat. I have way more good photos of it than can be posted here.

Marathon's next boat is under construction. We look forward to seeing it on the river in a few months.

Waves

At Huntington, W.Va.

The boat is the Tennessee Hunter of Hunter Marine.

A couple of news items

The W.P. Snyder Jr.'s return to Marietta has been pushed back to mid-September after it was found the boat needed more repair work than previously thought. The Marietta Times has the details.

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$3 to cross the new Ohio River bridges planned for Louisville? That's the number that bridge planners are working with, although it could change.

24

I didn't intend for this to happen, but as things worked out Adam and I have seen and photographed several towboats from good angles in the past 24 hours.

Our best photos are of the Capt. Bill Stewart, the Mark S., the Oliver C. Shearer, the Detroit and two unknown boats in the morning fog. We also go photos of the Enid Dibert, the J.B. Kleinpeter, the Mountain State (lightboat) and the Mary Ellen Jones.

I may post some photos here or on Flickr in the next day or two. There are a lot to sort through, plus I have some other obligations to take care of soon.

Three from 1985

Here are three from my archives. I'm pretty sure they're all from 1985.

First, here's the Mississippi Queen on its first trip up the Ohio River as far as Gallipolis, Ohio. This photo was taken below Clipper Mills, Ohio.

Here's the Delta Queen passing Gallipolis downbound.

And here's the Mr. Jesse Barr leaving the Kanawha River for the Ohio.

Yeah, I know I need to do a lot of color work on these. Give me time. These were scanned from Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides. I've got a lot to learn. Bear with me for a while.

Comng down for Labor Day

It looks like an old bridge at Wheeling will come down sometime around Labor Day, the Wheeling News-Register reports.

A good day

Yesterday was a pretty good day river-wise for me and Adam.

First, we took his older brother to grandmother's house to spend a few days. On the way there, we stopped at the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam and found the mv. Paula Ruble in the lower approach.

Later, I went to a ridge to get the Ruble rounding a bend.

Then I found myself at the Gallipolis, Ohio, parkfront where some young Canada geese were feeding on the grass.

On the way home, Adam and I stopped at the dam again when we saw the mv. Chuck Zebula waiting to lock through downbound. We got some photos of the boat leaving the locks. Then we drove to the end of the fishing access road to get a final photo or two, and the fun started. The Zebula parked itself at a couple of mooring cells. We walked the river bank getting some more photos. As we were leaving, I speculated that maybe the boat was there waiting for more barges to make an oversize tow. Sure enough, here came the mv. Nell with 13 more barges to add to the Zebula's existing tow of 15 barges. This 28-barge tow is the largest I have seen on the Ohio River. I had heard that companies will be pushing oversize tows this summer. I have no idea if it's an experiment or the start of a long-term practice.

Too bad we had to leave the Zebula and the Nell because of other commitments.

Yes, it was a good day river-wise. Not the best day. But a good day.

A couple of things

Last night (Saturday), as I was winding down, I realized I had forgotten that the annual Ohio River Sweep was that day. I was going to participate this year, but I forgot all about it. Anyway, my boys needed their sleep, and yesterday was the first clear weekend day my family has had for a while.

I'm sure there will be plenty of beverage containers, aerosol cans, basketballs and such to pick up next year, too. It never stops. It just never stops.

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It looks like the folks at Madison, Ind., will be getting their new bridge soon.

A loss today

This came via Facebook today. from the Point Pleasant River Museum:

The River Museum wishes to extend our sincere sympathy and prayers to the family of our beloved, Capt. Charles Henry Stone who passed from this life to his Heavenly Home this afternoon. Our hearts are so sad, Capt. Stone was very instrumental in getting the river museum started, he was a board member, a river museum master and a true supporter of the museum. We will miss you Captain.

Capt. Stone was one of the nicest river people I ever met. I don't know what else to say.

It's down

Okay, this is a long one, and it's not about the Ohio River per se, but it's close -- maybe a tenth of a mile away.

Adam and I went down to the Guyandotte neighborhood of Huntington, W.Va., today to watch an 84-year-old steel truss bridge be destroyed with five to seven charges of explosives. The blasts dropped the bridge into the Guyandotte River. Unfortunately, the cops who patroled the best viewing location when we got there ran people away, so we had to go to a place that didn't afford such a good view. We didn't get any photos of the blast itself, but we did get some pictures of the aftermath. And here we go. ...

