The paddle steamer Canally was built in 1907 in Koondrook near Echuca, Victora, as a barge.
The Ps Canally in 1923, Photo from Ps Canally port of morgan facebook page
In 1912, she was fitted with a steam locomotive engine and operated for the first 10 years of her life working in the wool and logging trade from Echuca to Murrumbidgee river. Sometime after this she was moved into south Australian waters, trading dried fruit between Berri and Morgan.
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In the 1920s, she was as a work boat for the construction of the Murray river wier and lock system. In 1925 ownership was taken the Ministry of Public Works NSW. Five years later she would be back again in private hands working in the area around Euston region.
The 1940s would see her machinery stripped and her return of being a barge, used to carry firewood for the Victorian railways. Due to the fire and subucant sinking of her tow veshal the paddle steamer Hero in 1957, She was left tied to a landing at boundary bend and due to neglect. She would eventually sink at her moorings.
1998 would come around and a group of volunteers from the Rivers and Riverboat Historical and Preservation Society would raise the Canally. Tony Lyons was a part of the effete to rise her, he told the ABC in 2026: "There was a bit of a battle because there were four portholes we didn't know, so we got it so far up, put the pumps in and of course, we just couldn't stop the water," he said
Photo of her being raised in 1998, Photo from Ps Canally port of morgan facebook page
In 2010 the Mid Murray Council took ownership of the boat and in 2011 she settled in her new home at the Port of Morgan. for the next 15 years with 4,500 volunteer hours and 1.5 million dollars to restore her to her former glory.
Photo of her being towed in 2011, Photo from Ps Canally port of morgan facebook page
The Living River Festival that happed on the 30th to the 31st of may 2026, dubbed as the Ps Canallys recommissioning. She was not alone for the festival as the PS Marion, PS Oscar W and privately owned paddle steamers and paddle vessels - The Curlew, the tiny Avalon, the Daisy, the Jumbuck, and the Kulkyne, all joined in the festivities.
Photo of her from may 2026, Photo from Ps Canally port of morgan facebook page
Links to some intersting photos and videos from the Ps Canally port of morgan facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=166439280090590&set=pb.100070372546469.-2207520000 - canally as a barge in 1907
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=100070372546469&set=a.167243923343459 - for photos of the canally in the river sunk
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=100070372546469&set=a.166441740090344 - for photos of her being raised
Saturday 1st October 2011 the PS CANALLY arrived at Morgan in very windy conditions
Thanks to John Peters for the video
Links for information:
PS Canally Port of Morgan, Morgan. 1,958 likes · 1,295 talking about this · 13 were here. PS Canally is a paddleboat being restored in Morga
Historic paddle-steamer PS Canally returns to working life with love from volunteers - ABC News
Murray River paddle steamer PS Canally makes first voyage in 81 years - ABC News
As the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald is on the 10th of November, I wanted to pay tribute to the 29 lives lost in the tragic sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
The Edmund Fitzgerald, 1971 restored unknown author
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The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin contracted the Great Lakes Engineering Works (GLEW), in River Rouge, Michigan, to design and construct the ship in 1957. The ship's value at that time was $7 million. (about $59.6 million today)
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the first laker built to the maximum St. Lawrence Seaway size, which was 222.5 m (730 feet) long, 22.9m (75 feet) wide, and with a 7.6m (25 foot) draft. The moulded depth (the vertical height of the hull) was 12m (39 ft). The hold depth (the inside height of the cargo hold) was 10.16 m (33 ft 4 in)
For 17 years, the Fitzgerald carried taconite (a type of iron ore) from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Michigan, Toledo, Ohio and other Great Lakes ports. As a workhorse, she set seasonal haul records six times, often breaking her own record.
Image by R. LeLievre, date unknown
The captain on her final voyage was Ernest M. McSorley, and on board were 28 other men. at 2:20pm November 9th, 1975, she would leave Superior, Wisconsin, en route of Detroit with 26,116 tons of taconite pellets on board. 19 minutes later at 2:39pm the National Weather Service issues gale warnings for the area, Captain Cooper on the SS Arthur M. Anderson makes radios the Fitzgerald around this time, as the Anderson had spotted the Fitzgerald 15 miles ahead.
