In the interest of getting commerce going again on the new Central New York Railroad, many industries along the line had to move huge quantities of goods and factory equipment to new locations.
Don Klose, the president of the "friendly-rival" Bellevue and Schenectady Railroad, sent over one of his tugboats to help us move barge loads of "stuff'.
The lift bridge operator was working overtime to keep up with the traffic arriving at Mohawk Landing.
Everybody seemed interested in the tug and came by to give it the once-over.
Of course, putting the CNY RR gang in cahoots with the B&S RR guys was bound to cause trouble. Between them they got the idea that they could make a few bucks on the side giving the locals a nice river cruise in between company loads.
At least they were honest about the safety of the enterprise, considering that the trips would go through the infamous Hellgate area just downstream. Tugs, historically, haven't navigated these tidal straits very safely over the years.
The little guy on the right seems to be having second thoughts about the trip during the captain's safety lecture. He may have noticed the size of that little life-preserver on the railing of the second deck and the shortage of safety lines on deck.
But, we are happy to report that all arrived back safely as this new era in the history of the CNY RR was begun.
Jim
