Working River (a documentary about the Ohio River)
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- Опубликовано: 20 фев 2023
- This "Working River" documentary traces a journey down the length of the Ohio River, primarily on two long haul towboats, with crew members you meet along the way. It also features some history of riverboats that once plied the Ohio and Mississippi, as well as scenes of the still operating sternwheelers Delta Queen and Belle of Louisville. And meet several folks working and living on the riverbanks. (produced in 1981 thru the University of Pittsburgh)
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I’ve already watched this half a dozen times. This is my favorite type of documentary - well directed, well paced, narrated, great personalities on the river. Makes me wonder where they all are now.
My middle school tech ed teacher used to have the sub wheel this video out on VHS when he was absent. This was back in 2016 and I just found it in my recommended now, crazy lol
Excellent documentary for The Ohio River!
My son Jacob (12) and I launched our 14' boat/6hp Evinrude into the Monongahela (South side of Pittsburgh) June 2nd 2017. On our journey down river, we had one week to travel. Campgrounds, Small Towns, 12 Locks & Dams, Restaurants, Gas stops, Genuine People the whole way. We made it 440 miles to Neville Ohio, just short of Cincinnati. Mom met us with the boat trailer. What a Great Adventure! Thanks go to Jerry M. Hay/Ohio river Guidebook.
You really might love this book. "Pilgrims on the Ohio: The River Journey & Photographs of Reuben Gold Thwaites, 1894"
I grew up on the Volga. watched the video and read the comments to it with great interest.
south point ,OH checking in.. i love the low rumble of a barge at night helps me sleep ,i guess you just get used to it after 30 years
Minford Ohio!!
2.5 miles north of historic Leavenworth, Indiana, on an upland ridge. I love hearing the low rumble of the barges echoing across the hollow on a calm quiet evening.
I live in a town on the river aswell
Greenup, KY
I'm amazed by the elderly couple living good simple lives off the land. So healthy and happy. You hardly find people that age that are that healthy and happy. In modern times with all the amenities and luxuries we have and people are sicker than ever.
Terrific film! After having worked upon our inland river system for the past 35 years, seeing a film like this or reading a book like Mark Twains “Life on the Mississippi”, I realize how timeless our occupation is. While the lifestyle does have its costs, mainly with relationships, being gone so much; it also has provided a great income for my family. It has literally been recession proof. I have never been without work. It seems like there is always a shortage of pilots/captains, always. And even in the very few times I have seen a brief surplus, good captains are always still in demand.
I think this kind of work is like a bit of a secret… a lot of young people don’t even consider it… which is a real shame. A motivated, moderately intelligent young person can put in their time on deck (two-three years) and then go after their pilots license and be earning a six figure income before most people finish their undergraduate degrees.
I like the cook. What a Pittsburgh personality on her! Oh, she's a photographer & painter, too!
I worked on the river after getting out of the Navy in 1981. Best job I ever had, 9 years of building tow, making locks and meeting some of the most interesting people of my life. Great video and memories! Thank you
Thank you for your service
Why didn’t you stay?
On the river I mean
@@bobkopf227 Life happened.
@@bobkopf227 Bob as I look back it would have been the smartest desion, I'd worked my way up to the Wheel House and been retired and living on my boat in the Keys lol. Instead I'll be 65 tomorrow, and still quite happy with my life.
The Delta Queen is still on the river, surprisingly enough.
My husband is a tug boat captain for Vane Brothers. He started aboard boats in the army. Went on to be a captain and still is. He's has been for over 40 years. We figured out we have only been married for 20 years because 2 weeks on and 2 we ks off. He's gone 6 months out of a year. He told me once takes a strong man to be out there but a much stronger woman to be at home. You always know there are dangers around every corner but it's not at the forefront of your thoughts. He pushes fuel barges up and the Chesapeake Bay. New York harbors. Gulf of Mexico. So many hours of training. It's just a different world being married to someone working on the water. I had to learn how not to cry on the day he was leaving. The missing him the not knowing accidents happen. I have gone out with him. It amazes me how he can do this. Takes special people. People on pleasure boats need to give respect to these tug boats. The can't stop on a dime many times they have crossed in front of his bow trying to out run him. One time a sail boat did it he couldn't see it and he thought he had sank it. When he saw it again it was alongside the rug when it had crossed the bow of the barge. He could see the name of the cigarettes he smoked in his shirt pocket. He called me told me what happened and then silence just so he knew I was on the other end could hear me breathing brought him comfort. Just knowing those people could of drowned. So if you're reading this own a pleasure boat don't cut in front of them.
