Gary,

Glad to have recv'd your posting. It comes in a timely fashion. You may yet see more live steam on the Mississippi, but first the intial plans...

The board members of the Steam Tug BALTIMORE met Friday to discuss BALTIMORE'S future activities. As she is representative of a mid-to-late 19th century hand-stoked coal-fired tug with a wrought iron hull and supurb wooden superstructure, we're hoping to see her placed in service during the 150th anniversary of the War of '61 and beyond. Let me explain...

A guest from the modern-day Navy was present on Friday and indicated a willingness to have BALTIMORE brought to the Washington Navy Yard to kick off a three year stint on the Potomac, York and James Rivers where BALTIMORE is to portray a navy tug hauling gas observation balloons to celebrate the birth of naval aviation.

One of the enlightened suggestions for further service beyond the 2011-2013 tug/balloon outing was to have BALTIMORE travel down the inland coastal waterway across the Gulf and into the Mississippi, making stops in many ports-of-call along the way. It is also being contemplated to have crews cycled in and out and to have them trained on their volunteer duties using cyber simulation graphics.

This is a great site to exchange information and make announcements too. The automatic notification feature is first-rate too! We'd like someday soon to have a great forum like this one for the steam tug project so that we can begin scheduling arrangements for folks to fly in and out of Baltimore-Washington so that BALTIMORE might be sooner readied for her date with destiny.

Sorry but I forgot to mention that BALTIMORE'S nameboards will be changed in-and-out to reflect 1860's period names of both Federal and Confederate tugs which hauled the observation balloons sometime supplied with telegraph operators or army signallists.

Get your brown-water webfloat up on the marine railway that we might someday meet in the middle of the Mississppi somewhere close to MATHERS BEND.

I couldn't get away before telling you that BALTIMORE may well be the oldest hand-fired coal steam tug still afloat and operational in the entire United States. Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing...

Best Regards as you ply life's waters,

Walt Mathers
~~30~~