At 7am on the next morning (10th of November), the Fitzgerald would make her last weather report, its states: Winds are at 35 knots, waves of ten feet. at around 3:30pm, the Fitzgerald radioed the Anderson to let her know that the Fitzgerald was taking on water and had lost two vent covers, a fence railing and had also developed a list. 70 minutes would pass before the Fitzgerald got back into contacted with the Anderson to request radar assistance for the remainder of the voyage, has both radars on board had been lost.
date unknown, believed to been taken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers
At around 7:10 pm, the last transmission from the Fitzgerald would happen, the Anderson who was 10 miles behind had contacted the Fitzgerald to let her know about a ship 19 miles ahead of her, which was 9 miles ahead of the Fitzgerald. the last words from the Fitzgerald where: "We are holding our own", when asked how their were doing with their problems.
at 7:15pm the Fitzgerald entered a squall obscures her from the Anderson, 5 minutes later the Fitzgerald disappears from the radar, Captain Cooper of the Anderson would spend the next 19 minutes trying to contact the coast guard about the Fitzgerald, but it wouldn't be until around 9pm the Fitzgerald would get reported missing.
The initial search for survivors was carried out by Arthur M. Anderson, and a second freighter, SS William Clay Ford. A proper search wouldn't start until 10:53 pm that night due to the Traverse City, Michigan us coast guard's Grumman HU-16 Albatross arriving on scene.
The Fitzgerald is believed sometime between 7:20 and 7:30pm the Fitzgerald sunk, taking the lives of all 29 men on abord.
The Crew:
Ernest McSorley, John McCarthy, James Pratt ,Michael Armagost, Frederick Beetcher, Thomas Bentsen, Edward Bindon, Thomas Borgeson, Oliver Champeau, Nolan Church, Ransom Cundy, Thomas Edwards, Russell Haskell, George Holl, Bruce Hudson, Allen Kalmon, Gordon MacLellan, Joseph Mazes, Eugene O'Brien, Karl Peckol, John Poviach, Robert Rafferty, Paul Riippa, John Simmons, William Spengler, Mark Thomas, Ralph Walton, David Weiss and Blaine Wilhelm.
a news report from the 11th of November 1975
Further reading and videos about the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online
The Lake That Never Gives Up Her Dead by Caitlin Doughty on YouTube
Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald (Official Audio)
Archaeologists Investigate The Sunken Wreckage of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
The Storm that Sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald | Teaching Great Lakes Science
Talyllyn is a narrow gauge steam locomotives, built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co in 1864. The Talyllyn Railway had ordered Talyllyn along side Dolgoch for the opening of the railway in 1865
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Talyllyn was built to the company's C Class design, but it was the first member of its class to be built in a gauge less than 813mm (2 ft 8 in). Originally built with a whyte of 0-4-0ST. Early tests show that Talyllyn was moving unsatisfactory, so Talyllyn was sent back to be rebuilt to have a whyte of 0-4-2ST. Due to this the railways gauge was increased to between 698 mm (2 ft 3.5 in) and 710 mm (2 ft 4 in). A new cab was also fitted at the railways workshop at Pendre railway station.
Talyllyn in red, date unknown
Talyllyn returned to Fletcher, Jennings & Co around 1900 for an unknown reason. A new set of frames from W. G. Bagnall's were fitted around this time. Repairs and alterations ware done over the years at the Pendre workshop, these included the fitting of a footplate at the front of Talyllyn, a sandbox and alterations to the cab.
Talyllyn remained in service for most of the original railway's existence, but by the 2nd world war, Talyllyn had fallen into a very bad state of repair, as Talyllyn was the most popular of the 2 engines used by the railway and had been used the most frequently. Talyllyn retired in 1945 when the boiler and firebox were found to be beyond further repair, at the time Talyllyn still had its original 1864 boiler.
After the rescue of the Talyllyn Railway in 1951 by the newly formed Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society, Talyllyn was inspected and found to be too costly to be repair at the time. However, due to the railways financial situation improving, in 1957 Talyllyn was sent away to the Gibbons Brothers' Brierley Hill engineering works at Lenches Bridge in Pensnett for a complete renewal. A new boiler, saddletank and bunker were built and Talyllyn returned to service in 1958.