The eastern end of the bridge rests on the river bank.

Removal operations begin as the mv. Anna S. of Ohio River Salvage takes a barge with a crane up the Guyandotte to the part of the bridge resting in the water. The Anna S. would back out a few minutes later and bring an open hopper barge to put the bridge steel in.

And salvage workers begin the process of cutting the bridge into smaller pieces so the crane can place them in the barge. Adam shot this for me as we drove on the entrance ramp to the East End bridge over the Ohio River. We walked up on the ramp later to get better pictures. Too bad I forgot to turn my autofocus back on, or we would have had some really nice ones.

More cutting work, this time as seen from banks of the Guyandotte.

Here it's lifted out of the water.

Once in the barge, it's cut again.

Why was the bridge closed to traffic three years ago? Probably because some of the steel beams that supported the roadway looked like this.

I liked the sound the water of the Guyandotte, swelled by heavy rains up in the mountains last weekend, made as it flowed through and over the side guardrails.

One more thing. I have no idea how this vest and this pair of gloves wound up on the banks of the Guyandotte.

Today was good practice should I have the cash to run up to Wheeling this summer for the demolition of an Ohio River bridge up there.

P.S. Tonight or tomorrow, I might post some video that Adam shot of the salvage operation.

mv. Aliquippa (with minor correction)

Yesterday evening (Tuesday), I was in downtown Huntington, W.Va., waiting for something. As  I usually do, I went to Harris Riverfront Park. There I saw a boat coming up the Ohio River. Then I noticed the second boat farther downstream. Because I had the time, I went up on the 6th Street bridge to get some overhead photos.

The first boat was the Tennessee Hunter. The second was the Aliquippa. And that's the one that interested me more this particular evening.

As the Aliquippa approached the bridge, the fading sunlight started discouraging me. But as the first of five barges appeared out from under the bridge (a long time ago, someone described Appalachian speech as very prepositional), the clouds parted, bathing the river in glorious, warm reds and oranges. Thus, I got this photo of the Aliquippa.

This boat and two others like it -- the Vulcan and the Titan -- are of particular interest to me because I'm pretty sure one of them was the first towboat I ever photographed with a single lens reflex camera and color film. It was back in the fall of 1976, I think, and the boat was painted green and white. It was headed downriver after exiting the Gallipolis Locks and Dam. I didn't get a good enough shot to determine the name of the boat.

So I figured I had a decent photo of the boat (you can see another shot of it passing downtown Huntington by going to my Flickr photostream here). This evening (Wednesday), as I was looking at my photos, I noticed this fellow on the Aliquippa. In the first couple of shots that I saw him, he was staring up at me, probably wondering who this twit with the camera on the bridge was. In the later shots, he's looking back toward the bridge and the setting sun. He must have had a pretty good view of things from where he was.

So that's my intensely interesting personal story for tonight.

Correction: I found the photo from 1976. The boat was mostly white, with green along the bottom. It was heading upriver, about to enter the Gallipolis locks. I also found a photo take a few months later of a similar boat (or the same one, repainted) that was all white. It was heading downstream, having just exited the Gallipolis locks.

Getting ready to drop a bridge

It looks like equipment is moving into place for the demolition of the old 5th Avenue bridge over the Guyandotte River in Huntington, W.Va. The existing steel truss bridge is something like a gazillion years old. It was closed a few years ago because some of the steel members supporting the roadway were rusting and falling away.

The bridge is less than a quarter mile from where the Guyandotte flows into the Ohio River. According to announced plans, demolition charges will go off sometime Friday to drop the bridge into the Guyandotte.

I assume that's where the Anna S, the barge with a crane on it and an empty barge come in. Today they were tied up at the park there at the mouth of the Guyandotte. Here you can see some of the components of the tow, with my favorite Ohio River bridge in the background.

Two on the river

The Ohio River has been up, and news of the river is kind of slow. At least this week has been good for towboat sightings.

Here are two I saw on Monday. First, the mv. Hoosier State as it headed down the river toward Huntington, W.Va., and beyond. That's the Proctorville, Ohio, water tower in the background.

