New member, with a passion for Gators

[Chris Andersen]

Hi:

At Paul's courteous invitation (thank you, Paul) I have taken the
liberty of joining this group because of your interest in
paddlewheelers in general and my passion for Alligators (steam
warping tugs), which I've been researching for several years.

By way of personal introduction, I'm an archaeologist by profession,
an historian by training, and a model-builder by avocation. I'm very
interested in the history of transportation in Ontario, including
railways, boats and ships, and I'm currently working on "Ontario's
Marine Heritage", an Edu-Kit for use in the schools, for the Ministry
of Culture. (One or two of you may have caught my fleeting appearance
last year on the History Channel's programme about "The Great
Farini", on which I spoke about the ultimate paddlewheeler,
Knapp's "Roller Boat", yet another one of my research interests. -
Ooh, I can just about hear you all shouting, "What the heck is
that???"). I'm also very interested in the social and technological
aspects of the Ontario logging industry in the 19th century. (For the
past several years I have been involved in archaeological excavations
at a logging "depot farm" in Algonquin Park.) As a modeller, I'm
interested in model railways, and in historical small craft.

I confess to NOT yet being very accomplished as a model boat builder
(nice square boxcars are a great deal easier to build!), though I
have built a viking ship (Billings kit), a colonial bateau
(from scratch), a Pilot Boat (Model Shipways kit), an 1812 gunboat
(Artesania Latina kit), a Lake Muskoka steam launch (scratch), as
well as a few others. I've also scratchbuilt several alligator models
in HO-scale, but I could sure use some help in building the teeny-
tiny paddlewheels (8 or 9' dia.) in that scale (1:87.1). Given that I
don't have access to photoetching facilities, and that I'm
notoriously inept with a soldering iron, I need all the help I can
get!

I'm hoping to have an article on the West & Peachey Alligators appear
in either Railroad Model Craftsman or the Narrow Gauge and Short Line
Gazette some time next year. I did have a very small website about
them, but I've pulled it down (temporarily) for revamping. I'll let
you all know when I have it back up again (with many more pics!).

So far I've managed to collect about 40 pictures of various 'gators
in various poses, at work and at play (so to speak), but I'm always
looking for more, as well as any other info on the subject that might
be out there. Almost all of the pictures I have are from Ontario but
many West & Peachey 'gators went to Quebec, and some entered service
in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, British Columbia, Minnesota,
Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, and even Columbia, South
America. At least one original W & P Alligator was still in service
in the 1960s, and variations of the warping tug, still called
"alligators", are being built and used in the logging industry today.
Reconstructed Alligators can be seen at the Algonquin Park Logging
Museum, at Wakami Lake Provincial Park, and at the Eva Brook Donnelly
Museum in Simcoe, Ontario.

Anyway, I'll be happy to share my knowledge, such as it is, with
anyone who's interested, and I'll look to everyone here for help
answering my questions. I look forward to meeting you all on-line.

Chris J.-Andersen
Ajax, Ontario

[Alistair Deayton]

Well, you have a nice paddle-steamer in Toronto, the TRILLIUM, which is
rather neglected by enthusiasts, and a lovely former paddle steamer on the
Muskoka Lakes, SEGWUN, ex NIPISSING.

Alistair Deayton

[Chris Andersen]

Aye, right you are. The Trillium is, I believe, now only used for (very expensive, corporate-type) charters. I have been fortunate enough to tour through her many times, both before she was restored and since. The Segwun (last of the Royal Mail steamers) is a truly elegant ship, the dining room (and menu) are not to be believed! There is nothing finer than an evening dinner cruise on Lake Muskoka on board that very fine old lady.

BTW: Do you folks know about the 2 volume set "The Steamboat Era in the Muskokas" by Richard Tatley (Stoddart/Boston Mills)? (He also wrote "Northern Steamboats: Timiskaming, Nipissing & Abitibi".) These profusely illustrated volumes are well worth the price, but if you buy them you will almost certainly want to get the companion video, which has some wonderful footage of the Segwun in her glory days.

Chris Andersen

[Paulrjordan]

Thank you Alistair and Chris for reminding me of "Trillium". I used
to live on Toronto Island in the very early 70's and climbed all over
the vessel as she lay languising in a lagoon at Hanlan's Point.

It was indeed a fine day when she was brought back into service in
the mid 70's and I often sailed alongside her during her trials
in the Harbour.

She had a very distinctive whistle and I can't imagine why I had
forgotten her..it was probably because since all her Toronto Island
Ferry counterparts were screw driven, I associated her being the same.

I am going to open a Paddlducks file for her and someday someone
might like to try making an operating model of her. She is really
rather unique, very "Toronto" and would make a spectacular R/C
project!

And talking of vessels which scream out "I AM CANADIAN" nothing could
say it louder than the remarkable 'Alligator' warping tugs made by
West and Peachey which you have heard me refer to in this forum. (do
a search in our messages for "alligator")

I was so pleased when I finally tracked down the "Gator Guru " of
Canada (the world?) and I'd like to welcome Chris Anderson very warmly
to Paddleducks. You'll already find images of gators and some
text material in a folder I created a couple of months ago which can
be found at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Paddleducks/files/

See "THE ALLIGATOR" WARPING TUGS of CANADA (5 files)

Chris is also a model railroader (like so many of us here) and is an
avid researcher of 'Gators. We also have an expert in our Victoria
(BC) Club who I've been in contact with and is going to give me plans
of models he has built. I would love to see more about these "ugly
little critturs" as Chris calls them and he eventually plans a
website devoted to them. You can be sure there'll be a big link to it
from "Paddleducks."

Chris, if you have any images or text material you'd like to post in
our archives, please feel free to do so.

Again welcome to Paddleducks, and I look forward to hearing lots more
from you about Gators and other Canadian paddlers..it's amazing what
we're learning here.

Regards PJ

PS..While you're visiting our archives, click on
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Paddleducks/links/ and take a look at:

Bookmarks > PADDLE SHIP RESEARCH CENTRE (3 folders)PADDLEWHEELERS OF
AUSTRALIA
This is our Oz group's contribution of the remarkable collection of
preserved paddlers on the Murray River in Australia. Well worth
looking at, since some of them are approximately the same proportions
as the Canadian 'Gators.

[Alistair Deayton]

I was Toronto in 1997, went on board her and got talking to the captain. He
said she was going out the follwoing noght on a charter to the fireworks,
and although we had gone on to Niagara, we drove back to Toronto for the
eveniong cruise, stayed up on the top deck out of view of all the revellers.

Alistair