Paddle Steamer Resources by
Tramscape The Internet's leading database of
Paddle Steamers past and present
PADDLE STEAMERS WHICH COULD BE RETURNING TO SERVICE
PADDLERS
OWNED BY ORGANISATIONS REFURBISHING THEM WITH A PLAN FOR THEIR RETURN TO SERVICE
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Maid of the Loch back in service on Loch Lomond
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Maid of the
Loch |
After years of neglect after withdrwal
from service in 1981, the last major paddler built for the
UK remains moored at Balloch, Loch Lomond, but is now being
restored to her former glory. Now open as a popular
restaurant and function suite and part of a wider tourist
project for the loch, there is now a real chance she will
return to service in the near future. |
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Neuchatel |
PS Neuchatel (1912-1969) served as a floating restaurant at Neuchatel, with a large enclosed saloon added, until 2007. In 1999, a society, Trivapor, was established to purchase the vessel, but she was sold on to new restauranteurs. Trivapor, a preservation society dedicated to her reactivation has now bought her and have already purchased the steam engines once belonging to the Chiemsee's Ludwig Fessler. She can be visited bythe public on certain days by appointment - see the website. |
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Patria |
Laid up at Dervio on Lake Como, Italy, hopes of a return to service, even with diesel machinery have stalled many times, but recent developments once again give hope. Work is due to start on her in December 2008 with a return to service the ultimate objective |
TWO MAJOR MOTOR PADDLERS MOTHBALLED ON LAKE GENEVA AWAITING FUNDS FOR MAJOR REFURBISHMENT
| Italie Lausanne-Ouchy, Switzerland |
Built in 1908 and mototised since 1958, this major member of the CGN fleet on Lake Geneva has been out of service since 2005. The local supporters' group the ABVL has begun a campaign to collect funds to enable her restoration and return to service. It is believed that the CGN will return her to service, but at present they have major overhauls to do on other fleet members, so work on Italie is unlikely to take place before 2012/2013. |
| Helvetie Lausanne-Ouchy, Switzerland |
Built in 1926 and converted to motor operation in 1977, Helvetie has been out of service since early 2002. She lies at the CGN Dockyard in Ouchy as the company desperately wishes to keep her - but she is one of the largest ships in the fleet at almost 74 metres, and not only would her total refurbishment be very costly, her operation would also be so. There is also the issue of how to integrate such a large vessel into any future timetable. Even before her withdrawal she spent much time as a reserve ship. The supporters' group ABVL have, however, the aim of ultimately assisting in her refurbishment, but if CGN and public funds are not available, this will not take place. Her future is very uncertain and any refit is not likely to be before 2015, if at all. |
PADDLE STEAMERS AT RISK.
With
no public access, in poor condition and with no plans for refurbishment
STATICALLY PRESERVED PADDLE STEAMER CLOSED FOR PUBLIC ACCESS AND RECENTLY PUT UP FOR SALE
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Lincoln Castle For Sale |
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Lincoln Castle |
The youngest and last withdrawn of the
three Humber ferries, Scottish built six years after the other two
"Castles", found sanctuary at nearby Grimsby where
she is now a successful restaurant at the docks once famous
as one of the world's largest fishing ports. |
OTHER VESSELS AT RISK
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Is this potentially Europe's finest paddle
steamer ? |
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Petofi |
The former MAHART passenger vessel lies on the Danube near Budapest, in a poor condition following a fire. Her machinery has already been removed. MAHART had originally planned to return her to service, but funds were not available. She survives, in very poor condition, on the Danube at the Neszmely Ship Museum on the Danube. She is in good hands, however, as part of the Zoltan Foundation collection (named after a paddle tug in the museum collection). Finance for her restoration is not available at the moment. |
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Szoke Tisza |
Szoke Tisza (1917-74), the former Danube cruiser is best known as PS Felszabadulas, the name she assumed in 1950, having been IV Karoly, and between 1930 and 1950, Szent Imre. In 1958, 175 berths were built into the vessel as she was assigned to overnight cruises from Budapest. Briefly used as a canteen ship for her owners, she was sold out of the MAHART fleet in 1979 to the city of Szeged for use as a hotel. Now owned by a commercial Danube cruising company, partners in the Zoltan Foundation ship museum at Nezsmely, plans were drawn to refurbish her for Danube service, but to date, progress has been fraught with technical and financial problems. She remains laid up near Szeged |
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Ryde |
