Historic canal motorship
The Day Peckinpaugh is a historic canal motorship built in 1921 by the McDougall-Duluth Shipyard in Duluth, Minnesota. It was the first vessel specifically designed for the New York State Barge Canal, measuring 259 feet in length and 36 feet in width. The ship was originally named ILI101 and was later renamed Richard J. Barnes before being acquired and rechristened the Day Peckinpaugh in 1958 by the Erie Navigation Company. The Day Peckinpaugh served as a self-propelled freighter transporting bulk cargoes such as coal during World War II for the U.S. Merchant Marine and, after a 1961 conversion, cement from Oswego to Rome, New York, until its retirement in 1994 as the last operating motorship on the Erie Canal.
The Day Peckinpaugh is now being restored by the Canal Corp as a floating museum. It is berthed at the Matton Shipyard on Peebles Island in Cohoes, Albany County, New York. The ship underwent structural repairs and was used intermittently for exhibits before maintenance challenges arose. The Day Peckinpaugh stands as the sole surviving example of nearly 100 similar motorships that revolutionized inland freight transport in the early 20th century by eliminating the need for towlines and mules.
The Day Peckinpaugh was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and is now open for public tours. It is the most storied and longest-serving of all the motor ships that saw service on the New York State Barge Canal. The vessel was saved from the scrap heap through the efforts of the New York State Museum in partnership with the New York State Canal Corporation, the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the National Park Service, and the Canal Society of New York State.
1 is to start engine
2 navy lights
3 inside lights
4 inside the hull lights
hope u enjoy the ship