Thank you for that, thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.
I admire the work your husband does, people don't realize the expertise and training it takes to do that job. The captain of a ship or boat has gotten many responsibilities not only does he have to get the car go to the right port but he's also responsible for the safety of his crew and everyone thing else. It's not an easy job but it is a dying breed the young people just don't understand these types of jobs any longer. These are the kind of jobs that men are made of.
I just retired after 47 years on the River. This happened to me on the Tennessee River. I really thought I had hit them. It was an amazing feeling knowing they had cleared the bow! Then I really wanted to kill them!! So please if you read this if you cross the bow of a tow boat and we have empty’s we can not see you if your with a hundred feet or more. Safe travels!
Thanks for posting, Randy. It's a style of filmmaking you don't see anymore.
I think you're right about that Steve. Sadly
It reminds me of listening to NPR, which still puts its segments together like audio documentaries.
Did 38 years working for Ashland Oil/ Chemical, this video came out right about when I started. Thanks
Thanks so much for this video. As a Green deck hand, I rode one of the sister boats.... the steel forwarder. And yes the river becomes apart of you. Still working on towboats as a captain
Your comment means much as a captain. Thank you
Thanks for this - - - - I started on the river in 1964 and have done ALL of this and worked the Monongahela, Allegheny, all of the Ohio - - - - and most of the other Western Rivers. Finally retired. I love the CRAFT - - - and - - - miss it all.
The Emsworth locks were my hang-out as a kid growing up in the sixties. I spent many a long summer afternoon watching the tow boats going through, always amazed at how they would have to split the barges apart sometimes. Cool to see Captain Fred Way too, he was John Hartford’s mentor. John would drop by to see him when he played in Pittsburgh.
I worked on the Steel pioneer for 14 years. It’s now been renamed the Mv Robert C Loedding
I worked on steel express and my grandfather was the head captain of the steel forwarder
Amazing. We really enjoyed our travels on the boat.
I rode the Forwarder a few times!
@@b_rad5678 did you ride with a captain Cunningham
I don't know that I have a favorite but if I had the time and means I'd gladly navigate all of America's rivers.
I became a teacher in 2016, I still remember getting into my workbook and seeing the movies I could show. I went down to the library and got some old tapes on the Mississippi and they had an interview with one of the last living slaves and I couldn’t help but think, man there are so many people in these videos, just like background people. A scene at the park in Manhattan 20 years before 9/11, I think we’re any of these people in the towers? Who from these videos is still alive today?
Entirely fascinating and expertly made documentary
I was born in Ohio and we lived about three miles away from it in wheelersburg My dad taught me to swim in it now I live in California and miss Ohio greatly God bless Ohio
Hi from Minford!!
I was born in Wheeling, WV. A town along the Ohio River. Stuck in California too. I feel your pain ha ha.
I'm from California but have lived most of my life in Ohio - and still do! I will never go back to California; thank you God for the greatest state of the Union: O H I O!
Do you have same draw?
Moved back myself from checking out a few others states only place I may consider moving too is the panhandle of Florida
I had the blessing of working on a coupe of Rivers, the Hudson, and the Saint Lawrence.Cargo and people. Cargo never complained about anything. Great job.The Canadian Pop Group 'Great Big Sea" had a song called "River driver". Great song.
Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed it my daddy was a captain for the Ohio river company for 38 years
I hope it gave you some insight into his work over the years.
Glad I found this
What an amazing part of our heritage 💪🏻
Best thing I've seen on RUclips all year.
Thank you!
This is great. It's about 5 years before I started working on the river.
So, Randy Strothman was a major creative force in the production of this documentary. very well done.
Thank you!
Love these films
Your startup screen with all the colors reminds me of the days when TV would show those colors each morning so you can tune your colors with the plastic tuning screwdrivers. Everyone had the blue, red, and yellow plastic screwdrivers. and spare tubes incase you could not get a color to come in.
Yes, the color bars are very old school.
This was the New France Highway. Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) to La Nouvelle-Orléans.
I'm french Canadian and I drove trucks for a few years from Quebec, Canada to the United States and this river canal has always fascinated me since those years. With all the industries surrounding it, I have visited so many coastal towns and villages without being able to play the Tom Sawyer hidden in me. Build a raft and go with the flow. My son is growing up and this could be quite an adventure to plan and do together. Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Cincinatti, Louisville seen from another point of view. One day I'll say that I had a dream and that I finally made it come true.
