On the subject of Aussie ( full sized) paddle boats towing barges, it should
be remembered that the barge also had a skipper ( complete with his own
stearing gear) so that the
barge could follow the track of the towing PS. As the Murray / Darling
rivers are very winding seperate manourvering of the barge was vital to the
safe operation of the boat/barge(s) combination. There is little rooom for
error! There were very few sucessful pushed barge combinations ( ie: stern
wheelers) used on the Murray becasue fo the winding river.
It was up to the barge caprain to ensure that his barge did not ram his PS
'tug' should the towing craft decide to make a stop. A difficult situation
when towing downstream I'm sure.
On the subject of model barge towing, I only know of one sucesful operation
and that was done by the Echuca modeler of the P.S Pevensey ( whose photo I
posted some time ago) and I think that he used two radios ( one for the boat
and one for the barge). He did mention that a 'very heavy' was
towed sucessfully by a fairly lightweight version of the PS Pevensey. I've no
details of the relative sizes but he did say that the barge was a model of
the barge shown being towed by the PS Adelaide.
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