D on the K

Yesterday morning, as I was crossing the South Charleston bridge on I-64, I saw an old Hillman-built boat downbound on the Kanawha. Lucky for me it was moving pretty slow, giving me time to get up on the Dunbar bridge and grab a picture with my phone. ... You know, a few years ago that sentence would have sounded like total nonsense. But it's how things are now. ... Anyway, here's the Drema G. Wood, downbound pushing six loaded coal barges.

 

Fate of Tanners Creek power plant

It looks like another coal-fired power plant along the Ohio River is headed for mothballing and who knows what afterward. AEP announced Tuesday that it will shut down Tanners Creek entirely in 2015. I wrote a quick story here. More will come in this week's print edition.

Olmstead Locks and Dam ... again

If you want to read a long story on the long, long Olmstead Locks and Dam project on the lower Ohio, try this one.

M/V AEP Leader

Saw it this morning.

Almost missed it because I got too carried away in Kenova WV this morning getting pictures of Norfolk Southern locomotives just sitting around.

Coast Guard et al

A few mornings ago, I was headed to the Ohio River for a quick look at things before I headed to work. On the boulevard in Huntington WV along the river -- the one where you can't see the river for the floodwall -- I found myself behind this truck and trailer. They used the same entrance to Harris Riverfront Park that I did.

I might have been on this boat many years ago when I was a reporter for the Huntington paper. The Coast Guard wanted to show me what they were doing on the river in terms of homeland security after 9/11. They didn't show me everything, of course, but they wanted the public to know they were out there.

But as I looked at this boat I got to thinking that earlier this year I saw a Huntington police department boat that was something like this one, and the Huntington Fire Department announced a few weeks ago that it is getting $500,000 from the Department of Homeland Security to buy a boat of similar size.

I guess if anything happens on the river at or near Huntington, someone can get a boat in the water fairly quickly. That's the idea, at least.

Not much

Been busy at work and at home. Took a few photos with a cell phone, but can't find the cord to download them. I'll have to try e-mailing them to myself, I guess.

I was going to go out today, but I didn't see any boats in the area, and one of my favorite spots has a big chilli festival going on nearby, so that was out.

Life has a tendency of getting in the way of my plans, you know?

The M/V Buckeye State on a Sunday afternoon

So Adam and I went out to spend some time on a fine September day. We knew the Buckeye State was in the area, and we saw it, so we parked ourselves at old Lock and Dam 27 and waited for it to come by. It took a few minutes, meaning we sat in the grass and talked.

Then the boat came by.

We saw it pass and went shopping for some stuff I needed and he wanted. A good day, I guess.