Goolwa [Australia] mystery

[Roderick Smith]

I was tidying some files, and looked more closely this photo of a Mann Boudoir car (dating from 1886) living in retirement as a holiday shack at Goolwa.  It was supposedly mounted on a barge, but it seems to be on the shore.  It was broken up in 1974.
For Paddleducks: I noticed some superstructure and a paddlebox lhs.  What would have been moored at Goolwa in 1969?  Could this be PS Federal? This is the only photo which I took there that day.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's...& Roderick asks ....would have been moored at Goolwa in 1969?  Could this be PS Federal?

That's a really tough call Roderick....& I understnd that things change  but .....

the stern looks different
the STDB aft paddle box section is different
the top deck water tank is depicted on the STDB side

& all this compared to the snap of FEDERAL as shown on page 73 of Parsons...... .....regards

[Dinosaursoupman]

Hey Pd's and Roderick

Can't help on the pic much since before joining all of you the only thing I knew about Ozzie rivers I had learned from Crocodile Dundee! No doubt a detailed and accurate depiction of all Ozzies.

I'm assuming that the paddlebox being referred to is the slanted sections of wood between the rear vessel and the post it's tethered to? are we sure that that is actually a paddlebox? It looks to me that the lower edge spends a lot of time in the water, not something you would want on a vessel. The "paddlebox" also looks to be in a more advanced state of decay than the rest of the vessel.

I do appreciate your attempts to keep me company but I retired early last night and didn't see this message until this morning.

Randy the Dinosaur Soup Man

[Roderick Smith]

There is just a chance that the mystery glimpse isn't a boat at all.
Parsons does offer one encouragment: Former PS Federal was a houseboat at Goolwa from 1953.  Hence, it was certainly in the area as I went by on a train in 1969, even if not the one in my view.  However, the probability is increased by the carriage: another 'houseboat': conceivably the same owner.  Captain Sturt was also a houseboat at Goolwa, on the bottom.  Nothing in the glimpse resembles Captain Sturt.  I have fixed up the date in my earlier post: the carriage was in service from 1886.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[stephenf10]

I think that the "paddlebox" is a stretched net. At the top you can see the shape of Hindmarsh Island continuing through the net from the right, and similarly the area of light shaded water near the bottom.

Stephen.

[Excelsior]

I'm 99% sure that the paddlebox is from the Invincible.  I have a documentary from the 70s of two guys canoing the entire length of the Murray.  There's a shot from their arrival at Goolwa showing a rail car mounted on a barge moored behind the Invincible.  The top deck of the Invincible had been removed by this time.  The Invincible had quite distinctive paddleboxes (as shown in the picture i'm posting), and by the late 1940s had a large cabin structure built on the aft deck.  The shape of the box, and size of the cabin match the Invincible.

It's amazing how good the condition of the boat was in the 70s, and the extent of deterioration withing about 15 years.  Amazing, and sad...

[Roderick Smith]

'Excelsior' just has to be right with Invincible.  That was very compelling evidence and comparisons.  Parsons adds some consistent dates.  I took the photo from a passing train, knowing that the carriage was there, and was lining up on it as we approached .  Just a half second earlier with the shutter, and more of the boat would have shown.  I didn't take a trailing view, or it would have had the boat in the background.  Was it floating at the time, or on the bottom?  The photo in Parsons shows the distinctive angled paddloxes, and the extra cabin built on the stern.

A further thought: when my new scanner is delivered (Wednesday?), I'll return to the neg and see if I cropped it a trifle in making that print.  If so, I'll try to scan the lhs portion in full.

Next query from the same photo: where was it taken relative to the wharf and the Hindmarsh Island punt?

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[ljhall]

Hi Guys,

Yes, I agree with Mac, it does look very much like the 'P.S. Invincible', and I can't think of any other boats moored down at Goolwa during that period that fit that description.

Mac, did you find out what happened to the hulk of the 'P.S. Alfred' ? - I remember discussing it last year.

The other day I read Frank Tuckers latest up-date and it mentions some exposed wrecks in/near Mannum, one of which is apparently the 'P.S. Saddler', which was largely broken up, however the other wreck hasn't been identified as yet, my guess would be maybe the 'P.S. Struggler' or maybe another Steamer that was converted into a Barge later in its life.

[Excelsior]

Hi Leith,

The Alfred...  She was afloat at Murray Bridge in the 60s and it's believed that vandals sank her by opening some valves in her hull.  She's currently sitting in deep water (although I don't know how deep with the drought) near the bank.  The Milang group made an attempt to salvage her in the late 90s, and it would have been successful if they'd had more lift.  From the reports of the navy divers employed in the salvage, it seems that she is in very good condition.  Possibly good enough condition to float when raised.

On a side note, the Alfred had a new boiler installed in 1908 which is still in existence.  It was of identical design to a new boiler installed in the Excelsior at the same time.  In fact the two boilers had consecutive serial numbers.  The Alfred boiler currently has the firebox door & the the firebars from the Excelsior boiler installed.  All that is left of the Excelsior boiler is the firebox, which was used as an incinerator for many years.

Mac

[Excelsior]

Ok...  Just managed to do a screen capture from that documentary...  I don't know Goolwa at all, so I can't say where the mooring is for sure, but I'm guessing they were moored near an approach to the Hindmarsh ferry.

The interesting thing about this picture is that it looks as if the barge that the rail car is sitting on has sunk.  I also think that in the photo posted by Roderick, the carriage is sitting on the barge, but that the hull is low to the water so that all we can see is the shiny deck of the barge.

Judging from this photo, it also seems that the Invincible's paddleboxes have been rebuilt so that their tops have been lowered.

Mac

[ljhall]

Thanks Mac - that fills in a few gaps !
Ever since reading the book 'Water in their Veins' in 2003, I thought that the 'P.S. Alfred' had been successfully salvaged by the group down at Milang.

Actually, do you happen to have a copy of 'Water in their Veins' ? - it's one of very few books that I didn't end up buying.

Cheers,

[Excelsior]

Yep, I have a copy