I read in the New York subway on a wall poster "No great story start as it was cold so, I stayed in..."
Underrated river.
Gliding by my home town of St. Marys, WVa. Beautiful.
"There's always this quality of expectation; something around the corner."
Wonderful documentary capturing a period of time - the people, places, and personalities on and along the Ohio River.
Best video on youtube...real life gone extinct. I love these old relics
Born and and raised in Pittsburgh my father worked for the aloe's shenango inc coke plant as a controller (accounting) for thirty years before tree huggers had it shut done but the regatta was always a summer thing gateway clipper is still up and running this was a good documentary on the river black and gold 412 area south hills
Now I have that “come aboard the Gateway Clipper fleet, down by the riverside” jingle in my head!
My mom had a uncle who worked the river all his life . His name was Jack Miller he worked one line on his time off he would go to another line and work never coming off the river . Mom told me about a time when he was sick they shoved the barge into the bank at point pleasant wva made him get off he climbed the blank when to the doctor called my mom .she picked him up took him up to the next lock to get back on the boat. I was raised in cheshire ohio. I use to swim across the river and back dragging a 10ft john boat behind me . Did it twice a yr memorial day and labor day. The last time was in 1989 I am 61yrs old now
Growing up, my family was one of those pleasure boaters on the Ohio River.
We traveled it, though. We would put in at Marietta and go up to Pittsburgh and above, tying up every night along the bank and would be back in Marietta by the following weekend. We did a trip to Cinci one summer too. We got lost in morning fog like Mr. Way talked about below Galapolise, and we ate a fine dinner on the Mike Fink. Traveling the river like that, I have a huge respect for the commercial rivermen and women that work and pilot the ol Ohio.
Didn't catch the older couples names but imagine getting to go back and sit with them for an hour and talk hear their life stories ❤ such a different generation
-from along the Ohio River outside huntington wv ❤
Harlan and viola
I feel the same about my job, it gets in your blood and if you aren't working things don't feel right. I love my family but I love how my work makes me feel.
I really enjoyed this.
Was a deckhand for the entirety of my twenties. Never made it to the Ohio myself, only ever worked the Mississippi and the ICW. Makes me wish i had pulled a few more years to make a run that way, it looks amazing out there
What a great documentary film, shot at a time that still had some connection to the heydays of the old steamboats and when Harlan and Anna Hubbard were still alive to capture their latter days at Payne Hollow. I've been on and off the Ohio River since I was a child back in the 1960s, but I was too young to really know, understand and appreciate the river history. I wish I could have really understood things and appreciated them more back then, because now much of what this film captured about the river and river life is gone. It's kind of sad that people today don't seem to pay much mind to the river. It's just something to look at when they come down to a Reds or Bengals ballgame, maybe a festival along its banks or maybe take an afternoon cruise on a BB Riverboat. I live in Florida now, I boat the St. John's River and it's main tributary, the Ocklawha River and live just off the Harris Chain of Lakes which is part of this river system. I am coming to know and love these waters now, but I still love and miss the Ohio. Even when I served in the US Coast Guard back in the 1980s and traveled the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, I never stopped loving and thinking about the River. I also lived for a time in Savannah, Georgia boating the coastal waterways of the Georgia and South Carolina lowcountry, a beautiful place in its own right, but I still never forgot the inland rivers. I guess it really is true, once The River gets in your blood, it never goes away!!
I grew up on the Ohio River 3 miles down river from Pgh. in a small town named Preston. I can still hear the western Penitentiary whistle echoing down the river valley and the bangs in the middle of the night from the barges being rearranged before heading to the Emsworth locks and dam.
My dad was a deck hand for two dredging companies called M&O and Zubik. He later worked for Shenango making ingot molds on Neville Island. My grandfather worked at Neville chemical. He told me that during the Vietnam war he loaded barges with agent orange. My other grandfather rowed a john boat from the mckees rocks bridge to Davis island in search for black berries, wood and left over beer from parties along the river bank.
I have long since moved away, but my heart will always belong to Ohio River.
I stumbled across this an now am Glad i did this is good stuff thanks👍👍👍👍
Really enjoyed the footage with the Hubbard's. Intelligence, discipline, simplicity, grace.
Used to run from Convent, Louisiana to Calvert City, Kentucky running EDC barges on the old M/V Daytona for Scott Chotin
The site we used to load out at in Calvert City is now a Superfund site
I truly love these kind of documentaries, they bring back so many memories, when I was a kid in elementary school in the 80's, I remember watching these, I learned so much from them. The knowledge these old timers passed on, is beyond valuable. It's so important to have these available for viewing. Just wonderful!
