Lincoln Castle....for sale

[Channel]

Very true . . . she would certainly be esier than getting another ex railway paddler out of her predicament!

Keep us updated Matt . . . I have a few contacts up that way ;-)

[monarch]

Now now Christopher, you don't want to get all moderated!!

But, yeah, much better proposition...it floats, the engines are complete and there is only about 700 grands worth of work to get it running on diesel hydraulic whilst it pays for it's own boilers.  I'm already thinking about a couple of nice Cochrane jobbies....there's a goovy quadruple pass design that's going at the mo!!

Matt

[PaddleWheel]

Hmm, I think you'd be taking on a huge liability, not an asset....

[monarch]

One word......Ryde!!

[monarch]

Right then, it seems that we have enough pocket money to get the old bird and moor it for a few years.   Difficulty comes with with reboilering and refitting the ship although I think funding for this could be quite easily got at and would make her wash her face finanically.

Our plan is to run the boat on diesel hydraulic and let the boat pay for her own boilers etc and let the hospitality space out as concessions...any thoughts?

NB: Still at the dreaming stage atm, but been there before with several other projects that have taken shape and been successful so far!!

[PaddleWheel]

...any thoughts?

Sound ambitious. Have you even thought about stuff like what sort of state the hull's in? Dry docking?

[monarch]

Got survey done, dry docking essential, replating essential.... and that's it structurally.

[MarkYoungIW]

From what I am aware of LC, when her sponsons were replaced after being cut into 3 parts and removed to slide her under the bridge in the first place, they were near enough just bolted back on in those 3 parts, so apart from removing an amount of panelling internally, I would imagine this is not as serious a job as it looks.

With regards to the plating, I would imagine its likely it would have originally been 1/4 inch at the most (not seen the plans, so cant confirm), so now I would guess there is probably only 3-4mm left in places plus I expect an amount of ferrocreting keeping the water out, so as Matt says, certainly some replating is going to be needed to done, and I would imagine the ultrasonics would show its more a case that very little will be left!!

I would guess anyone serious in buying her is looking at a couple of hundred thousand to put her back into a condition where she could be used as a static pub.  With regards to getting her back passenger carrying, it will be a big, but very worthwhile task.

Although I have not been to see her (although might do on a rainy day soon!), Lincoln Castle is reported to be in a  fairly intact state, so it is very important that she goes to a good home, which should leave us all thankful to her current owners for putting a token price on her, to hopefully ensure that this happens.  I believe I heard a whisper that the PSPS were in talks, guess we will wait and see.

[rjenkins]

As I understand it, the Humber ferries were quite heavily built compared to the average pleasure steamer.  They were designed to run in all weather and withstand frequent groundings on the shifting sandbars in the Humber estuary.  I don't recall the specs off the top of my head, but hull plating thicker than 1/4" seems pretty likely on these boats.  Though having said that, the Linc was a war baby, so she may have been built lighter than her older near-sisters.

[Walter Snowdon]

Lincoln Castle was built to the same basic design as PS Wingfield Castle which is preserved at Hartlepool, though built several years after the Wingfield.
About 3 years ago Wingfield castle was drydocked for hull inspection and it was found to be in remarkably good condition requiring omly minor repair and a repaints.  She has been repainted and an ongoing process of refitting is in place and is open to the public. A cafe on board is a good little earner and atracts a lot of visitors. The engines are intact and will turn over by electric drive. Her boiler room is intact though the boilers are shot. So, as the Lincoln castle is a younger ship there is plenty of hope for her, so lets be optimistic and give her every support. Regards, Walter.

[MarkYoungIW]

Totally agree with Walter, the long and the short of it is she needs everyones support.

Have just caught site of a survey done on her (2006), and pretty much like I suspected though, plating ranging 3.6mm-6.5mm thick, originally 3/16" and 1/4" inch thick, pin holing in plates allowing ingress of water which have been repaired by ferrocreting.  So the hull is certainly in need of attention.

As Len has pointed out though:-

In the 2009 autumn issue of PSPS ’ ‘Paddle Wheels’ Myra Alan (Chairman) reports as under:

PS Lincoln Castle
I am delighted to report that we have commenced discussions with the owner of the former Humber Ferry PS Lincoln Castle, with a view to securing a long term future for her. You may be aware that she has not been open as a pub and restaurant for some time. She remains in Grimsby for the time being. I hope to be able to report more in the near future

I believe there is movement on the PSPS front too, so lets hope so as it would be good to see her under their watchful eye.

[PaddleWheel]

I believe there is movement on the PSPS front too, so lets hope so as it would be good to see her under their watchful eye.

There is indeed, I'm going to try to get some more information out of someone...

[lenknight]

             As the Lincoln Castle, was built in war time years, it is more than likely that the steel used left a lot to be desired. At one period our loses with shipping was more than we could replace at the time (U-Boats) Ships were built to fill the gap, not to last, as most were to be lost within the year of launch anyway. Hence not much emphasis was put on to quality, as opposed to quantity.
This was borne out by the rebuild of the Medway Queen’s aft section (1947) after the war; as this part was remove when used as a minesweeper. Having taken her over in 1985 at Chatham, it was notice how this section had deteriorated compared to the rest, and continued to do more so. I am not talking about workmen ship; they can only work with the materials available.
All this is fact not fiction, if the Lincoln Castle was built at beginning of the war may have escaped this period, if not may be in a worse state than one may think (hull wise) lets hope not. Only dry docking will show this possibility.
Len Knight.

[mjt60a]

The book 'Paddle Steamers In Camera' by Allan T Condie, says about Lincoln Castle...
...a third vessel joined the two 1934 sisters (wingfield & tattershall castles) in 1940, but built by Inglis of Pointhouse. She was more conventional in layout with the funnel forward of the paddles and was engined by the Ailsa Co of Troon. She outlasted the other pair on account of her being somewhat lighter in build and less powerful, being unsuitable for winter or cruising work and spending much time at the layup berth....
I have no idea how accurate (or otherwise) this all as but assume he has researched the subject pretty thoroughly...

[MarkYoungIW]

Well, have been to see her, and yes, both plating and framework is very lightly built compared to others I have seen!!  Most of the struture looked in quite good condition, but as for everything below the waterline, its very debateable.  I think in all honesty it more than just replating that needs doing.

However, it should be and needs to be saved, so perhaps a more sensible option is to remain as a static exibit until it has earned some of the money to help itself.

I very much see a 'Maid of the Loch' scenario here.

As we know, a decent sonic survey runs on around the £15k mark now, so there is a lot of money needing spending even to continue as a static business.

With regards to moving her, the lifting bridge (The Corporation Road Bridge) was refurbished in 2000, and according to Fairfields documents (Fairfields being the company involved in the refurb), it is a legal requirement to be able to lift the bridge to let traffic through  (In fact it was last lifted on the 21/9/2009 for routine maintainance).  However, the bridge is narrow, so as we discussed, funnel, top of the bridge, masts, and sponsons would need removing.  Once this is done, not only would she get through the lifting bridge, she would also get under the A180 road bridge.  I cant imagine any of this going ahead though without wrecking insurance on the vessel, and getting that in her current condition, would certainly be a trick!!

I will sort out some photos, and post them up later.

I know that the PSPS are working on something though, so lets hope we hear from them soon.