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Emerprise 1ows Invincible al 4 !/i mph round Wakool Bend on the River Murray, South Australia.
103 and Still Steaming! By John Norris Before the railway systems had reached the eastern side of inland Australia, the Rive¡r Murray and its tributaries were the principal means of transport, providing, at one time, 2500 miles of navigable waterways. Steamboats, often driven by portable English agricultural machinery, opened up the pastoral land. Ironically, they dug their own graves by carting rails and sleepers for their rivals the railways. The only steamer still in commercial service carrying passengers on short trips is the Melbourne, powered by a 25hp Marshall compound engine of 1913-currently certified at its original pressure. A browse The 12hp engine operates at 501b pressure, 98rpm. Pho!O Courtesy John Norris
through the Shipping Register reveals the steamer Maggie powered by a "portable road traction engine, !Ohp, built by Tennent and Co ., Leith, in 1879"; whilst the tiny fishing boat Roy, recently restored and re-boilered, is propelled by a diminutive 1 Vz hp single cylinder engine built by William Tuxford of Boston. But the most interesting steamer still working is the Enterprise, launched at Echuca on August 21, 1878. With her original machinery intact she operates regularly, and in 1978 she undertook a record tow, hauling the derelict steamer Invincible some 350 miles upriver at an average speed of 4 Vz mph. Whether she is the oldest working vessel with its original machinery has not been confirmed, but Lloyd's of London report that no other vessel in the current register can challenge her claim. The 56' boat has had a varied career since being built by William Keir to haul cargo barges, a duty she performed for nearly 50 years before being relegated to a fishing boat and then a permanently moored houseboat. On changing hands in 1973 she underwent a major refit and was restored to near her original outline. Her engines were built by the Vereley Iron and Waggon Works Ltd. of Vere Beverley, near Hull, Yorkshire. The wood-fired boiler is approximately 3' long and consumption is about a quarter of a ton per hour at full speed-7 Vz mph.
www Extract from a full technical report which appeared in Spring 1980 Steaming, journal of the National Traction Engine Club, Caxton House, Old Station Road, Laughton, Essex, UK.
SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1981
Apart from a monthly Dutch version we now publish 6 times a year for the tugenthusiasts abroad a special English issue of our magazine Lekko. Write for a free copy and full details, such as the reduced subscription-rate on our English publication, to: l.T.E.S., c/o Graan voor Visch 19915, 2132 WR Hoofddorp, The Netherlands.
]~;:S-:.mship H~;:a~ociety o;:;:m-:-i~ 1::. J j Please send me fu rt her information.
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