M/V Linda ... Ruble?

Yes, I like the five newest boats in the Crouse fleet — the Linda Reed, Paula Ruble, Jackie Englert, Janis R. Brewer and Leslie M. Neal. I try to photograph them whenever I can. Someday I will touch one, even if it's just to put my hand on the deck.

Today I got the chance to shoot two of them together. The Linda Reed and the Paula Ruble were coming up the river together. I figured one was pushing and the other was deadheading. The last I checked before leaving home, they were approaching Ironton, Ohio at about 2 mph. Slow, but manageable. As I went down the river, before I got to the Ashland bridges I saw a boat I just had to shoot. It was heading down the river, so I went over the bridge, walked out on the sidewalk bolted onto the side of the bridge and got my shot. And I waited for the Reed and Ruble.

Off in the distance, I saw coal barges rounding the bend. But it was a different boat. I wondered if the Reed and Ruble were taking it slow, so I drove the five miles or so down to Ironton. I got there right after they had passed under the bridge. Unless I wanted to try a shooting spot at Coal Grove, Ohio, that was probably under water, I headed back to Ashland.

I got photos of two more boats (photos of these boats will be in another entry after I process them) before I saw the Reed and Ruble round the bend ever so s l o w l y.

They had been hugging the Ohio shore. They moved across the river in this bend and hugged the Kentucky shore until they came to a complete stop with a lead barge pushed over near the bank. I was wondering if they were going to stay there for a while, but it was only maybe five minutes. Then they began the trip upriver again, traveling perhaps a little faster than the 1.5 to 2 mph they had been doing before.

I got off a few good shots.

After they passed under the bridge, I saw they were really close to the shore at the Ashland riverfront park, so I trotted down off the bridge — man, that was a longer trip than I thought it was — and drive two or three blocks up to the park. I got off a few snaps before the boats went around the bend.

The Ruble was deadheading, and it had those yellow things over the stacks. From the maps, it looked like the Reed dropped the Ruble off at a McGinnis dock before it headed to Catlettsburg. I assume it dropped its tow at Virginia Point Park at Kenova, West Virginia, before heading back down the river

More photos later, maybe. These are the ones I liked best at first review.