Many thanks to Barbara ER Lucas, member of CSNY, for sending along these photos. My apologies for not having seen it earlier.

Barbara writes that she saw this tug and barge turning off the Erie Canal onto the inlet for Onondaga Lake. She adds, “I was surprised to see a working vessel in this location, so I followed it. It seemed appropriate to stop at Mud Lock in Onondaga Lake Park and take these photos.”

Barbara identified the cargo as well. Know the story? See the clue below?

A second tugboat traveled

on the delivery for close maneuvering.

The story and the cargo? Click here to see the source of the quote that follows: “A 60,000-pound acrylic panel destined for the shark tank at Syracuse’s new Harborview Aquarium has arrived at the Inner Harbor after traveling from Italy by way of the Erie Canal. The delivery, coordinated through the New York State Canal Corporation, highlights the continued role of the canal system in commercial shipping more than 200 years after its creation.”

More photos and more of the story can be found here and here.

Although something of an unusual sight, commercial shipping is still viable and present on NYS Canals.

The tugboats are NYS Marine Highway‘s Lucy H and Mame Faye, and the barge comes from Hughes Marine.

Many thanks to Barbara for these photos.

For more on Onondaga Lake of a century ago and more recent, click here.