Talyllyn in the Great Eastern Railway inspired blue livery, photo taken in 2024
Talyllyn was taken out of service back in 2018 for a 6-year overhaul which finished in may of 2024 and is currently painted in a Great Eastern Railway inspired blue livery. Talyllyn still is run by the Talyllyn railway alongside 9 other locomotive, 5 other steam engines and 4 diesel engines.
In 1952, The Reverend Wilbert Awdry volunteered at the Talyllyn, the railway inspiring Awdry to create the Skarloey Railway in the Railway Series, which introduce the character Skarloey, who was based on Talyllyn.
all photos are from the Talyllyn railway.
No.1 ‘Talyllyn’ – Talyllyn Railway
Talyllyn Railway – Steam railway in Snowdonia
videos of the Talyllyn:
Talyllyn Railway - YouTube
160 Year Old Steam Locomotive! - Engine Stories: Talyllyn Revisted
JNR Class D51 200 in Yamaguchi by semihiro51 on DeviantArt
The JNR Class D51 is a class of 2-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the Japanese Government Railways (JGR) and later on by the Japanese National Railways (JNR). There were 3 different types of the D51 the early type (1936–1937), standard type (1937–1944) and wartime type (1944–1945).
Designed by JGR's cheaf mechanical engineer Hideo Shima, they were built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Rolling Stock Company, Kisha Seizo, Hitachi, Nippon Sharyo, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and JGR's factories from 1936 to 1945. Hideo Shima described the class as one of his most satisfying designs. The production of the class resulted in 1115 built for Japan, 37 for Taiwan, 10 for the Philippines, 2 for Korea and 30 for the Soviet Union.
JNR Class D51 2-8-2 by OptimusHunter29 on DeviantArt
Following the great depression in 1929, Japan's rail freight industry declined, this delayed plans for a new class of freight locomotives. The plan was for this new class of locomotives to be the successors to the class D50.
The class was based on the earlier Class D50, with which it shares many design elements such as its boiler and 2-8-2-wheel arrangement. the class is divided into three types based on the build period and design changes, these are:
the early type: built from 1937 to 1944, numbers 1 to 85 and 91 to 100 were built.
the standard type; built from 1937 to 1944, numbers 86 to 90 and 101 10 954 were built.
the wartime type; built from 1944 to 1945, numbers 1001 to 1161 were built.
Two locomotives, numbers 22 and 23, had an extended casing reaching the cab and were known as "Super Slug" or "Big Slug."
A total of 174 are preserved in Japan, including five in operational order. 13 are preserved in Russia and Taiwan, making the total number of preserved to 187.
Videos of the class running:
Japanese Steam Locomotive SL D51 498 Running in Iwate Japan 2012 蒸気機関車 岩手観光
In Thomas and friends, hero is based on the class. in Transformers the Decepticon Astrotrain has one of his alt modes based on this class.
Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company No.1 with Mixed Train, at Deniliquin on the Opening Day, 4 July 1876.
The Victorian Railways T class, they were built from 1874 to 1885. The class started with 2 pattern engines from Beyer, Peacock & Co. in Manchester, England. Theses 2 engines where a passenger type 2-4-0, and a goods type 0-6-0, they become Victorian Railway’s (VR) numbers 98 and 125. No more of the classes where order from Beyer, Peacock & Co. by VR. The class in total had 23 engines.
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But the newly formed Deniliquin and Moama Railway Company (D&MR) order 2 of the goods class in 1875 and D&MR would order 2 more in the next 2 years. The 4 engines owned by D&MR would get larger timber cabins for crew comfort and given tenders with 6 wheels. They were fired by the local redgum instead of coal. D&MR was apparently fitted with a diamond shaped funnel with a screen in it to help reduce the chance of fires starting from the cinders.
A decade later would see Solomon Mirls the newly appointed locomotive superintendent of VR, suggesting that 18 more engines based on the design of No.125 with modifications. Phoenix foundry in Ballarat, Australia was appointed the contract for the class. Theses engines were given the odd numbers from 249 to 283, from 1884-1885. The class was given the classification of the T class. The class looked like the 4 the D&MR ran.
class T no.94 built as No.265, Newport Railway Museum unknown date.
