The branch will have its usual stand at Greenock's annual Model Rail Exhibition - held in the Town Hall on Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th November.
Opening times as follows:
Sat: 1000 - 1700
Sun: 1200 - 1700
A good mix of Branch Committee members and volunteers will be on the stand over the course of the weekend and there will be some different gift ideas for Christmas on sale along with Waverley, Maid of the Loch and PSPS Souvenirs.
After period of over a quarter of a century the statically-preserved paddle steamer Maid of the Loch has had her original profile restored with the addition of two new masts. As built in 1953 the ship had two full masts as was typical on the latter paddle steamers sailing on the nearby Firth of Clyde.
In the 1970s deterioration of the vessel's wooden mainmast (the aft mast) necessitated its removal on grounds of safety. For the remainder of her sailing days, up to her withdrawal from service in 1981, the loch paddler sailed with only her foremast. After her last sailing the ship suffered many years of dereliction and vandalism but from 1995 a gradual restoration has taken place under the direction of the Loch Lomond Steamship Company, a registered Scottish charity. As with the mainmast the ship's foremast had deteriorated and it had to be removed. For several years the Maid of the Loch has lain mastless at her berth by Balloch pier at the south end of Loch Lomond.
In 2007 the LLSC approached the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, a UK national charity, for a grant to restore the ship's original profile. Instead of fitting new wooden masts it was decided too follow the example of the restored paddle steamers of the Vierwaldstattersee (the Lake of Lucerne) in Switzerland. Therefore, two aluminium masts of suitable colour and size were ordered and fitted to the ship by a long reach 80 ton mobile crane on 9th July 2008 . The improvement in the ship's appearance was immediately apparent as seen in the pictures below. (Click on picture for higher resolution view)
PS Maid of the Loch at Balloch in January 2003 with no masts
(Picture: Stuart Cameron)
PS Maid of the Loch at Balloch in 2008 with two new masts (Picture: Helen Strachan)
Maid of the Loch currently operates as a static restaurant and heritage visitor centre. However, the Loch Lomond Steamship Company has plans to restore the vessel to operational service. Her original Compound expansion reciprocating steam engine is in good condition but her original Scotch boiler was removed several years ago so new boiler will be required before she can sail again. Some other modifications will also be required to comply with modern safety regulations.
In 2007 a major hindrance to the paddler's return to service was removed when the the steam-powered patent slip at Balloch, which is required to enable the ship to be taken out of the water for inspections and repairs, was restored to operational condition, thanks to a major grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
Maid of the Loch was built by A & J Inglis at their Pointhouse shipyard in Glasgow in 1953. As the ship was too large to access Loch Lomond via the River Leven the parts were dispatched by rail to Balloch and reassembled on the patent slipway adjacent to Balloch pier. The Balloch Patent Slip is believed to be the only remaining steam-operated ship repair slipway in Europe. The following video shows the restored steam engine that hauls the vessels out of the Loch.
The following YouTube video is a computer simulation of how the Maid of the Loch would look if restored to operation on the Loch
and this video is a simulation of the ship's steam engine, which was constructed by the firm of Rankin & Blackmore at their Eagle Foundry in Greenock:
Scotland's last two paddle steamers, WAVERLEY and MAID OF THE LOCH, share a common heritage in that they were both built by the firm of A & J Inglis Ltd at their Pointhouse shipyard on the River Kelvin near to its confluence with the River Clyde in Glasgow. The firm built about 500 ships in the 101 years that they were business at Pointhouse Shipyard. A significant proportion of the 500 ships built at Pointhouse were paddle steamers. It is thought that at least 6 Inglis-built paddle steamers are still in existence in 2008. These include the former Humber passenger and car ferry LINCOLN CASTLE at Goole and the paddle train ferries EXEQUIEL RAMOS MEJIA (http://www.histarmar.com.ar/BuquesMercantes/Ferrobarcos/Ferrobarcos-EzRamosMejia.htm) and ROQUESAENZ PENA (http://www.histarmar.com.ar/BuquesMercantes/Ferrobarcos/Ferrobarcos-RSaenzPenia.htm) in Argentina. Apart from WAVERLEY none of the surviving Inglis paddlers are operational.