I've lived on the Ohio River in Clarksville Indiana just across Louisville Kentucky for over 54 years and I wouldn't of want it any other way. It's something special.
The sunny side of Louisville
Thanks a lot Randy I really enjoyed it. I'm Canadian and I live near the Welland canal Between lake Erie and lake Ontario It's nice to see other waterways and how the ships and tugboats transport the goods on the Ohio river.Thanks a lot and have a great night.
Tremendous time capsule, talks a lot about so many things that have gone by the wayside. But also touched base on life on the river as a whole. The world changes so much, so quick. Here today … gone tomorrow!
Loved this video
The Ohio River was my backyard
Where I spent many days playing and dreaming
Watching the boats and barges go by
Feeling the breeze and hearing the birds singing
The Ohio River was my backyard
Where I learned to swim and fish and row
Exploring the fields and shores along the way
Discovering new things every day
The Ohio River was my backyard
Where I grew up with my family and friends
Sharing stories and laughter and tears
Making memories that will last for years
The Ohio River was my backyard
Where I left behind a part of me
But no matter where I go or what I do
The Ohio River will always flow in my heart.
Nasty ass river
Ohio River was and still is my backyard, 62 years later ...... many familiar sights I see in this video around Parkersburg ...... thanks for the pleasant memories. Also lived on little Kanawha River for about a decade and a half ..... flooding would visit us usually in the spring with the snow melt. River does seem to get in the blood .😊 ❤
The mighty Ohio is such a force. I was in awe seeing it, as well as other large rivers: Columbia, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio. Makes the Sacramento River here in California small. The Delta King used to ply the Sacramneto River Delta many and was moored in Sacramneto.
I rode steel Forwarder and Steel Leader in mid 80s
Amazing filmwork and subject matter, with a subtle and dreamy flow that fully explores each new poetic topic with the same steady pace as one of these majestic old boats going down the river. One of the best documentaries I've ever seen
Mesmerizing! This was my starting era on the river. What a trip back in time! Thank you so much for sharing this gem!
Spent 15+ years on the upper, lower, Ohio, and a few trips on the Tennessee, Illinois and Cumberland. Got hurt in 09, and there went my goal of getting into the wheelhouse.
Thank you, Randy, for posting this. Loved the part where the cook says her piece. She is a VERY important member of the crew! And I loved the Hubbards. I hope this documentary finds it's way into The Library of Congress as documentation of our ways of life that are changing.
Great upload! A great capture in time.
Really enjoyed this, thank you. Wish they had more footage of the older couple, living beside the river.
Harlan Hubbard is the man's name, he has written a couple books on his life.
Great video... in every way.
I just have to say: Great upload, sir! Really enjoyed it! Such a great catalogue of a great old documentary on a way of life most people only know nominally or (in the case of the old shanty-boat couple) not at all. But as someone who spent many years living at the confluence of he Ohio and Cumberland Rivers & and watched thousands of barges make their way downriver, watching this was just a delight! Good job!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'm happy to have it finally digitized after 42 years on a video tape in my basement... It brings back many fond memories of the time our crew spent on the river, many of them were not part of the film but are etched in my mind. One, example is spending Summer evenings out on the front barges in the tow, where it is so peaceful with only the sound of splashing water-like a big front porch moving slowly down river. One Friday evening on this "porch" there were the sounds and lights of a high school football game up on the bluffs... and campfires of people on the sandy river banks below... and a lively revival meeting happening on the opposite shore. So Americana!
Such a lovely couple living on the river!
@@RandyStrothman1 I bet you don't wash the dishes n cook with the Ohio River water any more like they were doing as the cook said in 1980!
A+… love these old school documentaries… straightforward, factual
Over 40yrs later things still haven't changed at those 3 locks
It's a insult to our industry
An insult to all of us living in this country! All the trillions of dollars spent every year on foreign wars, aid to other countries, yet our infrastructure is literally falling apart. We should have the most modern, cleanest, well maintained infrastructure in the world. We are being bled of our future, our children’s future and our culture. It’s disgraceful.
This is just a stellar documentary. Makes me miss growing up near Cincinnati, walking over the Roebling bridge and watching the barges go by below.
Oh my. Bless all the folk who work the rivers. Those oil paints, the stories....
Much appreciated for sharing that. What a great watch.
Thank you for sharing this!
You're welcome.
Thank you for sharing this video. Brilliant. So many interesting people.