Between 1901 and 1906, all of engines of both the T and F classes, except class T No.281, were reboilered with a new design incorporating Ramsbottom safety valves and a boiler pressure of 160 psi (1,100 kPa) increased from 130 psi (900 kPa).
The engines were withdrawn from 1915 to 1953, as newer engines were taking their places. 5 where scrapped in 1916, Two were sold; No.279 in 1915 to Baxter & Saddler for track construction in South Australia and No.267 in 1921 to the Kerang and Koondrook Tramway. On the Kerang and Koondrook Tramway, No.267 was unofficially named "Bucking Kate" until withdrawn in 1951 and returned to the Victorian Railways. the fate of No.279 is unknown. The 4 owned by D&MR were acquired by VR No.1, No.2 and No.4 were transported to the Bendigo railways workshops and broken up. D&MR No.3 was a part of the 1924 engine renumbering scheme becoming the new No.96. 6 other engines in the class were renumbered from No.90 to No.95.
Museum Collection – Newport Railway Museum
16 more of the class were scraped between 1926 to 1933. The last 2 engines of the class No.92 and No.94 where modified, had their central driving wheel flanges removed retaining the outer sets and had their tenders replaced with ones from Baldwin W Class engines. They were withdrawn from service in 1953 and No.92 would be scrapped. No.94 was saved and cosmetically restored for the 1954 Victorian Railways centenary and was displayed at Spencer Street Station in its original lined Brunswick green livery and with a funnel taken from a withdrawn NA class locomotive. After the celebrations, it was placed into long term storage. In January 1962, it was donated to the then new Australian Railway Historical Society Museum (now the Newport Railway Museum) at Newport, Victoria and become one of the first exhibits at the museum. Sometime after this, the centenary funnel was swapped with a larger one from NA class 12A, at an unknown time.
Queensland Railways C17 Class No.967 in the Historical Gympie Station Platform. [01/08/2020) : r/queensland
The Queensland Railways C17 class is a class of 4-8-0 steam locomotives operated by the Queensland Railways (QR). The class was designed to be an improvement of the C16 class. As per QR's classification system any class with a C had 4 driving axles on the locomotive. 227 locomotives were built from 1920 when the first engine No. 15 until 1953 when No. 1000 was the last delivered. The design of the last inspired Commonwealth Railways to have their NM class built with some modification.
The class hauled mail trains on the lines that could not accommodate the much heavier B18¼ class. They also hauled passenger trains, goods, mixed trains and branch line work. The class was the heaviest locomotives that could operate north of MacKay until 1948. The class was also responsible for hauling the Inlander, Midlander and the Westlander trains for parts of the journey up until the introduction of diesel electric locomotives.
Australian 1951 built C17 class locomotive number 974 leav… | Flickr
25 where preserved and 202 where scrapped of the class. The Mary Valley Rattler a Heritage Railway has 8 of the class. No. 1000 of the class is at Queensland Rail Heritage Division and is stored at the Workshops Rail Museum in Ipswich, Queensland.
South Australian Railways 620 Class Locomotive No. 620 "Sir Winston Dugan", builders photograph c.1936 Colourised be me : r/trains (reddit.com)
The South Australian Railways 620 class was a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways (SAR). built by the Islington Railway Workshops from 1936 to 1938. Fred Shea, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the SAR designed a 140-long-ton (157-short-ton; 142 t) Pacific type. A notable feature of the design, unique to South Australian Railways, was the use of Baker valve gear instead of the more commonly used Walschaerts valve gear.
The class was made up of 10 locomotives, the first locomotive being built in 1936 at the Islington Railway Workshops, with the last being completed in 1938. Number 620, named Sir Winston Dugan, was Australia's first streamlined locomotive, the smokebox was covered with a chromed steel grille similar to those fitted to cars of the period, painted in resplendent Hawthorn Green and Silver. The press of the time described Sir Winston Dugan appearance as 'a bit of fluff'. The remainder of the class was not streamlined.
