Topic starter
17/11/2017 8:15 pm
Greetings, all - I trust you will humor me in addressing a diesel towboat question. I ran across this in my capacity as amateur historian at Cummins and surmised at once that .org was my best hope for finding the answer.
From 1929 to 1967, Cummins built a series of large medium speed engines. These were in-line sixes of 300 hp or so, weighing in at about 10,000 pounds apiece. In all that time, only three were ever supercharged, and all three went into one inland rivers towboat. I'm hoping to learn the identity of that boat and as much of its story as can be found.
Our records indicate only that Aiple Marine was the customer, that the engines were built in 1940 or '41, and that the boat came to an untimely demise (fire, sinking, or both?) in 1945.
Thanks and regards to the steamboats.org crew!
17/11/2017 10:33 pm
Keith, Dan Owen is your man. He SOMETIMES is on here, but can be contacted privately, too. I'm sorry I do not have that contact information for him.. Maybe Capt. Bill Judd will chime in...
18/11/2017 1:38 am
Hi Keith: I think the vessel you are referring to is the M/V TAMPICO. Owner was Aiple Towing of Stillwater, Mn. Original name of vessel was VAGABOND. Built. 1941 by Capt. Frank Aible. Original engines were three Cummins. Vessel was destroyed by fire at Lock 17 Upper Miss on Nov.1945. Frank Aiple rebuilt the vessel in 1947 and placed three G-M diesels of total 1500 h.p. I was on the vessel quite often as a guest. It towed into Cincinnati on a regular basis.
Topic starter
20/11/2017 2:28 pm
Captain Judd, Captain Reynolds:
Many thanks! That certainly sounds like it fits the bits of facts as we know them here. I'll do some searching on those vessel names and see what turns up!