Japan: fake paddleboat near Kyoto

[Roderick Smith]

I was alerted to this by a theatre mailing list.

Australian Tracey Miller is performing with her bluegrass band on a paddlesteamer close to Kyoto in Japan.  See:
* www.kyoto-np.co.jp/kp/topics/eng/2006apr/04-01.html (photo, and details of the operation)
* www.myspace.com/traceymillerandthesunbeams (the band, with one photo looking out of the boat).

The theatre group described the waterway as a lake.
The website calls it both Seta River and Setagawa River, and states that 2006 was the third year of service.  [perhaps gawa means river?  It occurs in a lot of place names, and is one of the kanji characters which I can read in a timetable and on signs].

It was modelled on a paddlesteamer.

Wednesday update: as advised below, it is a fake PV.

In the Preserved thread, the topic MV Paradise Queen evolved into a discussion on fake paddleboats.  I included my photo of fake PV Lady Stelfox, but the angle didn't show the decorative side paddles (I've now added one from a website).  I've also added fake SWPV Brisbane Paddlewheeler,  bypassed carefully when I posted a photo of the Kookaburra Queens onto page 1 of APAM LOP (Research thread).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[anth]

it's  a fake ...!
The cosmetics might be based on a paddle boat but those paddle's would do nothing on a boat that size.....I would say there's a big prop under those paddle faring lines :wink:

[mjt60a]

Reminds me of Yarmouth Belle - but a double deck version  

[AlistairD]

 
Does Yamouth Belle actually have    paddles under these housings?
   Â 
   Alistair
   

Reminds me of Yarmouth Belle - but a double deck    version



     
Posted by Mick.
(.....gonna need a bigger boat.....)


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[Channel]

Very basic paddles that don;t look all that convincing - http://www.turks.co.uk/fleet2.htm

Chris

[Roderick Smith]

Turk's site quotes Yarmouth Belle as MV, not as PV.
However, the site also has Mississippi style New Southern Belle with no identification.  It could be genuine SWPV, or it could be fake.
The other four boats are definitely MV or ML (is there a distinction?).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[AlistairD]

I would define a launch (ML) as single-decked,  without a deck cabin normally
 Â 
 Alistair
 

  ----- Original Message -----
   From:    Roderick Smith (research@paddleducks.co.uk)
   To: research@paddleducks.co.uk (research@paddleducks.co.uk)
   Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 7:22    AM
   Subject: RE: Japan: fake paddleboat near    Kyoto
   

   
Turk's site quotes Yarmouth Belle as MV, not as    PV.
However, the site also has Mississippi style New Southern Belle with no    identification. It could be genuine SWPV, or it could be fake.
The other    four boats are definitely MV or ML (is there a    distinction?).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria    Editor



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[zubi]

The website calls it both Seta River and Setagawa River, and states that 2006 was the third year of service.  [perhaps gawa means river?  It occurs in a lot of place names, and is one of the kanji characters which I can read in a timetable and on signs].

Roderick, yes, 'gawa' sometimes written as 'kawa' mean river in Japanese. Best wishes from Tokyo, Zubi

[Roderick Smith]

Here are some finds from googling.  Three japanese paddleboats are in this list: one with a good photo, one with a poor photo, and one which I can't get to open.

* Lake Ashinoko: one in Mississippi gingerbread style:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/59779697cewZYO?start=12

* www.clydewaterfront.com/Fileaccess.aspx?id=1687: A Jan.07 article on the surviving shipbuilding at Scotstoun and Govan, with a good map.  It came up because liner 'Empress of Japan' and paddlesteamer Jennie Deans had been built there.

* The Wikipedia article on paddle steamers (because it has a woodcut of a paddlesteamer in Admiral Perry's fleet); it also has PS Waverley and SWPS Natchez photos to ensure broad international appeal.

