Lehigh Valley Tugboats

Hi boatbuilder1969!

I happen to be a big LV marine fan, I am glad to hear you are thinking about trying to give the Capmoore a new home and lease on life. I have a good library of original historical info on her and her sisters, so please contact me if you require anything.

Car Floater aka Ralph H.

The Cornell and Capmoore are still available! I spoke with Doug today concerning the Capmoore and she hasn't been scrapped ...yet. Also, the Cornell is still for sale. I plan to take a look at the Cornell in a few weeks but was hoping someone had pictures of the Capmoore to save me a trip to Boston (I am in Savannah Georgia). If I had a place to put them I would try to save both! On a side note...anyone interested in a wooden WW2 subchaser? I have been working on saving her and came across the Cornell...which led me in search of the Capmoore... but that is another story for a different venue.

Here is an update on all the data we have so far on the six post-war LV tugs..information has been gathered from this thread and anything else I could find on tugboat webpages around the internet..I will add this to the "LV survivors" page soon..

anyone have anything else to add to this?
there are still quite a bit of holes in the data!
more research to do..


Tug Boats

4 LV Tugboats still exist!
of the 6 post-war LV tugs.



Bethlehem
The LVRR Tug "Bethelem" still exists.
She is in South Carolina, and operates with Moran as the "Christopher B. Turecamo", out of Charleston.

1953 - built by Jakobson Shipyard, Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY, for the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
Hull no. 346
O/N 0266784
later became "Shannon Smith" for New Orleans' Crescent Towing & Salvage Co.
and is currently the "Christopher B. Turecamo" operating for Moran at Charleston, SC.




Capmoore
The Capmoore is currently out of service in Charlestown, Mass. (August 2005)
Her future is uncertain, and she could possibly be scrapped.
see this thread for more info:
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=670






Cornell
The LVRR Tug "Cornell" still exists. She spent her LV career on the New York City waterfront.
Today she is back home in New York City, after almost 60 years as a working tug.
She is still named "Cornell" today.

current pictures!
(before repainting into LV scheme)
http://www.trainweb.org/gggrs/RR-LV-Cor ... derway.jpg

(current paintscheme)
http://www.tug44.org/erie.canal/waterfo ... ndup-2007/

1949 - The Cornell was built at Jakobson Shipyard, Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY
O/N 0259949
1950 - went into service with the LV in New York harbor.
1971 - Sold to Ross Towing of Boston, and spent the next 30 years working around Boston.
19xx - Owned by Boston Towing & Transportation.
2003 - Sold to Tibbets Towing and moved south to Maryland.
2007 - Sold to Lehigh Maritime, and moved again, this time back to her original home, the Hudson river and New York City.
during 2007 she was restored and repainted in her original LV Cornell Red paintscheme!

http://tugboatcornell.com/





Wilkes Barre
The LVRR Tug "Wilkes Barre" still exists. (maybe)

1949 - The Wilkes Barre was built at Jakobson Shipyard, Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY
O/N 0258938

The Wilkes Barre was last known as the "Julia C. Moran" and is believed to now be in Mexico.
While trying to find out more info on the Wilkes Barre, I discovered there was a much earlier tug also named the "Julia C. Moran", built in 1906!

There seems to be some confusion over the tugboat name "Julia C. Moran" because some on-line tugboat sources indicate the Julia was built new for Moran in 1951 (by Jakobson)
So was the LV's Wilkes Barre actually a THIRD Julia C. Moran?

First, there was the 1906 Julia C. Moran, also mentioned in a 1916 New York times article available on-line.
That first Julia is not in question.
The question concerns the second, and possibly third Julia.
Was there only one 1950's Julia? or Two?
Was the first Julia built new for Moran, and the second Julia was the Wilkes Barre?
or were they one and the same? (which would mean the second Julia was not built new for Moran, but was instead built new for the LV)
or was the LV Wilkes Barre never actually a Julia C. Moran at all? and that info is simply wrong??
it is all uncertain at this point.



Thats four of the six LV "post-war" tugs surviving, the other two:

Hazleton

The Hazleton was sunk on November 6, 2004, off the coast of New Jersey to become part of an artificial reef.

1950 - The Hazleton was built at Jakobson Shipyard, Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY for the LVRR.
ship number 259281.

The Hazleton's last operating name was the "Captian Bill" of the company McAllister Tug,
she was renamed the "Veronica M" just before she was sunk, and retains that name in her new "life" as a sunken artificial reef.

click here for photos of the Hazleton being sunk:
http://www.gotosnapshot.com/veronica-m/ronnies-tug.htm

and here for some photos of the Hazleton as a reef:
http://www.gotosnapshot.com/veronica-m/ ... -tug-2.htm




Lehigh

The Lehigh was later the "Swan Point"
reported scrapped.
no other details known at this time.

thanks,
Scot

Pre-War LV tugs.
none are known surviving.
(how many where there?)
Here are four:

Aurora

USS Aurora (SP-345) was a harbor tug and a minesweeper of the United States Navy.

Built in 1906 in Camden, New Jersey by John H. Dialogue, the Aurora was originally used for civilian purposes. However, in August 1917, the ship was chartered from Lehigh Valley Railroad, the owners at that time, and was commissioned on September 22, 1917 as a minesweeper in New York Harbor. In December 1918, Aurora was transferred to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service for use as a tugboat in Tompkinsville, New York. Aurora was decommissioned on March 24, 1919 and immediately returned to her owner. (returned to the LV?)