And here's the AEP Mariner at Point Pleasant, W.Va. It's on the Kanawha River, at the mouth.

Tugboat vs. towboat

Regular Ohio River Blog reader Granny Sue asks this question: "This is a stupid question so please forgive me: what's the difference between a tugboat and a towboat, and how would I be able to tell the difference when I see them?"

I dealt with this a lot when I worked for the Huntington newspaper. It aggravated me that no matter how many times I said there are few if any tugboats on the Ohio River, people never listened and kept referring to tugboats.

Here is what I told my coworkers: A tugboat has a V-shaped hull and is built for use on open, deep water. A towboat has a flat hull and is made to operate in the relatively shallow waters of the inland rivers. A towboat has two tow knees at the front for pushing barges. A tugboat usually has windows and doors with rounded corners. As a rule of thumb, if you see it on the Ohio River, it's a towboat.

Now, I let the pros give their answers.

Final trip

Fran Mullen, who lives along the Ohio River north of Crown City, Ohio, sends these photos of the towboats Indiana and Ohio on what we're told is their final trip down the river before being sent to South America.

The Indiana is closest to the photographer.

These photos are used by permission of Fran Mullen. They are copyright by Fran Mullen and are not to be used without his permission. I've taken down their resolution for purposes of this blog.

Bird in the grass

I'm no bird watcher or ornithologist or whatever. I just know that this bird was hopping around the public use area of the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam today with its mouth open constantly. But it made no noise, so it said nothing. It must be a newspaper editorial writer.

mv. Detroit and Steven J. Mason

I was driving along the Ohio River north of Huntington, W.Va., today when I saw the mv. Detroit headed the same direction I was. I was surprised, because the Detroit has been in service for several months, and to my knowledge this was the first time it had gone up the river above Huntington. Naturally, I got ahold of Adam to ask if he wanted to get some photos with me. His response on hearing the Detroit was -- at last -- in a place and at a time where we could get pictures: "Oh, wow."

These are a few of what we got. The first is the Detroit as seen from the H.K. Butler public access ramp a few miles below the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam.

Here are a couple of the Detroit passing the little-known community of Rosebud, Ohio, which is maybe a mile above aforementioned boat ramp.

As we got these photos, I told Adam we were late for a family event that was about a half hour away. Thus, we could not wait for the Mary Ellen Jones, the Steven J. Mason and the Charleston, all of which we had seen ahead of the the Detroit and the RCByrd locks, to lock through so we could get pictures of the Detroit at the locks. And we couldn't wait for the AEP Mariner, which was coming up behind the Detroit, either. However, we could get a picture of whatever was at the locks. As it turned out, it was the Steven J. Mason, with the Mary Ellen Jones having already gone through and the Charleston likewise having exited.

So today Adam saw two new boats, including one he had yet to get a good look at, plus a rebuilt one and one of the oldest ones still on the river. Also, we saw the Tennessee and the Jackson H. Randolph. Riverwise, we both had a good day.

Storms and floods

The Ohio River in the Huntington area is running three or four feet above normal pool, and it's a muddy brown. The forecast shows it could rise another foot by late tomorrow morning before it starts a slow fall.

That does not surprise me a bit. I was on the West Virginia Turnpike south of Charleston yesterday when I ran into several belts of rain that were so heavy it was nearly like a whiteout. Rain kept falling up in the mountains, and I wondered what was happening in areas that tend to flash flood in such storms.

As it turns out, some places in southern West Virginia were hit pretty hard when about 4 inches of rain fell. The Charleston Daily Mail has a story here.

A church by the river

Despite what you see here, this old church building along the Ohio River has quite a few houses on each side of it, and Ohio State Route 7 running in front of it.

The sign on the front of this church says "Eureka Church of God." I have no idea if it is still in use. I've driven past it tens of thousands of times, but it's been a long time since I've driven past during normal church  hours.

This photo was taken from the West Virginia side of the river, from the public use area at the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam.

Dredging at RCB

The mv. Bus Brown is spending a few days dredging sediment and stuff from the lower approach of the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam.

Too bad I didn't have the time to watch it more and get some better shots. I had a two- to three-hour date with my mother-in-law's lawn and a push mower.

Yeah, I wish I could afford a riding mower.

