Was thinkin i might strap on a wilesco , but maybe not

ozsteamdemon · Was thinkin i might strap on a wilesco , but maybe not

Hi all , i was given this unfinished 60" stern wheeler a while back , and for a brief time i considered rigging up a stand alone engine and making a boiler for it .......... i quickly realised , No-way without making a botch of it . It all needs to be done properly .
Maybe a job for when i retire .

Keith S

I have some pictures of the engine room and boiler of the "Klondike" sternwheeler, I posted some of them on the "favorite steam boat" thread a while ago. If you like, I can give you some pictures, and they might help you think of some ideas for the model. The real ones had a very primitive engine, which I think would be very easy to make a model of, sort of reminded me of a beam engine turned on its side. A port and starboard cylinder with a very long stroke and a con rod directly to the paddlewheel, with a locomotive style boiler right on the lower cargo deck under the funnel, with the smokebox aft and the firebox forward.

johnreid

That is a cool one, I bet it will be stunning once completed

ozsteamdemon

I dont have any plans or drawings but i think it was built for electric drive cos it has motor mounts for an electric motor but even that was never finished and i cannot see how it could be made to work .

My idea was gonna be to mount crank arms and eccentrics to the Paddle shaft .

But now that Keith mentions it , a horizontal type of beam engine set up would be the way to go .

A massive job , lots of research and lots of time would be needed . As i said earlier , a job best left for my retirement i`m thinkin .

Thanks for postin those pics Keith , i`ll have a look for your thread .

Keith S

Made for electric it may be, but those cavities outboard of the paddle shaft bearings look like they are meant to take a crank. I have some more pictures of the engine, but I'm a terrible photographer and I forgot to take pictures of the reversing mechanism and aft portion of the valve gear. It was not eccentric driven, it was more like the strange assortment of little rods and rockers you see on a beam engine. You could probably make one using copper tubes for cylinders, or hiding an oscillating cylinder inside a dummy cylinder like on some of the bowman engines. It's an interesting project. It could be the "SS Big Jim".

rangerssteamtoys

Its bild for steam, or at least a crank on the shaft. Its got a cut out for one.....

I see lots of things that you could do with it.

Les

That's nice and has plenty of possibilties.

mogogear

That will be a beast !! It is good to know your retired years are not to be spent watering the grass and playing domino's!