Boatnerd Discussion Forum

GLTCo installed the quizzical devices to provide forward vision for its low slung tugs when it was one of the contractors (Hannah the major one) to haul sand from the construction site of the Bethlehem plant at Burns Harbor to Evanston for the landfill at the old alma mater. The Crown boys who ran GLTCo back then brought the Waverly of Sioux City & New Orleans Barge that the Crowns also owned to compete in barge fleeting at South Chicago and Indiana. One would have thought the local Crown boys would have known that Captain Barnaby had too much clout to let that happen, and it sat at Lemont for quite awhile after 1971 until sent back up the Mississippi the next year. Barnaby would end up buying it, turning it into Curly B.

Photo of the Arizona with its "Sky Pilot" in the stowed position. 1970 photo taken in Lake Calumet by Rich Nicholls, from the digital collection of the Marine Historical Society of Detroit

The cab was called a “Sky Pilot” and the tug Arizona had one as well. Both tugs had their cabins modified. As you said, the Colorado had the after part of its cabin removed. The Arizona got a slightly different modification, and had her stack moved quite a bit aft, giving her the unique appearance the has today. I believe GLT tried to break into the barging trade specifically in the Chicago area where the sky pilot would need to be lowered to pass under the low bridges there, and a larger tug like the Ohio would not have been useful. GLT also at one time purchased an inland river tug, the Waverly, to attempt to break into this service.

Recently I came across the attached photo and article while searching for Great Lakes tug-related materials in the Michigan State University Libraries archive. The picture shows Great Lakes Towing's Colorado, outfitted with a cherry picker-based flying bridge, pushing a loaded stone barge on Lake Michigan. According to the article, published in Oct. 1964, this boom system was manufactured by Truco Denver and put the captain 46 ft. above the waterline while still allowing complete control. In addition to elevating, the boom could also be swung side to side for aid in docking. The article notes it was outfitted by Dravo Corp. Of course upon seeing this, a few questions popped to mind:
1. Does anyone have any experience with this machine or ever observed it in use?
2. This was an experimental unit, what conclusions did GLT arrive at (I can predict a few) and what happened to this unit?
3. Was the Colorado specially rebuilt or modified for this task? The cherry picker seems to have taken the place of the tug's cabin area
4. I've come to know GLT as primarily a ship docking concern. How involved were they in barge operations? I know they would have had tugs such as the Ohio during this time that would have dealt more in transportation.

Thanks!