Pictures from the Mighty Mississippi

[Laura's Babies]

I took my camera when I went to work last time and took some pictures. Thought some of you might enjoy and get a better feel for what it is like out there..

This is my galley where I work and the pantry in the background. It is very nice and we have everything there that you have at home, just on a resturant style basis.



Looking out the deck locker door at the front of the boat on the first deck at the barges. This was approaching Baton Rouge.


New Orleans, GNO bridge.


The Delta Queen. We see a lot of these cruising up and down the river. People PAY to ride these boats and I laugh.... Our company pay US to ride ours!!


One of my most favorite pictures of the boat I work on..

[QueenScoopalot]

That looks like such a neat job Laura! I love the water be it ocean or river...whatever, I'd love to have a job like yours. Being away from your kitties and home must be difficult though. What does the barge carry? The barges we used to see around here were loaded with trash, and garbage to be dumped way out in the ocean. I'm glad they no longer do this though. Great pictures, and the galley looks like a great place to cook.

[Laura's Babies]

QSL, we push a lot of different stuff, whatever need to be moved, we'll push... corn, grain, chemicals, coal, scrap iron, pig iron all kinds of stuff that I have no clue as to what it is or used for...

Yes, I love how that galley is set up on this boat and I really enjoy working in it. There is even a dishwasher in that island facing the sink... I love those stoves but they are old and hard to get parts for and the oven is always a problem.. Takes TWO hours to get hot and the cooking temp is constantly changing in it.. Right now if you want to bake a cake at 350* you have to set it for 400* but when I go back, even 350* could burn it to a crisp.. Soooo, I cook most of my cakes in the microwave... They are equal to the old fashioned wood cooking stoves and I have always loved those...

[Cinder & Smoke]

WW!!

The M/V John M. Donnelly / Ingram Barge Company



The JOHN M. DONNELLY, built 1980

Position: Mile 804.3 on the LOWER MISSISSIPPI (2/05/05)
Net Tonnage: 761 Tons (1119 GROSS)
Engines: 3 x GM 16-645-E7B | 9180 HP | 900/930 RPM
Tow Size: 40 Barge Maximum Tow
Boat Height: 53 ft (Highest Fixed Point: 53 ft)
Length/Width: 200X50 ft
Boat Draft: 9 ft

WOW!

Now that's a BOAT!!
..

[kimlovescats]

Very cool, Laura ... thanks for showing us where it is you disappear to for 23 Loooooooong, lonely (for US) days!!!

[Laura's Babies]

WHOA! Phred, you found our company web sight?? You are one smart fella! Did you find Boat Positions where you can keep up with where the boat is??

http://www.ingrambarge.com/barge_positions.asp

The boat is almost up to Great Rivers in Columbus Kentucky (right now), that is mile 900 something. It should turn and head south once it gets there, drop it's cargo and gets a southbound cargo. Baton Rouge is about mile 230..

[QueenScoopalot]

See how you are Laura? Even when you aren't at work, you're keeping track of your boat lol! It is a very fancy looking barge. Too bad the stoves don't work properly, but it sounds as though you keep up very well.

[Cinder & Smoke]

Originally posted by QueenScoopalot

It is a very fancy looking barge.

BOAT... Fancy lookin BOAT!!

She rides & cooks in the Boat...

The Boat pushes the BARGE!
The "stuff" rides in the Barges.



..

[Laura's Babies]

LOL! Phred, the main reason I took those pictures is because Mike tells everybody I cook on a "barge".. I showed him the picture from the front door where you see the barges and told him "See? Barges!" Then I showed him the galley shot... "See? Galley! Galley is INSIDE the boat, not on the barges!" But everybody says that I cook on a barge, I guess because they hear more about barges than boats...

QSL, Yes, I keep up with it when I am off, ESPECIALLY when it is getting close to time for me to go back to work..so I will know if I should plan for a short drive to the boat or a long one.. Nice to know that since I don't do road food... I pack a lunch!! (I have a very fussy tummy)

[QueenScoopalot]

Originally posted by Cinder & Smoke


BOAT... Fancy lookin BOAT!!

She rides & cooks in the Boat...

The Boat pushes the BARGE!
The "stuff" rides in the Barges.



..

OK..I'm confused (nothing new though lol) Why is the company called Ingram Barge? It should be Ingram Tugboat, or Ingram Fancy Yacht ...something along those lines then.

[Andie]

Nice to see the river looks the same (if you go south at least)

I'm going to wave at every barge that comes by now.

[Laura's Babies]

It is called Ingram Barge because it is a barge business... The barges are what make the BIG $$$$$$... Wish I could remember the stats on what one barge earns on one trip..

The boat.....that is just a big hole in the water that they pour money into.....
Had to replace 2 of the 3 wheels this last trip.. can you imagine what these things COST$$$$$$$$... this is the one they didn't replace. (I think)

[Cinder & Smoke]

WW!!


The M/V John M. Donnelly / Ingram Barge Company

The M/V JOHN M. DONNELLY, built 1980


In the 1970s ...

The Ingram Barge Company was run by John M. Donnelly, a businessman who started with the company in New Orleans. Today, Ingram's flagship towboat, the "M/V John M. Donnelly", is named in his honor.

The Ingram Barge Line traces it's roots back to the 1850s ...
Read the Company History at:
http://www.ingrambarge.com/barge_timeline.asp

"We operate nearly 4,000 barges powered by the best towboat fleet in the industry. With over 100 linehaul vessels ranging up to 10,500 horsepower and approximately 40 boats under 1800 horsepower, Ingram can accommodate a wide array of shipping needs. We transport cargoes including coal, grain, aggregates, fertilizer, ores, alloys, steel products, and chemicals."


Photo Position: Mile 804.3 on the LOWER MISSISSIPPI (2/05/05)

Net Tonnage: 761 Tons (1119 GROSS)
3 Main Engines: 3 x GM 16-645-E7B | Total of 9,180 HP | 900/930 RPM
Tow Size: 40 Barge Maximum Tow
Boat Height: 53 ft (Highest Fixed Point: 53 ft)
Length/Width: 200 x 50 ft
Boat Draft: 9 ft
Built By: St. Louis Ship Co.; St. Louis, MO

WOW!


Now that's a BOAT!!
-------------------------------

6/27/07

I always wondered "Who Mr. Donnelly was?" ... guess I found out today =
He was da BOSS!

More Boat photos on Page 1 of this thread.

/s/ Phred

[Freedom]

When does a "boat" become a "ship?"

Can you put in a requisition for a new oven?? Maybe if you just start serving burnt everything -- with a side of under cooked everything else? Nah, never mind.

Laura, thanks for starting this, it is grand to see where you work and some of the sights from your view point.

[cyber-sibes]

Hey, you're working on a pushboat*? Cool! I met a few people who worked on them when we lived on the Mississippi in Quincy Illinois a few years ago. We loved to sit by the river and overlooking the lockes and watch them. Those boats are awesome how they manuver around all those barges! (I was blown away seeing what - 12 or more barges all strapped together being floated along by a pushboat!) Must be an interesting job. Take lots of pictures up & down the Mississippi!

There was a flood a decade ago & the Missouri side of the river flooded way way inland...there is a single barge that came to rest about 1 1/2 miles inland across from Quincy - what a HUGE, HUGE thing it is! Unbelievable, if you've never seen one!

[[i]Tow Size: 40 Barge Maximum Tow
/s/ Phred

Did I read Phred's barge info right - your boat can push up to 40 barges at once?!? Wowzers!

*the locals call them "pushboats"