Sold to South America?

Word is going around that Madison Coal & Supply has sold a couple of my favorite towboats. People are telling me the Ohio and the Indiana have been sold, are heading down the Ohio River with the MCS logos removed from their stacks, and could be headed for South America.

I have an e-mail in to someone at MCS. If I hear anything back, I'll pass it along.

Since I was a wee one many decades ago, the old "turtleback" boats have been among my favorites on the river. For the longest time, I could recognize them by the sounds of their engines. At least, before some of them were repowered.

South America? I hope not, but they weren't being used much here on the Ohio River. I hope they have long and useful lives left in them wherever they are. Better South America than the scrap yard.

I have a photo in an old album that I took with an Instamatic camera maybe in 1971. One of the Ohio River Co. boats was across the river, waiting to lock through the Gallipolis Locks and Dam. About the time I pressed the shutter button, a red bug of some sort landed on the lens. You can see the bug clearly as it appears to be crawling over the boat. I'm saving that one for the book.

This is the Indiana, taken as it approached the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam in December 2008.

And this is the Ohio, taken from a point in Huntington, W.Va., in July 2008.

A few months ago, I wrote a longer piece about the boats here.

Preserving memories of steel

Today Adam and I attended a car show in Ritter Park in Huntington. He was most excited by the Dodge Viper (his favorite car), but I used the day to teach him a little about the industrial history of the city.

We passed some cars from the 1940s and 1950s. I pointed out the gaudy chrome excess on the 50s cars, and I showed him a chrome-plated steel bumper. I said we used to have a factory here in town that made those things. Workers put the chrome on the bumper. But as carmakers got away from steel bumpers for various reasons, the factory had less and less work. Its final customer was Chrysler, and that contract ended in the early 1980s, so the plant shut down.

Having said all that today, this evening I read a piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by reporter (and my former co-worker here in Huntington) Diana Nelson Jones. It was about how people up there are trying to save what they can of the steel works that made the city prosperous and famous.

It's a good read. As I read it, I remembered all my fleeting thoughts about how few people are interested in the industrial history of the Ohio Valley. Oh, we have our pioneer days when people gather to make apple butter, but we have precious few museums devoted to the old smokestack factories that provided the means to put beans on our tables.

It's like that car show. I was most interested in the Dodge Dart, the 1979 Ford pickup, the '79 Dodge Aspen, the Chevy station wagon and other cars that families used in my lifetime. Half the cars there were '60s Camaros and Mustangs, but the family cars that few people are interested in preserving were what I wanted to see.

I remember Houdaille Industries and the Owens-Illinois glass bottle factory in Huntington, W.Va. And the ACF plant, which made covered hopper railroad cars. In Ironton, Ohio, I remember the Dayton Malleable plant that made cast iron parts. There are many more that will be forgotten because little of them is being preserved, at least as far as people like me know.

So here's praise to the people in Pittsburgh who work to retain as much memory as they can of the old steel works.

 

From Tater Bug to Sam S

Remember the junk fleet that went up the Ohio River a few months ago? Most of the pushing was done by the mv. Evan Wharton, but another boat on the fleet -- the mv. Tater Bug -- helped out.

Now there's a photo on Dick's Towboat Gallery of the Tater Bug with a new paint scheme and a new name -- the mv. Sam S. I try my best to resist the temptation to steal other people's photos, so you can see the Sam S here.

Litter

Eastern shore of the Guyandotte River where it empties into the Ohio River. North of the boat ramp, 22 beer bottles, six plastic beverage bottles and at least eight aluminum cans (beer and soft drinks). I didn't bother to count the discarded cigarette packs and bait containers.

South of the boat launch ramp, a next of at least 11 beer bottles, one soft drink cup and assorted litter.

Do people at other well-used fishing spots along the Ohio River leave this much crap behind?

Sign at Rising Sun

About a week ago, I took a day trip to the small town of Rising Sun, Indiana, population 5,000 or thereabouts. The trip may end up paying for itself. That part is out of my hands.

I was there to watch the christening of a new towboat – the Hoosier State of American Electric Power. The ceremony and the open house beforehand took place at Rising Sun’s riverfront park. Approaching the park from the land side, it looks like a lot of other riverfront parks built along the Ohio River in the past 30 years. From the river side, however, this one stood out.