South Australian Railways 620 class number 621 is observed at Victor Harbor in its new black with red lining paint job, prior to this it had spent 50 or so years in green with yellow lining. : r/trains (reddit.com)
The 620 class replaced the Q and S classes on branch line services, where they proved successful. With the introduction of the more powerful and modern 520 class from 1943, the class was moved to the Willunga, Bridgewater and Tailem Bend passenger services and continued services on Murray Mallee line services. The classes light axle loading provided good route ability and the get up and go characteristics commonly found in large wheeled Pacific type locomotives.
Undergoing Her 12 Year Inspection : r/trains (reddit.com)
The 620 class was phased out in of service in Favour of the Bluebird railcars, although number of railcar failures from 1954 to 1955 saw the class return to service on the Port Pirie line. All of the class were withdrawn between 1964 and 1969. Two of the class have been preserved: No.621 named the Duke of Edinburgh by SteamRanger and No.624 by the National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide.
Locomotive 624 - National Railway Museum (nrm.org.au)
The Victorian Railways S class was a class of pacific type express engines, built in 1928 for Victorian railways (VR). Only 4 where built and none of them survived. They where built when VR was at its most successful period of time. They were the final design of the VR's Chief Mechanical Engineer Alfred E Smith, The design was influenced by Nigel Gresley's GNR A1 class.
The class was assigned the broad gauge leg of the Melbourne to Sydney, run for express passenger services. The class was the most prestigious class of locomotive that VR had until the early 1950s when diesel electric locomotives started to be used. They were the first pacific type locomotive that where ran by VR, as well as the first 3 cylinder locomotive type for VR. Known for their power and speed, in their first 10 years of service the time of the Sydney express service was reduced by 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The improvements to the service, the Sydney limited was replaced with the art deco streamliner the spirit of progress and the S class was fitted with streamlined casings to match the new set of carriages. They were equipped with long range tenders so that the 306.6km (190+1⁄2-mile) journey could be a non-stop run, making the service the fastest in Australia's for next 20 years.
The Spirit of Progress headed by S301 Sir Thomas Mitchell near Kilmore East in 1938
As the class only had 4, they were highly utilised, they annually ran up mileages double that of other classes and by 1954 had a combined total of approximately 9,200,000 km (5,700,000 miles). Their size and heavy axle load made the class unsuitable for regular service on any other lines that the north eastern line and in 1954 within the first 6 months of the B class diesel being on the spirit of progress roster by that April the S class had been all been withdrawn and scrapped.
The scrapping of the class was the catalyst for the rail preservation movement to lobby for the preservation of the remaining VR steam locomotives, which resulted in the establishment of the Australian railway historical society museum in williamstown north in the 1962. The numbers of the class where S300, S301, S302 and S303. S301 was the first scrapped in October 1953 and the S300 in September 1954. their names where S300: Matthew Flinders, S301: Sir Thomas Mitchell, S302: Edward Henty and S303: CJ La Trobe. they were named after prominent figures in early Victorian history.
Two of the four tender frames have been saved for preservation by the Newport Railway Museum and are currently used as workshop vehicles at the Newport Workshops. these are numbered VFGA3 & VFGA4. One tender frame and tank are stored by Steamrail Victoria. The fourth tender frame is owned by the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre, which now has had a tender body placed on it.
One of the S class locomotives' whistles survived and was fitted to the R class locomotive R707, the City of Melbourne, to recreate the sound of the original S class-hauled service. for the 50th Anniversary run of the Spirit of Progress on 14 November 1987, operated by the Australian Railway Historical Society.
The Victorian Railways Y class was a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotives, built from 1885 to 1889. the class was an example of the new policy of standard design principles being adopted by the railways of the time. the original locomotive built by Kitson and co in Leeds in England in 1885, also Jeffery’s 0-6-0 goods engine design was named Victoria and was exhibited along the class E426 named Tasmania, at the Melbourne centennial exhibition in 1888. 30 more would be built by the phoenix foundry in Ballarat from 1888 to 1889. they were given numbers from 383 to 441 but only the odd numbers and the Victoria was given 445.
the class were big locomotives for their time, reportly the largest and most powerful 0-6-0s to run in Australia. the class excelled in their performance and acceptance by the crews. they often pulled suburban passenger trains before the electrification in the 1910s, the class spent the rest of their service as yard shunters. the withdrawal of the class started in 1926, 11 would be withdrawn before 1940 and the last 20 that where in service were renumbered that same year. the last in service with number 108 which was withdrawn in 1963, having been a pilot engine at north Melbourne for many years.
