Topic starter
11/01/2016 9:25 pm
Hello everyone. Im a model builder that has a passion for steamboats. My new project is of the sternwheel towboat Marion built in 1895 for the US engineers for upper Miss channel maintanence. My question is when dimensions are given for sternwheelers is it the size of the hull only or does that include the wheel also. Any info or pics of this boat would be a great help.
11/01/2016 10:43 pm
Hi, Mike. Generally, the hull size given in documentation is for the hull only, not including the wheel. To further complicate matters, any "guard" or overhang of the main deck wider than the hull is also not reflected in this documented width.
John Fryant, model builder extraordinaire, is a sometime poster to this board and may have some tips for you. I also highly recommend the "Steamboat Cyclopaedium" by Alan Bates, possibly available from Howard Steamboat Museum at Jeffersonville, IN. John Fryant also authors a quarterly column in the S&D REFLECTOR entitled "Small Stacks", devoted to steamboat model building. Good luck!
Topic starter
12/01/2016 2:19 am
Thank you for the info Bob. Could anyone tell me if the Marion is in Ways towboat directory?
12/01/2016 1:37 pm
*RE: Str. MARION of 1895/Model building*
Morning, Mike and Steamboating colleagues,
Yes, indeed your MARION of 1895 appears in WAY'S STEAMBOAT DIRECTORY.' Pg. 156 of his directory list three vessels named MARION [One the MARION S.].
Your MARION of 1895 has a short, concise entry on Pg. 156, Entry No. T1722:
"Stw. tb [tow boat] 1895-1931 built Keokuk IA, 93 X 18 X 3. Belonged to USE, Rock Island, on the upper Mississippi until they sold her on May 29, 1931 to W.A. Cooley of Chicago, IL for $600. She was the first boat through the Hennepin Canal, arriving at Rock Island, IL jon November 15, 1907." END.
No doubt others on this web from up in those waters may know more or have photos. The ending cost of $600 in 1931 caught my attention. No idea but I suspect the MARION was possibly in pretty poor condition. The year 1931 also in those horrible early years of the Great Depression when much went BUST with many boats/ships being sold, retired, broken up due to financial stress. I totally agree with Bob Reynolds in his help to you above to consult with John Fryant, find a copy of the book by Alan Bates. Keep us posted on what you find and the progress of your project. Good luck!
R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati
12/01/2016 1:40 pm
Mike: Yes the Marion is in Ways Towboat Directory. Also lots of good pictures on the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse site. Boat was famous as first thru the Hennepin Canal. As to length its the hull only and then only from the stem to the rudder posts, that was the way in the old days.
Topic starter
02/04/2016 5:28 pm
Here are some pics of the model so far.
06/04/2016 2:56 am
That's so cool - I want one too! 🙂