Home | Canal System | Historical Documents | 175th Anniversary
Images | Maps | Tour | Traces | Locks | Boats | Books and Videos | Music | Links

The 1905-1918 enlargement of the Erie Canal, forming the Barge Canal (or Erie Barge Canal) eliminated the tow path in most areas. In the last decade or so of the 1800s, self-propelled canalboats and tugs towing or pushing barges became more common, so by the beginning of the 1900s, the towpath was no longer necessary. In the east, the new canal was constructed by canalizing the Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca and Clyde Rivers, while, in the west, the old Enlarged Erie Canal was straightened and widened, allowing the use of boats carrying up to 1000 tons. A new line of 1000 ton steel barges and tugs was designed to make use of the enlarged canal. Below are the plans for some of the new boats (all from: Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor of the State of New York, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1904 (Albany : Brandow Printing Co., 1905) -- opposite p. 44-46):

	Left: "1000 Ton Net, Canal Barge." Right: "Midship Sections, 1000 Ton net, Canal Barges."
	Left: "Longitudinal Vertical Sections, Tug for 1000 Ton net, Canal Barges [and] Longitudinal Vertical Sections, 1000 Ton net, Canal Barge, Type C." Right: "Steel Tug for 1000 Ton net, Canal Barges."

Fleet of modern steel canal barges.	Traffic on the Erie Barge Canal.	Lower terminal at Troy.	Navy coal barges on the canal.
All four above from: Annual report of the State Engineer and Surveyor for the year ended June 30, 1919 / State of New York (Albany : J.B. Lyon Co., printers, 1920) -- Second from left: facing p. 12 ; Others: facing p. 48.
Barge under tow, Erie Canal, New York.		Tug pulling barges through Lock Eleven, Erie Canal, N.Y. [near Amsterdam].	Tanker churning out of Lock Eleven, Erie Canal, New York [near Amsterdam].
All four above taken Oct. 1941 by John Collier, photographer ; Farm Security Administration -- from: Office of War Information Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division Washington, DC.
Lumber Barges at Rochester -- Sept. 16, 1922 [CSNYS]	Steel Rails and Maxwell Autos at Lock 11 -- Photographs ; taken Sept. 6, 1922 [CSNYS]		Standard Oil Barge in Lock 7 - Erie Canal -- Photograph ; taken Oct. 1, 1921 [CSNYS]

The Day Peckinpaugh was the first freighter of its kind designed to navigate both the New York State Barge Canal System and the open waters of the Great Lakes. Put into service in 1921 by the Interwaterways Line Incorporated as ILI-101, it transported bulk cargoes between the midwest and the Port of New York. Renamed the Richard J. Barnes in 1936, and again to the Day Peckinpaugh in 1958, it ended its commercial life exclusively carrying dry cement from Picton, Ontario through the Oswego Canal and the Erie Canal to Rome. It was the last regularly scheduled commercial hauler on the canal, and was retired from service in 1994. Saved from being scrapped in 2005, it was purchased by a partnership between the New York State Museum and The Canal Society of New York State to serve as a floating museum and educational exhibit.

The Day Peckinpaugh and four identical ships were built between May 21 and July 21, 1921 at the McDougall-Duluth Shipyard in Duluth, Minnesota, the first motorships designed specifically for the dimensions of the Barge Canal. The Day Peckinpaugh is 259 feet long and 36 feet wide, has 14 feet depth of hold, and has a capacity of 1650 tons. After its 1921 maiden voyage, it was followed by over a hundred similar motorships on the Barge Canal, but remains today as the last surviving example of a canal motorship. Below are several photographs of the Day Peckinpaugh (color photographs courtesy of Amelia O'Shea) and her sister ships:

A Modern Canal Ship 242 feet long, 36 feet wide, and 14 feet keel to deck [CSNYS] -- This is the new ILI-101, later renamed Day Peckinpaugh, soon after construction.	Steel canal boat ILI-102 on the Erie Canal near Weedsport, N.Y. -- date unknown. [CSNYS]	The Freighter Chester in the Erie Canal -- date unknown. [CSNYS]
I.L.I. Barge west from Main St., Fairport, June 13, 1921 [The Day Peckinpaugh, under its original name: ILI-101, heading east] (source of photo unknown)	Motorship 101 at Lock 21 -- Aug. 18,1921 [The Day Peckinpaugh, under its original name: ILI-101] [CSNYS]	The Day Peckinpaugh, headed north in the Hudson River at Albany in October 2007. Note the length of this ship.
The Day Peckinpaugh in the Erie Canal, headed east at the Waterford Guard Gate (down the Waterford Flight) in May 2007.	The Day Peckinpaugh in the Erie Canal, headed west in the Waterford Flight, just about to enter Lock E-3 in May 2008.	The Day Peckinpaugh, headed north in the Champlain Canal, approaching the Fort Miller Guard Gate -- Photo by Duncan Hay, August 2009.

For more pictures and information on the Day Peckinpaugh, check out the following sources: The Travels of Tug 44, Freighter Day Peckinpaugh ; and Bottoming Out / The Canal Society of New York State ; No.73, 2021 -- Day Peckinpaugh Special Issue.

    Return to the Working Boats page   |       Return to the Boats on the Erie Canal page