* http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-HTTP%253A%252F%252FCAS.AWM.GOV.AU%252FPROD%252FGL.ACCEPT_LOGIN%253FSCREEN_NAME%253DCAS_SEARCH_PKG.PR_SEARCH_BY_LINK%2526SCREEN_PARMS%253DACID%257EPS_QUERY_TYPE%253DACCNUM%257EPS_QUERY%253D123048%257EPS_REFERRER%253DOAI%253AAWM%253A280143%252F788072%2526SCREEN_TYPE%253DBOTTOM
PS Ulonga carrying Japanese prisoners of war to an internment camp in SA.

* www.maritimematters.com/preserv.html: a good list of preserved ships around the world (including many dear to this forum's heart), with links to websites for those which have them.  A red herring: no Japanese paddlesteamer is in the list.

* www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japsh-a/azuma.htm: PS Kasuga (I haven't got the link to work yet).

http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-HTTP%253A%252F%252FCAS.AWM.GOV.AU%252FPROD%252FGL.ACCEPT_LOGIN%253FSCREEN_NAME%253DCAS_SEARCH_PKG.PR_SEARCH_BY_LINK%2526SCREEN_PARMS%253DACID%257EPS_QUERY_TYPE%253DACCNUM%257EPS_QUERY%253DP02491.134%257EPS_REFERRER%253DOAI%253AAWM%253A343225%252F790857%2526SCREEN_TYPE%253DBOTTOM
Japanese PS Maha ablaze after an attack by a Beaufort bomber during WWII (only smoke is visible).


It is great having a contact in Japan: Zubi, can you supply the names of any more which you know?

Regards,
Roderick Smith

[mjt60a]

....the site also has Mississippi style New Southern Belle with no identification.  It could be genuine SWPV, or it could be fake....

I believe it has props just in front of the sternwheel, like 'Elizabethan' does, looking at how it turns too slowly and produces no 'froth'...
see 'New Southern Belle' in action (briefly) HERE - if you can stand the music, that is  :?

[Roderick Smith]

Oh Boy! (USA readers); Bai George! (UK readers).  It is amazing where a simple Paddleducks thread can reach.
The visuals are great: simply turn your speakers off.
Top marks to the producers for choosing an effective readily-available resource.  The costuming and characters were great, and there were so many.  In which year was the video clip made?

We do live in age when vocals are so indecipherable, and purchasers are so illiterate, that a song has to be accompanied with a video clip or the customers won't have anything to understand.  Give this performer credit, his words were sung with clarity, even if a bit repetitive.

Hopefully Paddleducks has some London members who can make a special visit to the upper Thames (do take survival rations, but it isn't as remote or life-threatening as se Asia) to add more photos, a video sequence, and confirmation of the hypothesis that it is MV (ie fake SWPV).

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[mjt60a]

the only other music video I know of that uses a paddler (very briefly) is The Circus by Erasure at about the 3 minutes point, you can see amongst the grainy pictures of things 'progress' has consigned to the history books, what appears to be Lincoln Castle - just for about four seconds...

[thewharfonline]

Does the song 'Proud Mary' which is clearly about a paddle steamer not have a paddle steamer in the clip?

I shall check.

Meanwhile I saw a hint of paddlewheels in the Boy George clip...the rest of it was a bunch of "taboo". I think only Roderick will get that...however even he might not.

[RDUNC]

There is also the "Proud Mary" - now renamed "Expedition",
On the River Murray at Murray Bridge.

 The vessel, MV Expedition (formerly MV Proud Mary), was built in Berri, South Australia in 1982.
The MV Expedition was purpose built with a shallow draft, allowing the vessel to safely navigate shallow sections of the river.
The style of the vessel was taken from the Mississippi river cruisers.

The stern wheel just twitches occasionally....they didnt even bother to make
it look realistic by providing any sort of drive.

(www.totalluxuryaustralia.com.au/209/)

Cheers
Rob

[Roderick Smith]

There are two Disneylands serving Tokyo, both in the same area, around the bay.
One is a conventional Disneyland; the other is Sea Disneyland.

I enclose a photo of a paddleboat lookalike, taken in Feb.08 by my friend Tom Pacy, and posted in his travelblog.

I suspect that, like most Disney boats, it runs on rails under the surface.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor