HarryD and the p.s. Rangiriri

[Harold H. Duncan]

Hi have recently found paddleducks while searching for information to assist in my current project.
Have been off and on modelmaking most of my life, but now find my interests centre on two areas, namely the first 20 years of flight, and very early river steam paddle boats. I have spent years in Aussie where the Murray River boats kindled the spark. Now that I'm back in godzown and at Hamilton on the Waikato River, the spark has burst into flame. I have started research and drawings for an r/c model the p.s. Rangiriri, built 1864, one of the first steam boats on the Waikato. The model is planned to be at 1/20the scale ( around 1200mm long) and to be built as per the original and powered by scale steam engines. It was a iron hulled wood reinforced vessel of 80' length x 20' width plus a 10'-6" dia. x 10' wide feathering stern paddle wheel. Built for the NZ Colonial Govt.
Information is very scarce and I am trying to find any information at all on the machinery, which was built by P.NA. Russell & Co. Ltd, Sydney, Australia.
I wish to build depicting the craft as it was built in early 1864, and later maybe build another as it appeared after its extensive refit in 1881.
The vessel was abandoned in 1889 in the river in the centre of Hamilton and the hulk still exists today.
Any help would be most appreciated
 

[Eddy Matthews]

Sounds like a fascinating project Harold, sadly I cannot help, but hopefully some of our Aussie or Kiwi members may be able to shed some light on it for you...

Do you have any photos of the vessel?

[Harold H. Duncan]

Very few pictures of the ps Rangiriri, and its sister ship the ps Koheroa, have been found to date.
The Waikato Museum excavated the hulk in 1981 and have supplied the photos & drawings form then, along with permission to access and measure the hulk. The Hulk was pulled from the water in 1982, and is to be raised from the mud in which it sits, again soon to help in its preservation.
Both vessels where fabricated in Sydney, (designed by Auckland based engineer, James Stewart C.E., shipped in parts and assembled at Port Waikato, at the mouth of the Waikato River. The Koheroa launched in April 1864 (after 11 days to assemble and work continued on fittout as it steamed upriver to carry troops further into the Waikato). The Rangiriri followed in May 1864, and was fully built when launched.
 

[Eddy Matthews]

An extremely unusual boat Harold, I've never seen anything quite like it before... It should make into a superb model though!

The only problem I can foresee is the rudders - They don't have very much throw, or they would foul the sternwheel. It may make turning a rather leisurely business!

[Harold H. Duncan]

You could be right Eddie. The rudder throw is 35 degrees either side of straight ahead. From reports of the time the Rangiriri was not a popular boat to manage in the water, however she must have been not to bad as she managed to regularly navigate the Waipa River, which joins the Waikato at Ngaruawahia, and is very narrow and winding between step banks most of the time.

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's & welcome Harry D.....from the posting in your Photo Album...the PS Rangiriri elevation and stern end elevation views confirm that the rudder posts protrude upwards and above the deck level

Many vessels of this vintage had chain & linkages mounted above deck level to alter the rudder position/angle and with little difficulty you could achieve the same and mount/hide the rudder servo in the hull below the deck house

Further to this you could consider a slight   modification and mount the vertical axis of both rudder posts further outboard & hence increasing the swept rudder angle by say 10 degrees or to 85 degrees included angle  :luck

[Harold H. Duncan]

Hi, thanks for the suggestions. will keep them in mind as I construct. The rudders on the Rangiriri where operated from the enclosed wheelhouse when built but within a few months tillers where added to the tops of the rudder posts (must have been allowed for in the design) and steered from there for the rest of its life. I have assumed that they where linked by chain somehow. The original steering must have been below the deck, as you suggest by chains, so may replicate this and place the servo appropriately. The photo shows all thats left of the Hull. Iron work, no timber at all. Was originally an Iron hull timber reinforced. Upper and lower decks and deck beams all Kauri. The last of the timber disappeared in 1981/2.

[rayman]

Harry, the Rangiriri rudders were connected by a bar between the tillers which were just mounted on a simple mortice and tennon. There is a complete rudder in storage at W.A.M. Talk nice to Lynn Williams and she might let you have a look at it. Steering was very poor because they operated behind a heavy skeg and were in broken water. That old photo is believed to be at the commisariat stores, Cambridge, about where the Duke street bridge crosses the karapiro stream. Somewhere I have a drawing and dimensions of the rudder (good Australian hardwood too) I also have a scale drawing of Koheroa made by Simpson. (plan and El. with all dimensions.)

[rayman]

Harry, I think the wheel was 10' wide X 8' dia. and was certainly not feathering. Engines were 10" bore x 12" stroke 100 p.s.i. simple non codensing, 3 tons of bunkers = 2 1/2 days steaming

[Harold H. Duncan]

That information is most interesting. I would be most interested in seeing the Simpson drawings (dimensioned) of the Koheroa. And any other information and/or pictures.
Thats interesting re the non-feathering paddle wheels as historical documents of the time state that they where  and of 10ft wide x 6ft 3in width. Also the same documents state the engines as being 11 1/2 in dia x 2ft 3in stroke, direct acting 51 lb pressure non-condensing at 25 rpm. (Quoting James Stewart, the designer)
However the simpson sketches I have (from his diary & no dimensions) do not show the paddles as feathering, as does his sketch of the Pioneer which also had feathering paddlewheels.
These are the areas I need the help with. The construction of the hull, (from The Rangiriri Hulk) is fairly straight forward and simple engineering practice of the time. Iron shell, Timber reinforced. (ie Timber decks and beams)
The Rangiriri rudder I have measured and photographed, is in very good condition complete with all iron work. People have been most helpful although if the correct question is not asked, then valuable information is not forthcoming, and I dont always frame the questions in the right manner.

[Harold H. Duncan]

That information is most interesting. I would be most interested in seeing the Simpson drawings (dimensioned) of the Koheroa. And any other information and/or pictures.
Thats interesting re the non-feathering paddle wheels as historical documents of the time state that they where  and of 10ft wide x 6ft 3in width. Also the same documents state the engines as being 11 1/2 in dia x 2ft 3in stroke, direct acting 51 lb pressure non-condensing at 25 rpm. (Quoting James Stewart, the designer)
However the simpson sketches I have (from his diary & no dimensions) do not show the paddles as feathering, as does his sketch of the Pioneer which also had feathering paddlewheels.
These are the areas I need the help with. The construction of the hull, (from The Rangiriri Hulk) is fairly straight forward and simple engineering practice of the time. Iron shell, Timber reinforced. (ie Timber decks and beams)
The Rangiriri rudder I have measured and photographed, is in very good condition complete with all iron work. People have been most helpful although if the correct question is not asked, then valuable information is not forthcoming, and I dont always frame the questions in the right manner.