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Aurora_(SP-345)




Black Diamond

built 19??
built by ??


(larger resolution photo available)



Powerful

built 19??
built by ??




Perth Amboy

"The Ontario and the Western were built by Dialogue in 1908 and were operated by the Ontario and Western Railway. Pictured here, left to right, are Erie Railroad's Daniel Willard, O&W's Ontario, Lehigh Valley's Perth Amboy and Lackawanna's Scranton at Vineyard Haven, Matha's Vineyard due to ice."
from: http://dvrbs.com/People/CamdenPeople-JohnHDialogue.htm

built 19??
built by ??




(I just changed the title of this thread to "Lehigh Valley Tugboats",
it was previously "Lehigh Valley Surviving Tugboats"
I removed the "surviving" because this thread can now be used for discussion of ANY LV tugboats..)

thanks,
Scot

Scot -

Well done! (you're embarassing me with your throughness on the subject!)

Let me check my field notes this weekend, and I will get you the steam tug info, I have all that info somewhere.

I'd also like to share this with my Yahoo Rail-Marine group with your permission.

RAH

Thanks Ralph!

and yes, please share with anyone and everyone..

Scot

Nice list Scot! I guess you got the email I sent you?


The Lehigh was sunk in October 2002.

http://www.mrc.virginia.gov/vsrfdf/jbeskridge_info.shtm

The Wilkes Barre without a doubt became the Julia C. Moran. Theres a book about her working for Moran called "Tugboat" by David Plowden. Now there was indeed another Julia Moran but im almost positive it was the Julia Moran, not the Julia C. Moran. Ill have to dig up my notes about her. I did a bunch of research on the tugs with Ralph in the past month. Her Mexican name is the Puerto Ordaz but for who I have no idea.

For those who want a peek inside, heres the Cornell ( My friends boat, anyone needs shots of something, let me know..Ill get them next time im on her): http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd27 ... w/Cornell/
We think the Cornell was the class unit: Hull #330

Her colors now are pretty damn accurate for LV, Sometime in the next few months another coat of red and black is going on and the letters on the stack will be yellow. The mast is going back to the original fold down spot on the back. I think he is also putting the black pinstripe back around the pilot house to..

Paul

Don't forget that this issue and the next issue of The Railroad Press both have articles on rail-marine operations, including pics of LV tugsz and Lake Michigan ferries operated by PM and AA.

Nova55 wrote:Nice list Scot! I guess you got the email I sent you?


Paul

Paul,
yes I did!
sorry I didnt reply, but I couldnt find the note!
I went back and searched through my yahoo mail, but I couldnt find it anywhere..

I copied the info over to a word document, to add it to the LV survivors page, but then it got delayed..(this was a month or so ago I think)
I didnt get back to it until yesterday.

so thanks for the info!
next time I wont wait so long before replying!

Scot

Here is one of the confusing pages about the Wilkes Barre - Julia C. Moran.

http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/hist ... kobson.htm

It says:

Hull number 337
original name - Julia C. Moran (no mention of Wilkes Barre)
delivered 1951
Now "Puerto Ordaz"

the info we have on the Wilkes Barre says she was built in 1949.
O/N 0258938.

(what is the O/N number?)

thanks,
Scot

Ok, There was 2 Julia C's...

The Wilkes Barres Hull # is 327. She was sold to Moran in June 63'. Ill post a note on the Tugboats yahoo group and get the word..

O/N Number is the Coast Guards assigned Official Number for documented boats.

Paul

BTW, A word of note is that build sheet page is VERY out of date, lots of ownership changes and dispositions that are not on there.

Nova55 wrote:Ok, There was 2 Julia C's...

The Wilkes Barres Hull # is 327. She was sold to Moran in June 63'. Ill post a note on the Tugboats yahoo group and get the word..

Paul

BTW, A word of note is that build sheet page is VERY out of date, lots of ownership changes and dispositions that are not on there.

thanks Paul!
I figured there must have been two (or three actually)
I didnt think the tugboat guys would have that list wrong!

Scot

Scot, Refresh and check out my post, You posted just as I edited mine.

I believe you will find that the Daniel Willard in group photo at the
Cape is a B&O vessel.
Good-Luck, pjb

There is now enough LV Tugboat info that I am going to give the Tugs their own "survivor page"..their own page in the "LV survivors" collection.

I havent started building the page yet, but I made the "title image"!



Im also going to include information on all three of the LV's Maritime areas..New York Harbor, Great Lakes shipping out of Buffalo, and Fair Haven.

I dont intend it to be a super-detailed history..just an overview of the three operations and a ship roster..I think I have a complete roster for the Great Lakes steamers (including one LV Buffalo tugboat)..Fair Haven had at least two tugs..and NY harbor is the most "unknown"..
I have no idea how many "Pre-War" steam tugs the LV employed before the six diesel tugs of the 1950's..but it was at least 20! probably more.

One thing im seriously lacking is photos...there are some good photos of the Great Lakes steamers in the Archer book, and a nice photo of a Fair Haven tug in the Trice book..but obviously I cant use those on the page..
so if anyone has any photos they are willing to lend to this project, please let me know! with "photo from the collection of (your name)" photo credits of course..

I believe all the photos I have linked above are public domain..they exist in multiple locations, and on the internet, so im pretty sure im free to use those..but I would like some more if anyone has any..especially Great Lakes operations.

thanks!
Scot