The Lionel tugs are arguably the best modern accessory item of this century 
The barge would've made an excellent accessory as well.
On my older Christmas-themed layout, and to hide the hookup and control wires, I installed a piece of pipe through my river (slightly opaque blue plastic with blue sands underneath) and riverbed (plywood) as seen just off the port beam shown in the photo, below; then I repositioned the tug to hide it. On my current layout, the river is thick rippled plexiglass with plywood underneath, and I have not yet gained the courage to drill a hole through it in fear of splitting the glass. The tugs also work with batteries (lights only) which is a nice feature as no hookup wires are needed.
