PS Alexander Arbuthnot/ PS Lady Catherine

[rayman]

hi sean, if you care to e-mail me
  ray283morey  at  yahoo.com.au   I will send you a very interesting video of my friends steam collection
 regards ray.

[paddlesteamerman1]

Well you must nearly be finished your AA model!! And building it just of those photo's? Amazing! And the Industry, about the only boat I haven't set foot on... Good Luck..

[thewharfonline]

Hey all!

Well my plans for the A.A model are all about to change. She's not very accurate and her colours are a tad wrong too so I'm going under a remake for the boat!

Firstly her name will change to the 'Lady Catherine' and she'll be a towing steamer. She'll have ladders like those of the pev on the front of her wheel boxes and I'm going to put some log stacks on board as well.

I have to add some bits to the dodgy engine to make it look a bit more real along with a towing pole, a rudder and a wheel.

Then the paper boat (for which the rc gear is really useless) I am going to turn into an outrigger barge A:06 (First barge built in 2006) I'm going to get some nice branches for this and fix up the top decking. Then connect the two boat with a bit of twine/string (rope) paint it all up and hope it comes out all right!

So along comes the 'Lady Catherine' full steam ahead!

[thewharfonline]

Amidst the fray of exams and exam cheat sheet making I decided to rig up a towing pole for Lady Catherine.

Her name plates were made the other day and I commenced on some repaint of the deckhouses and the decking...no more purple decks, they're brown now thanks to a discovery of some brown paint lurking downstairs in the store room!

Today I glued together the wheel boxes and the hull and then the upper deck and the wheel boxes. I also attached the towing pole which is made from a piece of plastic model sprue and a thumb tack on top. I then commenced work on the wire work that holds the tow line in place so tow of those wires are in place- made from cake decorating wire two pieces stuck together as I only have odds and ends of it.

So here are some Pictures of Lady Catherine and her barge A:06

[thewharfonline]

Ok so now I've added on the front two wires connecting the tow post to the hull of the vessel and painted towing pole and wires black.

I plan on repainting the wheel boxes now! Making the lines between the boards smoother and looking slightly more realistic. The wheels are one of the last pieces I need to stick on (apart from the engine) and then I also want to make better windows and doors!

So that's the news for now!

[steamboatmodel]

Hi Sean,
I think you should reconsider the placement of your tow pole, where it is will create a large turning motion and could create unsuitability and a capsize. Most tow poles/bitts are located as low as possible, ie deck level.
Regards,
Gerald

[thewharfonline]

There is no need to move the towing pole Gerald Murray River boats have adapted to their surrounds and as such the placement of the tow pole may appear different to other boats internationally, Adelaide, Pevensey, Alexander Arbuthnot all have it on the top deck above the deckhousing.

The model is also not an rc model either so I have no issues with stability etc.

Our towing poles were never located on a deck, always above the roof and the funnel, that way the boat can swing out in front around a tight Murray Bend while the barge behind can continue and then swing when it needs with the barge mast steering her.

The following photos are of Murray Paddlers...with tow poles circled on the boat!

One Of Alexander Arbuthnot...the boat my model is modelled on
One of Adelaide: from D:26 Barge in tow...see rope
One of Pevensey, big hauling boat

[Roderick Smith]

I endorse Sean's reply.
On the boats which I have ridden, the skippers stated that the reason for putting the pole high and in line with the paddles was to maintain steerage.
A tow line attached at the rear would prevent the towing boat from steering properly.
My next contribution to the full-size construction thread will be on PV Mosquito.  The photo shows it with an Australian-style towing pole.
In the Murray system, barges were always towed, not pushed.
I am not sure of maximum numbers, but two (end on end, not side by side) seems to have been common.  The locks were designed to hold a towboat and three barges.
It was common (standard/universal) when passing downriver through a lifting-span bridge to reverse through, again to maintain steerage.  I assume that this would apply to barges too, so a downriver move would round up, barge 2 would go through first, carried by the current (and with the boat able to pull the barge back up river if the steersman misjudged); barge 1 would go through next, on the same basis; the towing boat would reverse through last.  Then the combination would round up again.
It isn't just the boats which are fascinating in this hobby, but the whole way of river life and its part in our nation's history.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[steamboatmodel]

Hi Sean,
Thank You for Posting the shoots, I had never seen a tow post in that position before on full size boats! But the furthest south I have been is Phillidelpia USA.
Regards,
Gerald

[thewharfonline]

I'd say anywhere between 1-4, often two were towed next to each other, but boats like Pevensey could tow up to four...fully laden wool barges with tons of wool.

Adelaide I think could also tow four wood barges like B:22 and D:26 but was more often seen with two. Now she only tows one.

Very little barge towing happens on the Murray now, Ada barge, which used to be towed by Pevensey about 17 years ago, was apparently something to see. The D:26 which I've crewed is a very small barge compared to Ada which is a wool barge....the barge is enormous...about the size of the Pev's hull...as such I know why it would be an amazing thing to see!

Glad to show you something new Gerald!

[thewharfonline]

Ok on arrival back at home I got back to working on the Lady Catherine. I started work on reconstructing the paddle boxes by placing match sticks over the already built box to create the boards.

Painted a black background behind it and started painting the few boards on the box white...I ran out of matches you see!

Also cut a section of straw to be the chimney from the woodfired stove.

Slowly she's beginning to look less 'cartoony' and more realistic I think. Although her sizing is all out of proportion. But we must work with what we have been given (or made ourselves)

I have to raise the decking in the wheel house and add the rudder chains along with upper deck supports near the engine.

Then I plan on adding a fence railing around the top deck

[michael]

When Ranger was towing logging barges around the Barham/Gunbower  forests it didn;t have a tow post. Instead it had a rope tied around both cleats at the front of the boat which then ran beside the paddleboxes and joined togther behind the rudder, where another rope joined and was connected to the barg, creating a Y figure.
I will post a photo of Pevensey and Ada barge as she is today

[thewharfonline]

Now I have finished placing the boards on the left side paddle box (interesting fact...inland rivermen of Australia never talked of Port and Starboard...only the sea sailors that came to the rivers did...and the habit probably died away after crews looks stunned at their sea skippers orders!) I also framed two of the doors on this side.

Then I got another piece of plastic sprue and modelled it into a whistle, this is now attached to the funnel. A piece of wire was used to create the piping down to the boiler and another piece of wire was used to create the whistle chain to the wheel house...however I haven't worked out the inside chain in the wheel house yet, so the skipper so far has nothing to pull to blow the whistle.

I also tried some yellow paint on Mick's half wheels...so far as it hasn't dried I haven't been able to check what they'll look like. In the end I think they might return to silver colour.

[thewharfonline]

Ok here are the photos I promised, I've also begun construction on the second ladder on the right/starboard paddle box. I still need to finish making match stick door frames and window frames.

I think the paddle boxes look so much better now, oh and when the Christmas lights are on she looks really good...they create nice shaddows across her and it's harder to see my shoddy paint work!

Sean

[thewharfonline]

I've now painted the door frames and window frame that I have built so far to see how the colours would work and I think so far it looks good.I now intend on repainting the wheels a metalic silver with wooden floats.

I have to make some door handles for some of the doors and finish of constructing the frames for the remaining doors and windows.

I also have to finish the starboard paddle box ladder and paint the black part of the hull onto the starboard and stern of the hull.