1980s archives, Part 2

In 1988, I treated my mother, my younger sister and the youngest son of an older sister to a Sunday afternoon on the West Virginia Belle. The trip on the Kanawha River began at the Belle's dock at South Charleston, went up to the state Capitol, turned around and came back.

After the excursion, I wanted to stop by the Winfield Locks and Dam to see if there were any boats locking through. There were two there that day. The more noticeable one in the packet of pictures I found was the M/V Winchester of American Electric Power.

These were the good old days before 9/11 when you could walk right up to the locks in the Huntington District.

You may have noticed the two men on the boat and the man on the barge. I don't know who they were, but if you can recognize them from some zoomed-in images, you're welcome to try.

A few years ago, someone at the AEP office at Lakin, W.Va., asked me if I had any pictures of the Winchester, as one of the people there was retiring and he had worked on the boat. I knew I had some, but this packet was lost until earlier today.

The last I heard, the Winchester is now owned by Excell Marine Corp. of Cincinnati, a division of McNational.

If you look at the picture of the guy on the barge, you'll see another boat locking downbound at the same time as the Winchester. I'm not certain, but I think that was the M/V Polliwog of G&C Towing.