ocked in the Red Hook harbor sec- D tion of Brooklyn is an ancient cabin-covered wooden barge. Lehigh by Brian W. Swinn Valley Railroad barge number 79 (LV79), built in 1914, may be the last of its kind; a survivor of an era when such Rails of Steel, Ships vessels were vital strands in the trans- of Iron and Wood portation web that bound Odd as it seems, trains and wooden City to the rest of the world. barges do not strange bedfellows make. Barging Through History At one time, railroads were among the From the mid-nineteenth through the largest and most powerful corporations in mid-twentieth century, tugs and barges America. As such, they also operated shipping lines engaged moved much cargo between outlying in interstate commerce, as well as local ferry-type boats like rail lines and the water- front, thereby avoiding some tricky LV79. geography and growing urban conges- The operated a Great Lakes shipping tion. This strategy was particularly line from the 1880s until 1917. The , head- worthwhile before all of today’s bridges quartered in , for a time owned a subsidiary that ran and tunnels were completed. In its hey- boats between Ogdensburg and Chicago. In the Midwest, the day, LV79 carried up to 450 tons of Pere Marquette Railroad was famous for its fleet of steamers cargo per trip, typically including that carried not just freight, but entire loaded freight cars, grains, spices and coffee. In the 1960s, across Lake Michigan. Not so long ago, tugboats owned by the barge was abandoned in the mud- many railroads plied the waters of New York harbor. flats off Edgewater, New Jersey; a vic- tim of better ways to move cargo. There During the era of monopoly-busting, the federal Panama it sat until David Sharps, owner and Canal Act of 1915 amended the Interstate Commerce Act to captain of the vessel and president of prohibit railroad ownership of interstate water carriers that com- the organization that now operates the pete with their land routes. Divestiture soon followed. In some barge, bought the sorry-looking, yet places, however, the wooden ferry-type barges lived on, at least still-sturdy craft for $500 in 1985. until trucks and containerized cargo made them obsolete. “The first time I saw the LV79, I The Lehigh Valley Railroad was incorporated in 1846, given knew it was going to be a huge project this name in 1853 and completed its first trackage between with immense potential. Still, I under- two cities in 1855. In the late 1920s, the railroad operated estimated just how much was required more than 1,300 miles of track for passenger and freight serv- and what impact its preservation would ice in western and central New York, eastern Pennsylvania and bring,” says Sharps, who drew on his into New Jersey near New York City. As was common during background in the cruise ship industry. his is a story of grand the twentieth century, the Lehigh Valley was party to many “I have always envisioned a floating leases, stock acquisitions and mergers involving other rail- classroom and museum by day and a old wooden boats and showboat by night.” roads until what remained was taken over by the Consolidated Rail Corporation () in 1976. Restored to its former glory, LV79 has T Worms, time and saltwater took a toll on found new life as waterfront museum, the worms that eat them. the 87 year old barge. With restoration classroom, art exhibition center and nearly complete, it has found new life as a waterfront museum, classroom, art reception hall. The barge has received exhibition center and reception hall. many honors, including an entry on the Photos © 2002 Frank Zimmerman and Doug Pierson National Register of Historic Places and

22 New York State Conservationist, February 2004 Gribble worms, genus Limnoria, are isopod crus- The area was sheathed with one-eighth inch thermo- taceans about the size of a grain of rice that resemble plastic. All this just to keep a bunch of worms at bay. common sow bugs. The grey body comprises 14 seg- Docked in the Red Hook harbor section of Brooklyn ments, and the seven segments immediately behind is an ancient cabin-covered wooden barge, now the head each bear a pair of legs with tiny lobster-like armored against the worst. claws. Gribbles are quite mobile and can move for- And so it goes. Man, his works, and Nature inextri- ward, backward, curl up, jump and even swim. cably linked in an endless cycle across time. Gribbles express themselves most distinctively. They Brian Swinn is a writer in DEC’s Bureau of Publications and Internet Moving day. Barge LV. enter wood, which provides both food and shelter, and in Albany. 