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Re: (erielack) Re: Marine equipment

    Hi Will -
   
  First off, my appologies if this posts twice to the list.......I though I might chime in here, to help clarify some of what you brought up, for the benefit of those who are interested in NY Harbor marine operation, be they Erie/DL&W/EL or any of the others. And no, I'm no authority either, just somebody who enjoys the marine operations of NY Harbor, maybe a little TOO much!
   
  The Walthers float bridge is not a copy of any float bridge found in the harbor, but rather a Reading design once found on the Delaware River. For those so inclined however, it is a good starting point for those who want either the Erie/LV/LIRR contained apron style bridge, or a DL&W/CNJ/BEDT pontoon style bridge. I model the LV (please don't judge me too harshly!), but the Erie and LV bridges were build around the same time (late 1920's-early 1930's), and to the same design, only the Erie had three to the Valley's two. List member Jay Held has scratch built his own in HO scale, while another friend has used two Walthers kits along with other commercial and scratch-built parts to model the LV's.
   
  The Walthers diesel tug is based on the LV's Wilkes-Barre class tugs, but the design firm (TAMS) and the builder (Jacobsen Marine) built the Erie's and NH's boats in the early 1950's, so it is probably VERY easy to model the Erie tugs (Marion, Scranton, Paterson, Scranton, Binghamton, Elmira, and Hornell, I believe) from this kit with little to no work. The Overland model was of this class.
   
  The Sheepscot kit is for making the Walthers kit more accurate (for the LV in particular, the design in general), and was originally published in the RMIG's Transfer publication. The other article you mention Will, was by Phil Chiavetta in RMC in the mid 1990's(?), using two different Lindberg/Revell tug kits kit-bashed to produce a NYC-style steam tug, though a bit undersized scale-wise. However, for an advanced modeler, a more credible model could probably be made, as the article is a good starting point for those of us who want a steam tug rather than a diesel one. I think this might be a good starting point for a model of the Harlem Transfer's Bronx. The Lionel NYC/PRR/B&O/ATSF waterline model is of this style as well.

The Sylvan tug looks (without actually having seen one in person) like the tug style used by the NYC, PRR, and early Erie designs. It appears to be steam powered (tall stack). The Consolidation type tugs of the Lackawanna (Buffalo, Nazareth, Utica, Syracuse, and Hoboken) were a different style of diesel tug from the TAMS and Bowes (CNJ/B&O/RDG) types, also used by the PRR and Bush Term. It would be a major kit-bash job from the Walthers kit, but a kit of the PRR's Jersey City is available from Dumas as a full hull model (as opposed to a waterline kit like Walthers), so in a way, a DL&W tug is available for around $250.00.

The DL&W tug Lackawanna,  produced by Bluejacket Ship Crafters, was of the type of "Ocean Going" tugs used to haul barges and coal schooners up and down the East Coast (mostly to New England) in the early 1900's, before the anti-trust laws required that the railroads divest themselves of the companies. The twin stacks, higher freeboard and length are indicative of this type. I suppose these kinds of boats also operated in the Great Lakes by the DL&W and others.
  
The Walthers car float is of the general design found in New York Harbor (and other East Coast locations like Baltimore, Philly, Norfolk and Boston), of a steel carfloat, so it is a quite accurate model for the East Coast, but not the West Coast. Of course, since it is now out of production, they fetch quite a price on EBay, upwards around $100.00. They were in the $30.00 range when new......go figure!
  The Walthers kit is a 3-track, or Interchange carfloat, while the new float by Frenchman River Model Works -
  http://www.frenchmanriver.com/Frenchman%20River/2track.htm
  Is of the 2 track Platform or Broadway type carfloat.
  Sea Port Model Works produces fittings for both kinds of carfloats, as well as tugs -
  http://www.seaportmodelworks.com/Products_new.php?fittings
  As always, details like end bumpers, name plates, and railings were different from road to road, so always consult your copies of Tom Flagg's NY Harbor In Color if you have them!
   
  The AMB covered barge and open scow kits are exceptional, in both ease of construction and as a finished model. While it is true the basis of the model is a NYC barge, the kit will represent most any wooden craft from New York Harbor, with subtle detail and/or architectural changes, but in most cases, a correct painting and lettering job will suffice to those of us who aren't rivet counters. 
  The GMA steel covered barges favored by the Erie/DL&W/PRR/B&O, and I'm sure others is of course another story altogether, and probably best modeled from scratch in styrene, due to it's rather clean lines.
I'm not sure of the prototype of the stick lighter (there may not be an actual one, but John H. at AMB is usually pretty good about sticking to a prototype), but as you said Will, a few specific details will do the job.

As you also noted, the Rail-Marine Information Group is the definitive group covering the subject, but as the group is winding down (at least as far as it's publication, The Transfer is concerned), a good bet is to join my group (yes, OK, shameless plug!), which is the unofficial-official forum of the RMIG on Yahoo Groups at -
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/railmarineops/
  
I hope this clears some things up, and I look forward to any further discussion that can help me learn more about the Erie/DL&W marine fleet.
   
  Clear sailing,
  
Ralph Heiss
  S. Plainfield, NJ




    
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