Big paddlers

[Dallinson]

Hi there
Further to Woodburner's comments regarding Christian and his terrific work
on the Great Eastern and references to some American paddlers......my
twopennyworth......
I recently got my hands on a second hand copy of "Paddle Steamers" by
Bernard Cox. (Buy it if you see it, great reading. ISBN 0 7137 0924 3) There
are lots and lots of super pictures of paddlers from around the world,
amongst them is one of the "Commonwealth" built for the Falls River Line in
1908 in Philadelphia, she was 455 feet long and had engines developing
11,000 HP!!! Now those paddles must have really churned up some water when
they were running!!! The piston stroke was no less than 9 feet 6 inches!!
She is a majestic looking ship and would make a great model beside the Great
Eastern!! If you like cutting out little square windows, then this is
definitely the one for you!!! She carried over 1500 passengers. She
operated until 1937 when she was scrapped in Baltimore. She had an earlier,
slightly smaller, sister ship called the Priscilla, she was only 5,292 tons
with 8,500 horsepower. Not quite so many windows as the Commonwealth!!
Anyone contemplating what model to build should definitely have a browse
through this book, full of great ideas. They range from special take apart
paddlers built in the very early days to explore the Nile, to lake steamers
such as the Hjejlen in Denmark, and Mississippi stern wheelers. The list is
endless!!

In response to Gunner Dave Davis. I have a reference, but no picture, to a
ship called the "Commodore" but I think it must be another one, as it
belonged to the Royal Steam Packet Company. No other references, sorry.

Progress on my clinker built 1850s tug "Scotia" is still very much in the
learning stage!! I reckoned that the counter stern, which looks so elegant
in the plans, would be rather tricky to build, so I have been experimenting
with planking only the back 8 inches or so. It is not easy, but I think I am
getting the hang of it, slowly!! In the next month or so I hope to begin
planking the hull for real!! (I got nowhere with steaming and have been
using 25% ammonia with warm water). The final part of the counter, past the
stern post, will be basically solid, then carved to the best shape I can
manage!! To build it like a real one seems to be a quite impossible task.
Certainly for me anyway!! It will be a working model with a separate drive
to each paddle. It is 34" long with a beam of just 5".

All the best from sunny Spain.
David

[woodburner]

The Commonwealth and Priscilla were incredably popular vessels as well, esp in an era when overnight boats still had an advantage over railroads in terms of comfort. The Fall River Line named its vessels with Mayflower connotations, attracting the old blue bloods, at least in theory - Pilgrim, Puritan, Priscilla (after Priscilla Alden, the femme fatale of Plymouth) and so on. But Priscilla's interiors were hardly puritan - a two deck North Italian Rennassance fantasy by Boston's leading architects. These vessels departed from the traditional lines in favor of a propeller look, with concealed paddles, stacks lined up fore and aft, and so on.

My own great grandparents were ardent night boat people; taking the propellers Harvard and Yale between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the '20s.

Jim