20180918 Sam M Fleming was hidden behind trees

While Sam M Fleming was heading upstream, Roy E Claverie was heading downstream. They met just downstream of the Dresden Lock.

Since Sam was heading upstream. On my way back home, I took US-6 to Bluff Road to drive down the roads to confirm that I could not see the Channahon fleeting area because of trees and No Trespassing signs.

Roy made good progress downstream:
2035: 244,8

The next day, I checked Sam:
1140: 298
It has gone upstream of Channahon, IL!
1144: 298.4
Is it going to stop at the Lemont fleeting area? Actually, since I learned yesterday that the web has a delay, did it stop?
1159: 298.8
I checked a little later, and it was still there, so I grabbed my camera and headed to the Veterans Memorial Trail.

I knew from previous trips that the Des Plaines River Drive has signs that indicate authorized personal only. So there is no trailhead parking for the Veterans Memorial Trail. Fortunately, there is a picnic spot on Bluff Road near the trail so that it is a fairly easy walk down  the Veterans trail to the Centennial Trail that goes along the marine terminals. As one would expect, a chain link fence with barb wire blocks the view of a crane moving the covers from one end of an empty barge back across the top of the barge. I remember when they did not put covers over barges carrying coal, gravel, etc. (Of course, it has been a while since I have seen barges carryhing coal.) I always wondered what happened when it rained. Now they seem to cover empty barges as well.

But I learned there is something far worse than a chain-link fence: nature. Not just trees, but bushes and vinces. Sam Fleming was probably somewhere on the other side of the vegetation on the left. The fence with the yellow top is the Asian Carp Barrier.

The one gap was where a gate used to be. I could see a crane working, but not the barge it was working with.

I bought a video editor that advertised a stabilization option. But the results are not near as good as what YouTube did before they pulled that feature. And the program made my video files disappear from File Explorer and Photo! At least I installed it only on my laptop. File Explorer and Photo still work on my desktop. Since this was the first time I have seen a Link-Belt boom extend, I extracted the boom movement part of a video. If anybody knows of a good stabilization program, please recommend it in a blog comment.

When I got home, I verified Sam was behind those trees. In fact it stayed there for at least a few hours.
1444: 297.7
1458: 297.7
1647: 299.4
1929: 299.4


20180919   0522: 291.1, Lockport Lock. Even if the web did not have a delay, I don't think I could beat it to Joliet. And I determined that the next accessible viewing spot is Morris. By then, it has passed the Channonahon fleeting area and will be pushing a standard 15-barge tow. Plus, it might rain today.

1222: 287.2  Wow, it is still doing its own fleeting operations. It is now in the Joliet fleeting area, which is easy to view from the US-6 bridge. I got more photos of that area just two days ago. At 0500 this morning, it was at 292.

20180917 5808

1754 : 283.9  It has gone through the Brandon Locks because it is now down by Caterpillar.
1858:  279.5  The icon has changed from upbound to downbound. The direction column also has an "In Port" value, but I never saw that on the web page while it was in the area working the industries and its marine terminal.
1913:  278,9  So how long is Sam going to stay at the Channahon fleeting area?
1942:  278.1
2204:  278.1  Looks like Sam is staying here for the night. I wonder if the crew of the boat lives in this area and they have been getting shore leave during the nights it was in the area.
20180920    1626:  249.9  It looks like it has its 15 barges and is gone.
20180921    1419:  213.2
Last night it was on the Mississippi River a little downstream of the Illinois River mouth. It must have swapped tows quickly at a Mississippi facility because it has made good progress back up the Illinois River. In fact, she was at 159.2 at 0500 and is headed back downstream.
20180922    1301:  152.9

Ingram

1907:  The next closest tow is Marge Mcfarlin at the CGB elevator near Utica (229.4). It is like Sam --- a line-haul boat, but with a retractable pilothouse.

1911:  230.3  CGB just happens to be where I caught it. It is now upstream of IL-178.
1942:  230.7  It is now in the Starved Rock Lock. It should be here a while because 15-barge tows have to be split for two lockings.
2204:  230.8
20180920    1626:  268.1
20180920    1419:  it was at 273.2 at 0500 and is now back down to 253   The crew must not be in this area because it turned and burned.

Ralph E. Plagge might also be headed to Chicagoland.

20180920   1626:  237.9
20180921   1419:  271.1  Probably waiting for Dresden Lock
20180922   1301:  259.2  Ralph was at 279.2 at 0500, so she has turned and burned.

Now Erna is the furthest upstream.
20180922   1301:  276.3