Rigged Model, Towboat <I>Jack D. Wofford</I>
date: label: Date made
content: 1977
notes: label: Description
content: Built in Jeffersonville, Ind. in 1966, the 157’-6” long <I>Jack D. Wofford</I> works as a towboat on the Mississippi River. Unlike earlier towboats, the <I>Jack D. Wofford</I> has 5,000 horsepower turning twin screw propellers instead of a paddle wheel for propulsion. To avoid running aground on sandbars in the Mississippi, it was built with a very shallow hull.
label: Description
content: River towboats on the Mississippi transport cargo. Before the railroads, river towboats were the fastest means of moving freight. Today, towboats are used to move cargo that is too heavy or expensive to send by rail. Although they are called towboats, these vessels don’t actually tow the cargo barges. Instead, towboats push them—sometimes up to fifteen at once—up and down the river. Workers attach cables to the stern of the towboat from the corners of the barge. Once the towboat and the cargo set sail, the towboat acts as a rudder, carefully steering the barges along the river.
label: Description
content: When pushing freight, the <I>Jack D. Wofford</I> pushes two steel “knees” up against the sterns of the barges to steer and stabilize them. In 2007, the <I>Wofford</I> was still in service between St. Louis, Mo. and Minneapolis, Minn.
topic: label: related event
content: Postwar United States
label: related event
content: Contemporary United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Work
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Jack D. Wofford
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.336154
label: catalog number
content: 336154
label: accession number
content: 1977.0638
objectType: label: Object Name
content: model, tow boat
label: Other Terms
content: model, tow boat; Maritime; Diesel
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (part: rigging material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 15 in x 42 in x 10 in; 38.1 cm x 106.68 cm x 25.4 cm