Only 3 members of the class made it into preservation, with one still in use:
Y108 is on static display at the newport railway museum.
Y109/Y413 was sold to an unknown industrial user at Nowingi, where it was converted to a diesel-mechanical locomotive in 1956. it became known as 'the thing'. Y109 was acquired by Steamrail Victoria in the 1980 and was used in the restoration of Y112. in 2008, Y109 was reassembled and placed on display at Millewa pioneer park in Meringur.
Y112 was withdrawn in 1961 and was preserved on a plinth outside the Ballarat railway station. Y112 was then purchased by the Ballarat historical society and it is hard to tell if Y112 is owned by sovereign hill, in Ballarat an open-air museum depicting the gold rush in the 1850's or Streamrail Victoria. the locomotive had restoration works started in 1985 to 1996, by Streamrail Victoria for 7 years and the last 6 years by west coast railway. West Coast Railway continued to operate the locomotive until 2005 when Y112 was put into Streamrail Victoria care. Y112 is still in service but has spent most of this year undergoing a major mechanical overhaul which includes a brand new set of wheels.
A video of the Y112: Australian Steam Trains: Veteran Y112 and D3 639 double head on the mainline. (youtube.com)
The Eppleton hall was built in 1914 by the Hepple and company in south shields England for the Lambton and Hetton collieries Ltd. the Eppleton hall was named the Lambton family's ancestral home. she was built to tow ocean going colliers (vessels that carry coal) for wharf to sea on the River Tyne and to tow new ships out to sea. with a speed of 10 knots (19km/h or 12mph), her engines could function independently to help with maneuverability has she came in at 30.6 m (100.5 ft) in length.
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The Lambton and Hetton collieries Ltd merged with the joicey Collieries in 1924 to form the Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd. in 1945 sometime before the collieries where nationalised and operated by the national coal board, Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd where sold to the France, Fenwick Tyne and Wear Ltd. in 1952 she was modified to obtain a passenger certificate, so that she could transport officials from newly built ships after their sea trials.
Above photo is from Kevin Blair unknown date
In November 1964 France, Fenwick Tyne and Wear Ltd got rid of their last paddle tug the Houghton (built in 1904 by Hepple and had been once owned by Lambton Collieries and was scrapped) and the Eppleton hall was sold to the Seaham harbor dock company where she worked alongside the reliant (built 1907). She was sold to the shipbreaker's clayton and cavie Ltd for scrap in 1967 and was left sitting on a mud bank in Duston. As part of the scrapping process, she was set on fire to help the process. she would remain there for 2 years partly flooded and rotting away.
Above photo of EPPLETON HALL lying at the breakers is copyright of Malcolm Donnelly sometime between 1967 and 1969.
The news that the sale of the last steam paddle tug still in service anywhere in the world the Reliant had reached Karl Kortum, who was then the director of the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Karl's friend and museum trustee Scott Newhall was informed about the sale. Scott flew to Newcastle, England to obtain the Reliant for the museum. this plan was met with opposition as the British National Maritime Museum had prior claim to the Reliant, as they planned to scrap the hull and preserve one or both of the Side Lever engines and perhaps a paddle wheel. 3 times did the British National Maritime Museum stop Scott from getting the Reliant, the last attempt Scott even hired people to collect the tug, who pretend to be representatives of the British National Maritime Museum. This attempt apparently failed when the police were called.
The day after his last attempt Scott when to have a look at the Eppleton hall, he was surprised that she was mostly whole. that night from his hotel room he called the shipbreaker's clayton and cavie Ltd and brought the Eppleton hall. she was rebuilt at Bill Quay, near Hebburn at a small shipyard from sometime in June 1969. she was modified to help her cross the Atlantic Ocean under her own steam. modern navigational aids, radio, a new wheelhouse saved from a fishing trawler, 2 masts for sails and she was had a conversion from a coal burner to a diesel oil firer. this cost $150,000 at the time. she Templary become the SS Eppleton Hall for this crossing and was re-registered as a private yacht so that the Uk broad of trade cerftion for the crossing.
