The End of an Era
Video & Images
Jim Brennan was the last oiler on the Day Peckinpaugh motorship when it was retired from service in 1994. The "Peck" is seen below moored at Lockport on its way to Waterford to be refitted for its new life as a floating Erie Canal museum. See also Wartime Transition.
Jim's experience with this boat was needed to get things up and running for the trip across New York in 2005. The Peck was saved from the cutting torch by a joint project between the NYS Museum at Albany, The NYS Canal Corporation and the Canal Society of NY.
This is a view of the hold of an Erie Canal Barge. Gray cement dust is caked on the beams overhead from the Peck's last cargoes before being retired in 1994. The plan is to convert the old ship into a floating Erie Canal Museum with displays in the space you see above.
