Interesting ($$$$$) rebuild and some neat shots in the diary. Quite a steamer!

http://www.btinternet.com/~Paddlers/PSWaverley/
lamontdc@adelphia.net

.For those who enjoy superlatives, the Waverley is the only paddle steamer in the world certified to carry her passengers in the open ocean rather than in sheltered waters.

She came about because the original Waverley was lost in World War II and the owners said to the A&G Ingles yard, "build us a replacement" in 1949!

Ted Miles

ted_miles@nps.gov

> Interesting ($$$$$) rebuild and some neat
> shots in the diary. Quite a steamer!

Dennis, nice find. Too bad she's not coal-fired anymore, otherwise she'd be perfect! ;-)

I lifted this passage from one of the info pages.

"Waverley is 239.6 feet long by 30.2 feet wide (excluding the paddle boxes) she has a draught of 6.5 feet. She has two funnels and is powered by the original triple expansion steam engine. The engine room has a viewing gallery along each side where you can watch the mighty engines turning. This is an original feature, paddle steamers have always been very proud of their engines and have usually provided such facilities. This dates right back to the days when steam propulsion of ships was the latest thing. Her boiler was originally coal fired but was converted to oil in 1957. By the late 1970s her boiler was at the end of its life and was very inefficient. It was replaced in the winter of 1980/81 with a modern unit greatly decreasing her fuel consumption".


SJHussar@aol.com

And to keep this thread railroad-related, the original owner was the London and North Eastern Railway (she was actually built in 1947, the year before the railways over there were nationalized). The Waverley is one of a handful of paddle steamers built in Britain in the years following World War II. Two of these postwar paddlers survive including the Waverley, the other is the Maid of the Loch on Loch Lomond, built as late as 1953! The Maid of the Loch is currently undergoing restoration (or at least fundraising in hopes of restoration), having been out of service since 1981.

A few other former railway paddle steamers that survive over there are:

Tattershall Castle (LNER, 1934) - former Humber River ferry now a floating pub in London.

Wingfield Castle (LNER, 1934) - sister to Tattershall Castle, now a museum in Hartlepool where she was built.

Lincoln Castle (LNER, 1941) - near-sister to Tattershall and Wingfield castles, now a floating pub and restaurant in Grimsby.

Ryde (Southern Railway, 1937) - Derelict at the Island Harbor Marina on the River Medina, Isle of Wight. She had previously been used as a pub/restaurant there under the name Ryde Queen. Info and photos of her can be found at the link below.

P.S. Ryde web site
rjenkins@railfan.net