Work on W Scott Noble on that river ,love riding on that river
Thank you for uploading this great film. His words said at 25:11 ring true.
❤ different kind of life. Still dream about the river.
thanks for uploading this doc Rich. Great content and the Ohio river is a magical place.
Outstanding program, riveting, glad to see the mighty Delta Queen in service on the Ohio River.
Great job, much appreciated 👍✌️
Ohio River MM 766. French Island.
I’ve been a rat my whole life. My father ran the Great Ohio River Flatboat Race. His ashes floated down that river eleven years ago.
Now I captain work boats in the Gulf and sail sailboats any and everywhere, but it is fresh, muddy water, Ohio River water, that runs through my veins.
Thanks for sharing.
21 thousand tons of coal, steel and benzyne WOW. That might be a day today instead of several loads that size back then. This video looks to be shot in the 70's or early 80's.Very cool and thank you Randy.
Wanderfull wunda-land ,,,,,,, thankyou for sharing 😎
Thanks for posting this . I used to have it but lost it years ago . I am a Retiered River boat captain . 41 years on the river .
That was awesome. Thanks for the upload.
This was very enjoyable. Thanks so much! Lots of cricks and rivers where I grew up - many a day was morning to night fishing, swimming, hide and seek, crayfish hunting. Magical!
Never forget the towns that were also formed alongside the Ohio as a result of Mussel harvesting. I have just began my own business harvesting mussels following the rich history that was once the most lucrative trade on the river back in the early 1900s.
Worked on the river mainly from Houston to St. Paul, hauling anhydrous ammonia to make fertilizer. Been up the Ohio as far as Cincinnati. Up the Illinois to near Chicago and on the Missouri below KC. Put many a dent in bridge at Dubuque and have pulled the Queen from Cairo to Near Louisville.
I love listening to Harlan and Viola talking. And how they lived their lives. They said homestead right below Cincinnati. I worked Ohio river for 6 plus years now. And love find where the lived. I say it’s probably gone. But be awesome to explore and walk where they lived.
The house still stands, some folks are working on preserving it and maybe having occasional tours. I have been there and it's lovely, would make a great artist retreat.
@@slory17 is it on Ky side or Ohio? And do you know the river mile?
@@axlyoung1218 I'd rather not say. Some folks are starting a non-profit or foundation and if I find it I will send you their info!
@@slory17 okay thanks I appreciate it. I just want see if I could see it from the River. Sometimes I get off the boat in Cincinnati or Hebron Ky. And again just like maybe visit or give a donation to help restore
@@axlyoung1218 it's south of Madison, Indiana so pretty far from where you are talking about.
I like love to watch these videos. Because I can relate to everything they show. And most of the towboats I've worked on around. I worked 35 years on America's water ways. And miss it.
The belle of Louisville is still the last and only steamship on the Ohio river.
I grew up on the river at Portsmouth, Ohio Fished alot at Greenup Dam area
what amazing people and a great documentary of a different time
The pace and tone of the doc and the people in it make for slooooow food witch i eat with gusto...realy love it👌
this is a great video!!
I loved watching the barges go by and wondering what it would be like to work on one. I was raised close to the Hubbards so our school took the 6th grade on a field trip to their farm. So much fascinating stories. Thanks for sharing.
such a beautful film. thank you for sharing. I didn't expect the river's glory to shine through in this like it did. very peaceful.
My grandfather John Cartwright worked for Walker towing and captained the Betty June Walker
Can't swim but I would love that job see them all the time
I don't miss it in some ways 4/12 years on the Ohio and upper Miss for Ingram bardge in late 90s early 2000s. but the majority of depends on who you're working with and the weather!
True sometimes the people you work for and with make things miserable. I'm working in below zero weather right now and I have been miserable lately
GOOD ONE; THANX
Wonder how long the old couple lived there and what became of their homestead. Probably reclaimed by the forest I bet.
She died in 1986, he died 2 years later.
@@robertdesantis6205 Thanks you! They certainly marched to the beat of their own drum.
They said lived below Cincinnati. I work on Ohio River almost 7 years now. I love to find their old homestead. If I knew the mile marker. I would try look for it. It’s probably all gone now. But still love know about where it was.
Payne Hollow is still in good shape. Harlan left it to a young friend of theirs, also an artist. Now owned by a non profit to preserve it for history.
@@mikebroyles5107that’s really cool, do you know which mile marker? I work as a deckhand now and would love to see it
Luv it
Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !"
Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam ."
Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!"
Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window ? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..."
Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!"
Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky."
Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction."
Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"