B&O Steam Tugboat George M. Shriver

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=60 BGCOLOR="#336699" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><U>B & O STEAM TUGBOAT GEORGE M. SHRIVER</U></B></div> <div> <B><U>BALTIMORE HARBOR–EARLY 1950s</U></B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=170 BGCOLOR="#777777" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pride of Baltimore II on the Severn Rive"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BO Steam Tugboat Baltimore at Pier One"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" 18 x 24 pen ink"><U><B><IMG SRC="00d0d1d0.gif" border=0 width="13" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <A HREF="id7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" 18 x 24 pen ink"><U><B>Return to 18" x 24" pen and ink page</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="40196940.gif" border=0 width="150" height="148" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=420 BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div>   <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >  </FONT>           </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>In the 1950's  the inner harbor in Baltimore was known as the “basin” and it was a center of heavy maritime activity in Baltimore.  The giant United Fruit Company was located at Pier One where the Constellation now docks.  Harbor Place was not even a concept and 230 feet along the Light Street side where the Promenade and Light Street Pavilion now stand had not been filled in and was still part of the harbor.  The major commercial activity at Pier One was the unloading of bananas from the arriving ships and transfer of the bananas to refrigerated railroad cars called reefers.  Since there was no direct rail access to Pier One, the empty reefers were placed on railroad barges called car floats at the railroad terminal at Locust Point and moved by tugboat to the banana boats arriving at Pier One.  Once the loading of the reefers was completed the car float was then moved by the tugboat back to Locust point where the reefers would be rolled off and sent on their way by rail for distribution of the bananas to marketing points around the country.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In this scene the B&O steam tugboat </B><B>George M. Shriver</B><B> (#213847) is approaching Pier One to pick up a car float of loaded reefers.  The B&O steam tugboat </B><B>Baltimore</B><B> (#3584) on the left  (which is </B><B>not</B><B> the steam tugboat </B><B>Baltimore</B><B>, #203700, now at the Baltimore Industrial Museum on Key Highway) is moving fully loaded reefers on station float # 166 from pier one back to the Locust Point rail head to begin their rail journey. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In the background the large Domino Sugar Refinery and the waterfront along Federal Hill can be seen.  On the left is the Pepsi Cola plant which occupied the space where the Rusty Scupper now stands.  Behind Pepsi Cola are three of the large cranes at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation Key Shipyard a short distance further down Key Highway.   The taller building on the right was known as the York Street Station, one of four warehouses operated by the Baltimore Fidelity Warehouse Company for the Western Maryland Railway.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The 110 foot 750 h.p. </B><B>George M. Shriver</B><B> was built in Port Richmond, New York in 1915 for the B&O Railroad.  I have not yet been able to determine what became of her.  She is painted with the new blue/yellow/gray color scheme of the new B&O streamliner locomotives which was also being used on the newer diesel tugboats.  This industry wide conversion to diesel spelled the impending end of the era of steam powered tugboats.</B></div> <div> <B>          </B></div> <div> <B>The 105 foot 500 h.p. </B><B>Baltimore</B><B> was built in 1893 at Sparrows Point for B&O and served the railroad for many years until 1956 when she was sold to the Harbor Towing Corporation in Baltimore, converted to diesel power and renamed </B><B>William E. Voyce, Jr.</B><B>  In 1976 she was renamed </B><B>Shark</B><B> by Harbor Towing.  Sometime in the early 1980s she is believed to have been scrapped in Chesapeake, Virginia.   In this scene she still wears the old colors of B&O steam tugs while the newer diesel powered tugs were arriving on the scene in the new blue/yellow/gray color scheme of the new B&O streamliner locomotives.  While a few of the steam tugboats such as the</B><B> George M. Shriver</B><B>  were repainted in these new colors, the </B><B>Baltimore</B><B> was not.</B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>