Former Solent ferry moored near the River Medina at Binfield Marina on the Isle of Wight, UK. Gradually deteriorating after years of neglect. High and dry except at exceptional tides, massive expenditure would now be needed to restore her. The UK's Paddle Steamer Preservation Society keeps a watching interest in her fate, but any attempts to get preservationist involvement have never been made possible by the vessel's various owners. |
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Hansa |
Dating from 1886 and in service until 1924, Hansa is the oldest Rhein paddler still afloat. She is at Cologne - stripped of superstructure. Recently mooted plans to move her to the Netherlands and install the engines of former Rhein paddler Cecilie have come to nothing so far. |
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Vysehrad |
In poor condition at Prague after an aborted refurbishment, her name was given to her operational sister, Devin. She remains the property of her original operators and they would like to see her restored to the fleet. A lack of funds has continued to be the main stumbling block and she remains tied up on the river Vltava near Prague, but all her superstructure has been removed. |
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Propeler |
Lying in a dilapidated condition alongside the bank of the Danube at Nove Pristavisko, near Rusovce on the very short part of the river lying entirely in Slovak territory near Bratislava. She spent most of her life as a ferry at Bratislava named Devin and her latter years first as a restaurant moored in Bratislava and then a night club. Has been closed on safety grounds since 2001 and then taken to her current location. |
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Krajina |
Former Yugoslav royal and presidential "yacht" on the Danube, badly damaged by fire in January 2007 |
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Split |
Former Danube cargo and passenger boat, withdrawn in 1992 and out of the water and deteriorating at Kladovo shipyard |
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Giurgiu |
Until recently, earmarked for restoration in Switzerland , to recreate the vessel "Wengi" of 1856 which sailed on the River Aare. Now slipped on the Danube in Romania, her hull was found to be in good condition. The project has now been abandoned. |
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Blagoveschensk |
A number of the 65 long-distance river
cruise ships of the 737 project built between 1951 and 1960
are believed to be in existence, many beached and in very
poor condition. |
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Lomonosov |
The 1905 built paddler is reported as laid up in Pamyat Parizhskoi Kommuny (Nizhniy Novgorod area) and offered for sale on the internet. She is in poor condition and needing a total rebuild of her superstructure : http://library.riverships.ru/lomonosov1.htm |
VESSELS AT RISK - MACHINERY REMOVED
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Plinio |
The former Lake Como paddler served as a
floating restaurant at Lago di Mezzola, with engines and
boiler removed. The 1903 Zurich-built steamer had been at
Colico between 1970 and 1999 as a restaurant and
clubhouse. Now out of use, although still owned by the owner of the
nearby Restaurant La Barcaccia, she is in severe danger because
the local authorities in charge of the Nature Reserve within which
she lies have demanded her removal by the end of September 2008
from the lakeside at Verceia.
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THE FOUNDATION FOR PADDLE STEAMERS WORLDWIDE'S AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim of the Foundation for
Paddle Steamers Worldwide is to raise
awareness of and interest in Paddle Steamers through a presence on the internet
where enthusiasts and the general public alike can, through the the regularly
updated Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape database,
learn about Paddle Steamers and their operations, past and present. |
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THE FOUNDATION FOR PADDLE STEAMERS WORLDWIDE'S VIEW
A commercial ship
has little future unless it is doing what it was built to do - sail
in revenue service. Paddle Steamers
can have good long-term prospects because
they are significant revenue earners for their operators and are also recognised as having exceptional tourism-generating potential by public authorities in the areas
in which they operate. |
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Navigate around the Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape website from this main menu
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DATABASE MAIN MENU |
Click on the links in the left hand column of the table below to go to the required section of the database |
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The
Foundation for Paddle Steamers Worldwide's objectives and views. | |
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Operational
Paddle Steamers |
In public service,
their operating companies and website links (includes motor paddlers) |
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Articles and photographs
: current issues and vessel profiles |
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OTHER ASSOCIATED WEBSITES |
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Clyde
Turbine Steamer Foundation |
Clyde and other passenger
turbine
steamers, surviving ferries and ocean liners |
Erhaltener Raddampfer : Vapeurs à roues à aubes en preservation
