Capt. Jack Loomis

In an earlier post, I suggested some boats that would be part of a tournament-style contest over which is the most attractive on the Ohio River. I got several comments, and it's apparent such a tournament would need two divisions: contemporary and classic.

For the classic, I would nominate this boat. A couple of weeks ago, I was scanning some old prints at low resolution to see how they would turn out and how I could make them look. As it turns out, several envelopes had photos of the old Capt. Jack Loomis of the now-gone G&C Towing, which was based near Point Pleasant, W.Va.

I don't what happened to the Loomis, and I'm sure someone will clue me in. I remember the Loomis from the 80s as a relatively quiet boat that made its runs up and down the part of the Ohio with which I was most familiar at the time, those being the Greenup, Gallipolis and Racine pools.

So here are a few photos of the Capt. Jack Loomis in hopes it brings back a few memories.

The first three are as it approached the Gallipolis Locks and Dam.

These two were taken a short distance above the Racine locks, I think. It was in the mid- to late 1980s. I'm pretty sure that's the Kay H beside it.

Black and white, part 5

Remember about a year ago when the "junk fleet" headed up the Ohio River toward a date with the cutting torch at Pittsburgh? Funny thing, I've heard many if not all the boats in this fleet were spared and repaired.

Here's the fleet as it passed through my area.

Reminder: All photos on this blog, except where otherwise noted, are copyrighted by me, Jim Ross, and are not to be downloaded, copied, printed or otherwise used without my permission.