Erie canal workboats?

[DutchRub]

Many years back I made a look see up to w. NY state-saw some boats being used on the erie canal- maybe about 20 or so feet long- covered with a superstructure from a short fordeck to a short cockpit aft- all structure boasted standing head room and covered in multipaned glass windows-they were owned by the State of NY- blue and yellow painted- any body know what they were or the design? Looks like a fun way to spend a sunny winter day.

[Wayne Jeffers]

20 feet seems really short for any kind of 19th century canal boat. The ones I've seen were probably close to fifty feet, IIRC. Figure space for cargo, plus living quarters for the crew, plus feed for the mules. They were good sized boats, though not very wide.

Wayne

[DutchRub]

Thats it exactly RK-any idea of plans availability or anything else about them? Thanks for the pictures by the way- where were they taken-looks like the one is set up on a cradle for life

[ 10-28-2002, 09:24 AM: Message edited by: Dutchrub ]

[DutchRub]

Rk- thank you so much for all the information on these boats- looks to me like the one on display has a fairly constant v and could be modified for plywood construction without much trouble at all.

[DutchRub]

Thanks RK- I for one am interested.

[DutchRub]

Once again thank you for your effort rough. Very interesting information.