The main thing that catches the eye is the large sign letting people in the river know they’re at Rising Sun. I didn’t measure it, just the disc of the sun on this sign must have been eight to ten feet high. At the top of the bank was a shelter that looks pretty good from the river.

The lower end of the park as a clock tower dedicated to the veterans of the area. The whole place the day I was there was neat. I saw maybe one piece of litter on the street along the river, and I saw no pieces of chewing gum that had been thrown on the sidewalk and left for days or forever.

My first thought on seeing the large sign and the ornate shelter was that Huntington, West Virginia, where I live, needs something like this. Huntington had one of the first modern riverfront parks along the Ohio for cities smaller than 100,000 population, if not the first. The park opened in the 1980s. It’s been expanded, and it’s a great place to spend an evening or a lunch hour.

 But there is no sign anywhere at the park telling visitors where they are. The smaller communities of Portsmouth and Ironton, Ohio, have at least painted something on their otherwise drab floodwalls to identify themselves, but Huntington has gone nearly 30 years without any such sign.

 Before I sound like I’m getting down on Huntington, I’ll pause and say Huntington is like other cities that had parks when it did. The first that comes to mind is Gallipolis, Ohio. That small town is about the size of Rising Sun. It does not have a floodwall, mainly because it does not need one. It has a riverfront park known locally and generically as the parkfront. There is no sign telling visitors they are at Gallipolis, Ohio. I guess the thinking at Huntington, Gallipolis and other communities is that if you’re smart enough to get a boat there, you’re smart enough to know where you are.

Still, if for nothing other than civic pride, a sign at Huntington’s Harris Riverfront Park would be nice.

There may be a reason Rising Sun could afford such a nice sign and to be such a clean town. This is it.

 It’s the Grand Victoria Casino, a riverboat gambling operation less than a mile above the park. Rising Sun can’t be more than 40 miles from downtown Cincinnati. The day I was there, there was a heavy flow of traffic on the two-lane road along the river from Cincinnati to Rising Sun. Once I passed the entrance to the casino’s parking lot – almost full, even on a weekday morning – I was the only person on the road.

 I’m guessing the casino brings Rising Sun enough money to make for some tourist-friendly amenities, such as clean streets and bright signs.

There’s another casino on the river between Rising Sun and Cincinnati. It’s at Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Below Rising Sun, in what city folks would call the  middle of nowhere, is a casino hotel operation near the Markland Locks and Dam on the Ohio River. The Bellterra has about 600 guest rooms and suites, and it must have 10 stories or more. Its location puts it a few miles from the bridge over the Markland dam that gives quick access to Interstate 71 and, therefore, Cincinnati and Louisville.

Please do not read this as an endorsement of casinos. I’m not endorsing or condemning them. I’m just stating facts and trying to add 2 plus 2. For now, I’ll have to let people who know more about southern Indiana than me to determine whether I got 3, 4 or 5.

 

Bridge at sunset

If you want to see Huntington's Robert C. Byrd Bridge at sunset, try this one. I got it yesterday evening when I went down  to the river to get a photo of a boat coming by. I found the bridge to be a more interesting subject at that time of day.

I'm linking to my Flickr site because I post higher-resolution photos there than I do here, for various reasons. And this one needs to be seen in higher resolution.

Industrial disasters in the Ohio Valley

A Web site known as Listverse has come out with a list of the Top 10 recent industrial disasters in the US. Four entries on the list are in the Ohio River valley, with two of those along the river itself. The entries:

10: The Silver Bridge collapse.

8: The Donoroa smog.

7: The Buffalo Creek flood near Logan, W.Va.

6: The Willow Island power plant cooling tower collapse.

More adventures in black and white

Every now and then I get in the mood to try some photos in black and white. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Here are four.

First, the mv. Mountain State.

Here's Adam on the tow knee of the mv. Hoosier State.

Here's the mv. West Virginia.

And here are two Crounse boats waiting in queue below the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam.

I think the first photo works best, the second and third are okay and the fourth falls short. Others may disagree, but that's how I see it at the moment.

I'm starting to think that black and white works best for boats with a front three-quarters view, and it's more of a problem with rear three-quarters views. I'll work on it some more and give it some thought.