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RE: (erielack) Marine operations (was: Classic Trains/ Hoboken)

Ralph Heiss wrote:

   
>   Actually Paul, I'm surprised that nobody chimed in until 
> now about this, because I have had this magazine for about a 
> week now, and the picture REALLY has me wondering - Why the 
> HECK are there carfloats tied up in the ferry slips?  Sure, 
> just because there were no ferryboats to get in the way, it 
> still makes me wonder why they would tie them up in the 
> slips, beacuse by 1970 there wasn't much marine activity 
> going on, but by the number of covered barges in the photo, 
> that seems to be not the case. Maybe a brief upswing in 
> business? There also seem to be too many tugboats in the 
> photo for them to be all EL, again in the post-70 period, 
> unless they are not all railroad owned. Any ideas anyone? 


You know, I was wondering the same thing myself. It seems odd that they stored the floats - WITH CARS ON THEM! - right in the mouth of the ferry slips. Umm, isn't that a hazard to river navigation? They are jutting out into the river at that point with nothing really to protect them.

You'd think they'd shove these down the long slip, just to get them out of the river? Or at least tie them up alongside a pier? Looks like the carfloats are just barely attached to the slips. One nice storm and bye-bye go your floats!

The tugs to the left of the terminal are definitely EL - this is where they usually sat when not in service. As for the ones to the right, that's a good question - wasn't Holland American Lines' piers there? Could these be their tugs?

Also, where were the rest of EL's tugs at this point? Combined, there were quite a number of DL&W and Erie tugs. Perhaps they were downriver in Jersey City?


One last question: I have a photo in my collection (I think it's Pete Scheckermann's - Pete, can you confirm?) that shows, in the early 1970s, an EL MOW crane-on-barge working on the Hoboken Shore's floatbridge in Hoboken, along with a carfloat of hoppers. Huh??? The Hoboken Shore, by this point, was almost at the end of its life - why would the EL be repairing their floatbridge? And was the Hoboken Shore even using the floatbridge anymore, as their main interchange was with the EL at the north end of their line?

	- Paul



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