In fact Inglis supplied a significant number of paddlers for the Argentine coastal and river fleets including some of the largest paddle steamers of their type ever built. One such vessel was the paddle steamer VIENA seen below (in a Robertson of Gourock picture) on the Clyde before departing for South America
VIENA was one of several large paddle steamers built on the Clyde for service in Argentina. principally from BuenosAires. Most of them were built by Denny of Dumbarton or Inglis at Pointhouse.
The VIENA was an Inglis product and was launched into the River Kelvin on 8th June 1906.
She was based on the Paddle Steamer PARIS that Inglis had built ten years earlier for MensajeriesFluvialesdelPlata (see http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=1911). However, VIENA was built for Nicolas Mihanovich's Argentine Navigation Company. Some sources state that Mihanovich's son Pedro was aboard the vessel when she ran trials in the Gareloch on 17 October 1906. It is stated that she attained 16.5 knots. She seems a bit big to have run trials on the Gareloch measured mile - the picture below looks to be off Gourock.
VIENA was about 330 feet long with a beam of about 40 feet. Her gross tonnage was 2376 and she had accommodation for 340 First Class passengers and 120 in Second Class. The vessel was powered by a triple expansion steam engine built in Inglis' own engine works.
A few years after building VIENA, Inglis used the same basic design when they supplied the two large paddlers CABO SANTA MARIA and CABOCORRIENTES for Hamburg Sud AmerikaDamfschiffarts in 1913. After WWI they were taken over by the Argentine Navigation Co and became GENERAL ARTIGAS and GENERAL ALVEAR respectively. VIENA was renamed WASHINGTON in 1915 (picture of VIENA as WASHINGTON).
Other large paddle steamers supplied by Inglis to the Argentine fleets about that time included the LAMBERE, BRUSELAS (http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=1965) and her sister BERNA.
VIENA as WASHINGTON passed through various ownerships but remained in service until 1960. After several years of lying derelict at Rocha, BuenosAires she sank in the basin on 3rd June 1967. The wreck was raised and scrapped by Satecna S. A. in 1981
About the same time that Inglis was supplying the paddlers to South America they also built the 1400 ton paddle steamer WEEROONA (below) for the Huddart Parker company's established excursion routes from Melbourne Australia. WEEROONA served with the US Navy during WWII and was owned subsequently by the Australian Government until scrapped in 1951.
The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS) is Britain's longest established, largest and most successful steamship preservation group. A registered charity founded in 1959, we have over 3000 members and through our associated charitable companies we operate the only two working paddle steamers in Great Britain. Without the PSPS there would no longer be the opportunity to sail on a Paddle Steamer in Great Britain.
Our aims i) to preserve paddle steamers in sailing condition ii) to educate the public in the historic significance of paddle steamers in the Nation's maritime and industrial heritage iii) to acquire, preserve and exhibit a collection of equipment and material associated with paddle steamers.
Our Ships
Flagship of our fleet is Waverley the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1947 Waverley was gifted to the Society for just £1. As well as operating on her native Clyde each summer she visits other coastal areas around the UK during the spring and autumn each year.
Kingswear Castle is Britain's only operational coal-fired paddle steamer. Built in 1924 to sail on the River Dart she was purchased by the Society in 1967. From 1985 until 2012 she sailed the Thames and Medway. In 2013 Kingswear Castle returned to the Dart where she now operates public sailings during the summer season.
The society is composed of five branches: Scottish, London & Home Counties, Bristol Channel, Wessex & Dart and North England - all of which help raise money to keep our paddle steamers sailing.
The Scottish Branch
The Scottish Branch was formed in 1969 by Douglas McGowan, now our Honorary Branch President. In November 1973 Douglas was invited to attend a meeting with CalMac which resulted in Paddle Steamer Waverley being gifted to the PSPS for £1! It was then on 8th August 1974 that the PSPS took ownership of the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world and her second career in preservation had begun. Since 1974 the Scottish Branch has been directly linked to supporting Waverley.
The Scottish Branch is proud of its achievements. We are an active and forward thinking branch with a thriving membership of over 800 - we are proud to be the branch which secured an operational future for Waverley. Our members are regularly involved with voluntary work which helps ensure Waverley continues to sail. During the summer sailing season we help raise funds through the Society's Grand Draw and our annual fundraising cruise on Waverley. The Branch meets in Glasgow each month during the non-sailing season (October - April) and we extend an invitation to join the Society and indeed join the Scottish Branch.