Above photo is from Kevin Blair unknown date
On the 18th of September 1969, she set sail on the first leg of the journey to San Francisco via the Panama Canal. Sailing via Dover, Lisbon, Cape Verde, Georgetown, via Panama and San Diego to name a few of her scheduled stops. she did have some problems during the journey: she ran out of fuel in the Bay of Biscay, her vacuum pump failed in the middle of the Atlantic, she helped rescue a fishing vessel off the coast of Mexico and nearly sunk in a storm near San Diego on the final leg. she passed under the golden gate bridge in late March of 1970, making the journey a 6 months and 9 days long adventure for the 12 man crew on broad. Scott wrote the book: the Eppleton hall, which tells the story of the discovery and restoration of the ship, the events about the reliant and the 11,000 mile journey to bring her to San Francisco. she was donated by Karl Kortum to the national park service in 1979.
photo taken by Wingsdomain Art and Photography in 2012
Today she is berthed at the Hyde Street pier at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. she was restored to look like her refurbishment for France Fenwick, Tyne and Wear Ltd post war in 1946.
photos are from Eppleton Hall 1914 (tynetugs.co.uk)
for more information about the Eppleton hall;
Eppleton Hall History - San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
The FULL Story of Eppleton Hall’s Transatlantic Voyage — Newcastle to San Francisco (1969-1970) (youtube.com)
In the British TV Show TUGS a sister show to Thomas and friends, there is a paddle tug named OJ, who is based on the Eppleton hall.
I love re-reading my old poetry, it's a taste of my youth, and I love over indulging. Here are my 21 year old thoughts from the window seat on the Acela Express, Washington to New York City.
The pride of the Murray was originally named after the PS Pride of the Murray, a stern-wheeler paddle steamer built by Johnston and Davies at Echuca in 1865.
The PV Pride of the Murray started out life as a timber logging barge named C24, at Echuca in 1924. built by C Felshaw for the Murray River Sawmills, At the end of C24's working life it was abandoned and sunk in the River Murray, on the Victorian bank, upstream of the Echuca-Moama Road and Rail Bridge. In the may of 1973, Captain Maxwell Carrington decided to restore the C24 barge, buying the wreck for $100aud. after removing 250 tons of silt (250,000kg), the barge was refloated and repaired at the Moama slip.
The Pride of the Murray was launched as a diesel-electric passenger vessel in 1977. along with the PS Canberra and the PS Emmylou, they were operated by Murray River Paddlesteamers as a tourist attraction in Echuca. In 2022, Pride of the Murray was purchased by Outback Pioneers, located in Longreach, Queensland. the Pride traveled 1,750 km (1,090 mi) to the Thompson River by a 26 metre-long(85.3ft) prime mover, which had 106 tyres.
Unfortunately, of the 6th of march 2023, the Pride of the Murray sank in the Thompson River at its moorings and has not been reported as being recovered at the time of this post being made.
Pride of the Murray - Outback Pioneers the owners and the photos are from their facebook page.
An update on the recovery of the pride of the Murray.
On the 7th of September 2023, The Pride of the Murray was resurfaced. it took 3 days to do so, a crew of more than 30 people worked to resurface the pride of the Murray. unfortunately, 2 weeks after the Pride of the Murray was resurfaced, the news broke that the Pride of the Murray would not be able to cruise again.
"If there had been an obvious reason for her sinking and a simple fix for that, we would have done it," owner and founder of outback pioneers Richard Kinnon told the ABC. "But the boatbuilders made it clear that, after a sinking, a boat of this age would need to be virtually rebuilt from scratch to guarantee she would pass certification requirements,"
there are plans in the works to restore the Pride of the Murray and a replica of the vessel to be built. the outback pioneer's website has a restoration fund and are hoping to rase $1.5 million.
photos from Pride of the Murray paddle wheeler will not cruise again after sinking to bottom of the Thomson River - ABC News