79 on its way to a new munch out tunnels parallel to but just under the sur- home in the Redhook, face, sometimes exiting and entering again. section of Brooklyn. Destruction is swift when hordes of these creatures undermine the surface, which eventually breaks away. The gribbles are not deterred, however. They go right If You Go: back to work, using their sharp jaws to chew new The Waterfront pathways beneath the freshly exposed surface. Hordes Museum is of gribbles can reduce a piece of timber by as much as open for school an inch a year. visits for stu- In concert, these two types of mis-named worms can dents of all Swiss-cheese virtually any type of submerged wood. ages. With Although the surface may look relatively intact, wood recognition by the United Nations for opening up they also live in temperate waters, where they seldom the recent award of a 1999 National subjected to such repeated assaults eventually loses waterfronts to the general public. exceed several inches in length. Park Service “National Maritime its strength. The voyage has not been completely smooth, howev- The teredo larva attaches itself to wood and bores Education Initiative” grant, barge staff It’s the very possibility Dave Sharps faced during er. Upon removing the barge from its resting place, straight in. It uses two sharp, delicately curved shells lead educational programs throughout the restoration of LV79. Sharps noticed a small amount of hull damage that attached to its head to cut up to an inch a week. The the year. With a permanent exhibit of seemed characteristic of marine boring creatures. mollusc tunnels to accommodate its growing length, all Worms Crawl Out artifacts and a plethora of hands-on Damage control measures notwithstanding, the situa- the while lining its elongated burrow with a smooth, experiences available—including knot- Armed with the well-wishes and contributions of tion got noticeably worse over the next five years. shell-like substance. Burrows are usually about one- tying, demonstrations of why boats float, Apparently, these creatures found New York harbor a quarter inch in diameter, but have been known to many who had heard of, or enjoyed programs present- and the opportunity to feel the decks good place in which to live. exceed one-and-one-eighth inches. Once established in ed on LV79, Sharps had it towed up the Hudson River move beneath your feet—the barge The barge now assumed a new function as an its lined burrow, the teredo stays put. to Waterford, near Albany, for dry dock repairs in the serves as a “floating classroom” for edu- enlightening example of the inescapable relationships The teredo’s back end remains exposed, but just summer of 2002. cational visits. For many visitors, a visit to that bind Man and Nature. under the wood’s surface. Two siphons extend outward Once raised and drained, it became apparent that to collect water that bears oxygen and food particles, the worms had exploited their chosen ecological niche the barge is their first time aboard a Worms Crawl In and expel waste, wood particles and used water. If dis well. Although the boat had managed to retain its boat, and a first chance to view this com- turbed, the creature can retract its siphons and cover structural integrity, roughly half the mass of wood munity’s once bustling waterfront. To find Soon after men first took boats to water, they itself with two small hinged pallet shells. below the waterline had been eaten away. This, the out more, call undoubtedly found that their vessels became both result of decades when countless worms were born, (718) 624-4719, or visit domicile and mobile feast for creatures that entered Gribble worms, lived, reproduced and died all within the confines of the wood and made themselves quite at home. Two of genus Limnoria, www.waterfrontmuseum.org about the size this 30- by 90-foot vessel. the main organisms that damage submerged wood in of a grain of Work in dry dock proceeded apace. Pressure-wash- the New York area are shipworms, or teredo, and grib- rice. Hordes of ing blasted out the remaining worms. Imperiled wood ble worms. gribbles can reduce a piece was ripped out by the yard and new planking installed There are several species of teredo in the genus of timber by as across the entire bottom and up to 18 inches above Xylotrya. Despite the fact that their adult stage resem- much as an the waterline. The wood was treated with asphalt bles a worm, they are actually molluscs. More common inch a year. primer and roofing cement. Twelve-inch-wide wood in the tropics, where they can grow to five feet long, strips were placed on all seams, then treated again.

24 New York State Conservationist, February 2004 New York State Conservationist, February 2004 25