All photos here thanks to Tim Powell.  What I noticed is that these all have a tugboat and a truck; hence . . . trugster.  And the last photo here has yet another mode of land transport.

Note the stepvan on the bank?

A. E. Clifford dates from 1947.   Click here for previous tugster fish tug posts.   Off Clifford‘s stern, that’s Forney, which you’ve seen before here.  And off Forney‘s starboard is a Ford pickup.  The photos above and below Tim took in Superior WI, next to Duluth.

So here’s the delivery truck for B & M Delivery, a service of B & M Boat Store.  Neil N. Diehl has an esteemed namesake.

Need grub along this section of the Mississippi?  Just fill out the grocery  form.  Since this is an inland waterway with locks, you can figure out where the best place for the delivery is.  B & M is at mile marker 403 upper Mississippi River. If the delivery truck needs need info about the boat, Dick’s towboat gallery is on the same site.

And if the towboat can’t make it to shore, the truck can tow a launch.

Rigger looks like it could be a pilot boat or a small tug like Augie, but I have no further info.  Note the locomotive in the background among the grain silos?

Many thanks to Tim Powell for all these photos.  And if you see a tugboat juxtaposed with a truck or train, we can make a “trugster 2” post.

I’m hoping to drive out to the Mississippi River watershed a bit later this year.

By the way, I just checked, and this is tugster post 4959, which means in 40 posts or so from now, a big milestone passes.  Hmm . . .