Fortunately, no operational paddle steamer has been withdrawn from service and scrapped for many years. Those listed below, which have been scrapped had been out of service for many years and had deteriorated badly. In the case of PS Valais (left), her owners already had 8 paddlers in their fleet and when it came to necessary expenditure it was decided to concentrate on maintaining their operational ships rather than a ship which had been out of service for 40 years. Although work was needed on her, Valais was nevertheless in good condition and had she not been confined to her inland lake, she would have been an ideal candidate to be moved to another area, refurbished and with a new (probably diesel) engine returned to service.

Valais

2003 : After 40 years of static use as a restaurant at Geneva, the CGN paddler was scrapped at Ouchy. Although still in reasonable condition, but minus engines and boilers, she needed a refit to maintain an acceptable standard for use as a restaurant and specific financial support from the local cantons was not forthcoming. A decision was made to use available funds for the longer term preservation of the existing operational paddler fleet. Her position at the Jardin Anglais pier in Central Geneva was also a problem : the CGN wanted this berth for its operational services .......

Schmilka
and
Junger Pionier

2002 saw the final demise of two of the famous Dresden "White Fleet " after many years' lay-up. Although the local operators have, where possible, restored the available paddlers and most of their fleet is now over 100 years old, the condition of these two vessels was beyond economic repair. This was made worse by the act that considerable alterations would have had to have been made to their narrow hulls to meet modern stability regulations. Fortunately the oscillating engines were removed from each vessel and are now in storage with the ultimate aim of finding or building new hulls for further use.

Budapest

One of the Russian "Project 737" steamers, Budapest (1963-1986), which was withdrawn after boiler failure had been moored at the now disused Obuda shipyard. Scrapped in 2000
Web page on Hungarian Ship Register  

Visegrad

PS Visegrad (1896-1959) sailed on the Hungarian Danube and was originally named Imre before becoming Visegrad in 1912. In 1963 she was established as a hotel moored at Margaret Island in central Budapest used by the Hungarian Trades Unions. Last noted as an accommodation ship for workers at a Gravel excavation site on Lake Balaton. Scrapped in 1994

Paddle Steamer Graveyard.

The Laubegast yard on the River Elbe just upstream of Dresden has seen many paddle steamers built and refurbished, including the majority of the current fleet sailing from Dresden, but in 2001 it was host to two paddlers which were not destined for a return to service. In poor condition after many years out of service, it was decided to scrap Schmilka (seen with Junger Pionier behind).

Photo kindly supplied by John Woodhams who got a magnificent view of the yard from a passing steamer.

Enthusiasts had earlier painted a "100" on her bows to mark her centenary in 1997. Her final demise came at the age of 105 !

Medway Queen

Built in 1924 and serving on the River Thames and Medway, the vessel with a distinguished record of evacuating troops from Dunkirk in 1940 was cared for by the Medway Queen Preservation Society at her mud berth on the Hoo Peninsula near the mouth of the Medway. In 2006 a lottery grant of over GBP 1.8 m was obtained which is enabling the rebuilding of the hull as the first step to eventual full restoration. Re-usable items were recovered from the hull and put into storage pending the construction of a new hull, which will take place in Bristol, starting in early 2009. Website

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