Tug Buffalo
1923 tug Buffalo
Tug Buffalo Tentative Tour Schedule:
Schedule to be announced
Please check back for schedule updates.
Due to berthing and depth constraints, not all vessels will be at all tour stops. Expected vessels can change without notice.
Length: 52’
Draft: 6’
Capacity: 6
The Tug Buffalo was built in 1923 as a steam tug for the New York State Department of Public Works. After over a quarter century of continuous service as a maintenance vessel on the Canal, she was sold into private hands sometime in the 1950s, and re-powered in 1957. She remained in active commercial service until the early 1990s.
Her current engine is a historic Cooper-Bessemer direct-reversing engine, built in 1931. This engine is wonderfully representative of the transition from steam technology to early marine diesel engine technology. As a direct-reversing engine, there is no transmission and the propeller is directly connected to the engine through the shaft, and the engine must be stopped and re-started backwards when astern propulsion is required. In addition to her direct-reversing characteristics, the Buffalo is one of a dwindling number of "bell boats" still in operation. That is to say, the Captain has no direct control of the engine from the pilothouse and instead signals the engineer via a system of bells. She was donated back to New York State in 1996 by her most recent owner, Capt. Morris Reels of Brewerton, NY.
A group of dedicated volunteers began working on her restoration in 2001. With their hard work, and with the assistance of former owner Morris Reels, the restored tugboat was placed back in operating condition in 2002. In 2005 the Canal Corporation Board officially authorized the transfer of the Buffalo to the Town of Waterford.
Wonderfully evocative of the tradition of smaller canal tugs, at a diminutive 52’ long, the plucky Tug Buffalo is a remarkable and enduring reminder of our area’s rich maritime heritage. She is the only municipally-owned tugboat in New York State, and continues to inspire and delight crowds throughout the Capital Region.
For more information on Tug Buffalo:
http://www.waterfordmaritime.org/tug_buffalo.html