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LEHIGH VALLEY RAILROAD
TUGBOAT
"CORNELL"
A walking tour with photos through this historic vessel
A publicity photo of the Cornell in the "Diesel Times",
a publication of Cleveland Diesel Division of General Motors.
Beginning in 1949, the Lehigh Valley Railroad began updating their fleet of tugboats, and just like the land based equipment, they began the conversion from steam to diesel power. The Lehigh Valley placed an order with Jakobson Shipbuilding of Oyster Bay, Long Island; for four tugboats. These were designed by Joe Hack of TAMS Incorporated. All vessels as designed were powered by diesel-electric, with the main engine being a Cleveland diesel . The four tugs soon became know as the "Four Aces" and were used as a marketing tool by Cleveland.
The four tugs were named the "Wilkes Barre", "Hazelton", "Cornell" and the "Lehigh". All four featured the standard railroad tugboat specifications, such as: high pilot houses and a heavy steel rubrail around the hull at waterline to withstand the bumps and grinds of carfloats being attached alongside the tugboat.
However, the "Cornell" and "Lehigh" were built with a slightly different superstructure. These two vessels had been built with the anticipated use on the Harlem River, to service the Lehigh Valley's Harlem River offline freight terminal. These two vessels were constructed with a 24' air draft, so they would be able to pass under the Harlem River swing and drawbridges without the need for them to open. As such, these two vessels had pilot houses and stacks which were slightly lower than standard and they had a fold down mast. This allowed for a 12' clearance under the Harlem River bridges at mean high water. Due to the success of these two vessels, the Lehigh Valley ordered two more vessels of the same design soon after, those being named the "Bethlehem" and the "Capmoore", however these did not feature the low clearences for the Harlem River.
Eventually, due to the dwindling carfloat traffic around the New York City area, the Lehigh Valley began to sell off the tugboats one by one. Amazingly, the "Cornell" was one of the last sold. The "Cornell" was sold in 1971, to Ross Towing located in Boston, Massachusetts. Sometime in the late 1970's or early 1980's, the "Cornell" was sold or traded to Boston Towing and Transportation. Tibbetts Towing then purchased her, and the "Cornell" was then moved to Maryland where she was then purchased for private use. In spring 2007 the Cornell was purchased by Lehigh Maritime Corporation, and restored to her original Lehigh Valley livery.
Click here for the Cornells official website, with information on the boat and charters.
Some Specifications:
Built: 1949, Jakobson Shipbuilding, Oyster Bay, NY.
Length: 104.5'
Beam: 27.5'
Draft: 12.5'
Main engine/generator: Cleveland 16-278A (1800HP), 1200KW 525 Volt DC Main Generator
Aux. Generator: 2 Detroit 3-71, 30KW 120 Volt DC Power
Fuel/Potable Water: 18,000/2,500 gallons
The Cornell has bunks for a crew of 8, and two "heads" (bathrooms) as well as a full galley.
Photo Pages
Pilot House
Interior
The Cornell swings a Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal carfloat around in Jersey City on April, 29 1967. Credit: Bobs Photo Archive
