Barge often refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but on inland waterways, most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. The term barge has a rich history, and therefore there are many other types of barges.
The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately 17.4-mile (28.0 km) long canal traverses the neck of land joining Cape Cod to the state's mainland. It mostly follows tidal rivers widened to 480 feet (150 m) and deepened to 32 feet (9.8 m) at mean low water, shaving up to 135 miles (217 km) off the journey around the Cape for its approximately 14,000 annual users.
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such as in crowded harbors or narrow canals, or cannot move at all, such as barges, disabled ships, log rafts, or oil platforms. Some are ocean-going, and some are icebreakers or salvage tugs. Early models were powered by steam engines, which were later superseded by diesel engines. Many have deluge gun water jets, which help in firefighting, especially in harbours.
A ferry slip is a specialized docking facility that receives a ferryboat or train ferry. A similar structure called a barge slip receives a barge or car float that is used to carry wheeled vehicles across a body of water.
A lighter is a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships. Lighters were traditionally unpowered and were moved and steered using long oars called "sweeps" and the motive power of water currents. They were operated by skilled workers called lightermen and were a characteristic sight in London's docks until about the 1960s, when technological changes made this form of lightering largely redundant. Unpowered lighters continue to be moved by powered tugs, however, and lighters may also now themselves be powered. The term is also used in the Lighter Aboard Ship (LASH) system.
Hercules is a 1907-built steam tugboat that is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California.
A railroad car float or rail barge is a specialised form of lighter with railway tracks mounted on its deck used to move rolling stock across water obstacles, or to locations they could not otherwise go. An unpowered barge, it is towed by a tugboat or pushed by a towboat.
The Cape Cod Central Railroad is a heritage railroad located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It operates on a rail line known as the Cape Main Line which is owned by Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The line was previously owned and operated by the Cape Cod Railroad, the Old Colony Railroad, and later the New Haven Railroad, each of which operated passenger trains on the line from 1854 to 1959. Although its namesake is the former Cape Cod Central Railroad (1861–68), the two companies are unrelated.
The Bourne Bridge in Bourne, Massachusetts, carries Route 28 across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the rest of Massachusetts. It won the American Institute of Steel Construction's Class "A" Award of Merit as the "Most Beautiful Steel Bridge" in 1934. Most traffic approaching from the west follows Route 25 which ends at the interchange with US 6 and Route 28 just north of the bridge. The highway provides freeway connections from Interstate 495 and Interstate 195.
The Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge, a vertical lift bridge in Bourne, Massachusetts near Buzzards Bay, carries railroad traffic across the Cape Cod Canal, connecting Cape Cod with the mainland.
The Eastern Shore Railroad, Inc. was a Class III short-line railroad that began operations in October 1981 on the 96-mile (154 km) former Virginia and Maryland Railroad line on the Delmarva Peninsula. The line ran between Pocomoke City, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia, interchanging with the Norfolk Southern Railway at both ends.
The Bay Coast Railroad operated the former Eastern Shore Railroad line between Pocomoke City, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia. The railroad interchanged with the Delmarva Central Railroad in Pocomoke City and Norfolk Southern in Norfolk; the interchange in Pocomoke City had been with Norfolk Southern prior to December 2016, when the Delmarva Central Railroad leased 162 miles (261 km) of Norfolk Southern track on the Delmarva peninsula.
The Great Lakes Group (GLG) is an American full-service marine-related transportation company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The Great Lakes Group is the parent Company to The Great Lakes Towing Company, Great Lakes Shipyard, Tugz International L.L.C., Puerto Rico Towing & Barge Co., Soo Linehandling Services, Admiral Towing and Barge Company, and Wind Logistics, Inc.
The Santa Fe Railroad tugboats were used by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to barge rail cars across the San Francisco Bay for much of the 20th century, as there is no direct rail link to the San Francisco peninsula. In the post World War II period, a fleet of three tugs moved the barges: the Paul P. Hastings, the Edward J. Engel, and the John R. Hayden. After cross-bay float service had ended and the tugs had been sold, the Hastings sank off Point Arena, California in 1992, in water too deep to raise. The Engel sank off Alameda, California in 2007 and was raised and scrapped in the winter of 2013-14. The Hayden remains afloat and in service in Oregon.
Luna is a historic tugboat normally berthed in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Luna was designed in 1930 by John G. Alden and built by M.M. Davis and Bethlehem Steel. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. In 1985, the Luna was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.
The attack on Orleans was a naval and air action during World War I on 21 July 1918 when a German submarine fired on a small convoy of barges led by a tugboat off Orleans, Massachusetts, on the eastern coast of the Cape Cod peninsula. Several shells fired during the engagement likely missed their intended maritime or aircraft targets and fell to earth in the area around Orleans, giving the impression of a deliberate attack on the town.
Thomas Hebert was an ocean-going tugboat that sank off the coast of New Jersey on Sunday 7 March 1993.
The CapeFlyer is a passenger rail service in Massachusetts between Boston and Cape Cod that began in 2013. It is operated by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) in collaboration with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The service runs on the weekends, beginning Friday evenings and including holidays, between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend.
M & J Tracy Inc. was a shipping and tugboat towing company founded in New York City by the racy brothers in 1881, as M & J Tracy Transportation company. The brothers: John Tracy, Michael J. Tracy and Thomas Tracy founded the Tracy Towing Line in 1917. The brother's sisters: Catherine Tracy and Helen Tracy were on the company's board. M & J Tracy Inc. office was located at 1 Broadway in New York City and had a field office in Brooklyn. The Tracy companies owned both owned tugboats and barges. Early work was transporting coal to New York harbor port in barges. M & J Tracy Inc. supported the World War II effort by operating United States tugboats and ships. After the war, M & J Tracy Inc. purchased some surplus ships. M & J Tracy Inc. also operated the M & J Tracy New York Harbor Industrial site. The family lived in the Frank J. Helmle 1912 Tracy Mansion at 105 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, now a 7 unit Condo. John Tracy founded the Maritime Association of the Port of New York. John Tracy was born in 1855 and died on October 1, 1931. Michael J, Tracy died on November 7, 1927,
