NEWZEALANDS PRIDE, PS WAIMARIE.

[Walter Snowdon]

Congratulations to all those involved in the salvage and restoration of this very pretty little paddler.
Do any of our Newzealand members know of a source of plans or detailed photos of her, past and present? Look forward to hearing from you.  Regards to all, Walter.

[Khephre]

Hi Walter,

I've sent a note off to the operators of Waimarie - Whanganui Riverboat Centre - and will let you know as soon as I get a reply.

http://www.riverboat.homestead.com has some info on her as well.

Go to http://www.riverboats.homestead.com/WaimarieSurvey.html and you can see photos from the 2003 survey.

And at http://www.riverboats.homestead.com/Waimarie.html you'll find other photos - none particularly detailed but hopefully of some help.

Cheers
Tony

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's - Tony, some interesting snaps of the PS Waimarie out of the water, she is certainly shallow draft - also interesting is the 'Golden Tan' 3"BSP discharge pipe [just aft of the STDB wheel] complete with CAM-LOK coupler

In modern days fluid systems, 'Golden Tan' is reserved for 'mineral oil hydraulic fluid' - althought considering the pipe spool angle & placement I suspect this discharge may be  so - regards Derek

[Khephre]

Derek,

I believe you hit the nail on the head, ha ha. No discharges into the river these days - goes into a holding tank for subsequent pumping out and treatment.

The shallow drafted riverboats were ideal for navigating long distances up the river - second largest navigable river in NZ fed by Mt Tongariro high in the central volcanic plateau.

Cheers
Guide Tony

[Khephre]

Hi Walter,

heard back from Robyn at Whanganui Riverboat Centre - her email is riverboatswanganui@clear.net.nz

She advises that they have full sets of P/S Waimarie plans available. The price is $40.00 per set. That's in NZ dollars - which is worth roughly a third of the UK pound - so a set of plans for around 13 quid, plus postage of course. She didn't mention scale but then that's easily fixed at the local copy centre no doubt.

regards
Tony

[kiwimodeller]

Walter, A gent who has built a model of Waimarie from the plans Tony mentioned will be bringing it to our local sailing day on Sept 3rd. If you want to wait until then I will ask his opinion of the plans, check the scale and photograph the result. Regards, Ian.

[Walter Snowdon]

Thanks Ian thats good of you, I look forward to seeing the photos.  Regards, Walter.

[Harold H. Duncan]

Hi,
If anyone is interested, I have just returned from a week in Wanganui where the ps Waimarie is berthed at the Wanganui Riverboat Centre, and have a number of detail photos.
Their drawings are to a stated scale of 1:48, being reductions of ones drawn for survey approval before restoration, and suitable for modellers who have some photo reference as well.
regards
kiwi

[Roderick Smith]

I will be in NZ for 5 days over the coming weekend (Labour Day public-holiday long weekend in NZ), riding various special trains based on Feilding to mark the centenary of the completion of North Island Main Trunk Railway.  I have extended the trip to take in the Tues.28.10 public cruise of PS Waimarie, 14.00 departure.

The long weekend marks the end of the winter service (13.00, weekends and holidays) and the start of the summer one (14.00, daily).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Eddy Matthews]

Could you take some photos of the vessel to help Walter out while your on your trip Roderick? I know he'd appreciate it if you could....

Cheers
Eddy

[Roderick Smith]

Taking photos is easy to to do with digital, and easy to transmit later.
Walter: what aspects/details?  Are you wanting flat-on views so that you can get some concept of scale and measurement?  Would you like a tape measure in some/most views?

The website for cruise information is www.riverboats.co.nz

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Harold H. Duncan]

Hi,
Earlier this year I spent a week at the home of the Waimarie, measuring up the Ongarue (third vessel to be restored by the riverboat centre)for its survey application. I also have a series of photos of the Waimarie taken on our last day. I will be also drawing the Waimarie early in the new year and maybe will post these for our download section similar to the Koheroa drawings. These drawings are done using existing drawings for the ship and plant and filled in with measurements taken directly from the vessel.
If anyone is interested I can post these photos after Roderick has done his thing. Copies of the Waimaries survey drawings at 1/48 scale are available from the Riverboat centre for $40NZ per set. Proceeds to the upkeep of the boats.

kiwi

[Walter Snowdon]

Yhanks Roderick and Kiowi - look forward to the results! regards, walter.

[kiwimodeller]

Hope you enjoy your trip Roderick, I found the staff of the Riverboat Centre very friendly and got to talk to the Captain during the trip and found that my model has the same handling foibles as the real thing! The plans from which mine were built were prior to the ones they now sell and were just rally lines but I do have some sections if need Walter. You are right that shee is shallow draft in relation to the superstructure height so and mine needs abou 8kg (18pounds) of ballast but then she is a big model. She was built shallow as the river got very low at times and sometimes they had to pick up a wire rope that was secured in the river at various rapids and run it through the winch to winch her up. Roderick might be able to get you the booklet about her and the calender with pictures of her or the Homestead site has old photos which are not a lot of help but it does tell the stories well. Look forward to Harry's other plans when ready. The screw steamers with prop in a tunnel would make interesting models too. Cheers, Ian.

[Harold H. Duncan]

Hi Walter & Ian,
 the currently available plans from the riverboat centre come in 4 sheets, which includes numerous sections and all the different deck plans etc. All the information you need to build the hull lines etc. These where done for the original survey application for restoration, and are reasonably accurate, similar to those I have just done for the tunnel hulled Ongarue. Hope to have a set of drawings of the Ongarue and Wairua completed soon for us modelers as well.
Enjoy your trip Roderick, and beware the black soot from the low grade Huntly coal. Devil to remove from clothing.
kiwi