I’d be interested in hearing and seeing what some of you who have been familiar with Barge Canal/NYC Canals sights for decades would consider classic sights. For me, the three photos in this post represent a set of classic canal scenes. Buoy boats like the BB 103 here were built about a century ago served primarily to refill the kerosene fuel tanks on the night buoys marking the channel back when the canal saw mostly commercial traffic, which ran 24/7. Note also the buoy lanterns carried on the stern of 103 here. Buoys on the canal these years are red and green. Did the kerosene-lit buoys have some red and some green glass chimneys to mark the channel in those same colors at night? Some of these boats carried external tanks on the stern, as seen in this post.

What else makes this a classic scene in my estimation is the immaculate condition of the lock 14 structures.

I don’t know if this photo was taken at lock 14 as well, but it uses the lantern to artfully frame the approaching tugboat and fuel barge.

The tugboat is a classic, the 1907 Eileen McAllister. More on Eileen here. According to that link, she carried that name from 1952 until she sank in Maine in the 1980s.

What is your idea of a classic NYS Canals scene? Better yet, share a photo and explain why you think it is so to this email.

My guess is that this photo was taken by Albert Gayer.