Lehigh Valley tug BETHLEHEM

In the previous postings regarding the CORNELL and the CAPMOORE, I forgot to include the Lehigh Valley tug BETHLEHEM. I believe this vessel is still around, she was operated by Turecamo towing and is probably now owned by Moran Towing. She had been quite extensively altered from her railroad appearance by rebuilding of the pilothouse and installation of a Turecamo designed stack, and did not look very much like a railroad boat in recent years (unless you took notice of the very heavy protective rail around the hull, which is pretty much a giveaway that the tug was built to work between carfloats).

If you have a current name of the tug in question I might be able to find
it along with a photo if its still working. I have a book that lists all of the ships and tugs used on the Great Lakes. I also have a large list of Ocean going ships and tugs as well.

for now here is a link to check out: http://www.morantug.com/ go to there photo gallery they own 4 tugs 1 out of the 3 is vary narrow she might be the tug you are looking for.

SRS125 wrote:for now here is a link to check out: http://www.morantug.com/ go to there photo gallery they own 4 tugs

they own four tugs?
I counted 80!

http://www.morantug.com/tugfleet.asp

but yeah, would be nice to confirm that a 3rd LV tug is still around!

Scot

I was in a hurry to get a bunch of stuff picked up befor it started to rain. I know have have taken the time to look at there company profile and found that they owen 96 tugs and a large fleet of barges with in 13 ports.

If my recollection is correct, the BETHLEHEM is now the CHRISTOPHER B. TURECAMO and is based out of Charleston, South Carolina. She is shown presently in the Moran Towing fleet listing with a rating of 2800 horsepower, which sounds just about right. I know she was repowered and the pilothouse and stack were quite extensively altered from her railroad appearance.

I had time to go through the photo album on the Moran Towing website, and I do not see the tug there, although it is difficult to read the names on some of the boats as some photos are distant. The BETHLEHEM had the characteristic large single rail around the hull for carfloat work and none of the tugs shown on the website have that kind of construction.

yep! thats her..
cool, a 3rd LV tug survivor!
I posted a note on the yahoo tugboat forum and got this reply:

The second *Bethlehem* 266784, built 1953 at Oyster Bay, NY, as hull
no. 346 by Jakobson SY, Inc., for the Lehigh Valley RRCo., later
became *Shannon Smith* for New Orleans' Crescent Towing & Salvage Co.
and is currently the *Christopher B. Turecame* operating for Moran at
Charleston, SC.


William Lafferty
Wright State University

William misspelled the name, its "Christopher B. Turecamo"

havent been able to locate a photo yet.
Scot

http://www.morantug.com/

I think I know where I can get a photo of the Beth for you as it is today, Scott, but I will definitely post one of her "back in the day"......I am modeling her in HO for my layout.

Ralph H.
S. Plainfield, NJ
Modeling the LV NY Harbor terminal in the 1950's
Owner of the Railroad Marine Operations Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/railmarineops/

In 1960 LV records show 7 tugs on the marine division roster.

Slatington -------800hp -------not diesel

Wikes-Barre ----1350hp ------diesel
Hazleton -----------"
Cornell -------------"
Lehigh --------------"
Capmoore ---------"
Bethlehem ---------"

Recently, while trapped on a flight with nothing left to occupy my time, I resorted to staring at the cover of Mario Puzo's book "The Fortunate Pilgrim." The cover photo caught my eye because it shows immigrants looking at NYC from what I am assuming is Ellis Island. This photo is also used in an AIG commercial featuring scribble marks over the immigrant people demonstrating the "what ifs" in life. My eye became fixed on the barges floating in the water off center in that photo and it became evident to me that there is LVRR lettering on this and apparently, ITS A CAR FLOAT!

Has anyone spotted this? Go to Amazon.com and see for yourself or track down the AIG ad. I have the AIG ad scanned into my comp so let me know if you want it emailed to you.


-Greg

I just started working on the Tug CHRISTOPHER B TURECAMO and I noticed that she was originally the BETHLEHEM. I would like to have some photos of her as the BETHLEHEM if anyone is able to share. She is still running strong pushing ships around here in Charleston, SC.

Zane -

I'll see what I can do, I am modeling the Bethlehem's former base of operations in NY Harbor, as well as a model of it.

Ralph Heiss
S. Plainfield, NJ
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/railmarineops/