Approaching Spencerport

With my limited experience on the western portions of the Canal, I’ll take the 50-50 odds and wager this is the approach from the west. This also appears to be the enlarged Erie, not the Barge Canal, setting the date as pre-1910. I’m winging it here, so please correct me if I’m wrong. The image…

will van dorp

June 3, 2025

1–2 minutes

Canal Society of New York, Collection highlights, CSNY

With my limited experience on the western portions of the Canal, I’ll take the 50-50 odds and wager this is the approach from the west.

This also appears to be the enlarged Erie, not the Barge Canal, setting the date as pre-1910. I’m winging it here, so please correct me if I’m wrong.

The image shows interesting detail on the tugboat. A wooden H-bitt? Might the aft portion of the superstructure have curtains, not walls? Is is powered by an early diesel given the lack of a steam stack? Deck planks are like those on a yacht? Are there two people sitting on the starboard side of the tug?

Help me out here?

Many thanks to Bill Hecht for cleaning up this image from the CSNY collection.

2 responses to “Approaching Spencerport”

Lee Rust

June 4, 2025 at 11:15 am

A rather yachty wooden tug with a nice breezy engine cabana for the long, hot summers on the Canal.

Reply
1. tugster
  
  June 4, 2025 at 11:41 am
  
  Thanks, Lee. That’s what I was thinking too. I’ve never seen an engine room with curtained walls that could be rolled up.
  
  Reply