Keith Black

Fantastic windows at that scale, John. Hats off.

That looks fine but were you not able to come up with some thin clear plastic just to see what the difference would look like?

On the home stretch and things are looking great, Bob. I like the figurehead idea, maybe something a bit more regal?

Very nice blocks and cleats, Siggi. I know how difficult it is working on small stuff that size.

I don't know where you live but Cornwall Model Boats in the UK has them. https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=thimble&PN=36700-Thimble-2.5mm--Pack-of-10--36700.html#SID=67

Sometimes one finds answers in their own backyard. John's build is a geared drive shaft system but I'm still playing with the idea of a chain drive. Center driven pitman arms has been eliminated so it's either geared drive shaft or chain and because of the Millersburg ferry photo we know a chain drive was employed and worked.

Derek, welcome to MSW.

Welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

SS, the scale is going to limit how detailed I can make the gears if gears are used.

Look at all that cloth! I love the way you've done the sails, John

He couldn't have picked a better birthday present made by one of the best.

Good to see you back at it, Bob. Praying you heal completely.

Congratulations, Glen. A very impressive SIB that should be packed up when the time comes to go north next year.

Yes it is, Eric. That's neat that you've ridden on her. I think I remember reading that she's Cat powered? The great coincidence of this build is your personal connection to the Susquehanna. Thank you for the link, Eberhard. From reading about chain drives it seems they were abounded for gear drives due to weakness of the chain but research continues.

Sometimes modeling can be a bit masochistic, that's for sure. I think I'm gonna research steam tractors and see if there's in relatable information there. Keith, I like the idea of chain, it's coupling chine drive with steam where I'm having difficulty.

It all looks really neat, Eric. I'll be the first to admit I'm a non-railroader but maybe you'll kindle a fire?

Thank you for the information, Eberhard. At 1:120 I could probably cheat on the gears if I go that route and none would be the wiser, As you very well know, at these small scales often the suggestion is good enough.

Absolutely beautiful work, Keith. I just placed a pretty good size bits order from Cornwall, I should have added another bell. Your's turned out great.

Eric, it's ALL conjecture on my part at this time. I have many many holes to fill with hour upon hours of research before I can say with some certainty that was the way it was. In the end, putting a dinghy would probably be the simplest solution.

I assume so, Eberhard but not sure how a geared drive system would have been engineered. I had a good B&W close up view of a center geared wheel but I'll be danged if I can locate it at the moment. I'll continue to try a find it. The image below is for a center drive chain system. If I could figure out how to make a steam driven chain drive I'd go that route in a New York minute.

Eberhard, the only chain driven paddle wheels I've seen were/are run by internal combustion engines but this vessel is definitely steam driven. I'm inclined to think the half wheels were gear driven which would have saved space by eliminating pitman arms.

This short video is a great look back on the subject at hand. The sternwheeler in the background (not the one pushing the barge) is a split in two halves paddlewheel. One of the main questions is, how where these split paddlewheels engineered to turn. I'm starting to think they may have been gear driven. If you'll note, there's a very narrow width at the center of the two halves, it doesn't appear to be enough space for two cylinders unless the shaft was made with offsetting journals and the pushed at an upward angle. So much research and not knowing where to look is a killer. For whatever reason the last video link does not alway play. in the first link you have to click the link and then click the far left image to bring up the video. https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.gettyimages.com%2Fid%2F2104816477%2Fvideo%2Fsusquehanna-river-bottom-is-dredged-by-laborers-for-salvage-coal-run-off-from-upstream-mine.mp4%3Fs%3Dmp4-640x640-gi%26k%3D20%26c%3Dn-LdslyjCMPXAAQ5VTzYzbTr9i2ORyt7P0AEneuitJU%3D&sca_esv=7fef18164babfbf6&source=hp&ei=YR1OaLb_JfrIp84P1qLnmQc&iflsig=AOw8s4IAAAAAaE4rcWLxqF8GmSh8Mh3YCHahhR0Si6mZ&ved=0ahUKEwj2s8v-nvKNAxV65MkDHVbROXMQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.gettyimages.com%2Fid%2F2104816477%2Fvideo%2Fsusquehanna-river-bottom-is-dredged-by-laborers-for-salvage-coal-run-off-from-upstream-mine.mp4%3Fs%3Dmp4-640x640-gi%26k%3D20%26c%3Dn-LdslyjCMPXAAQ5VTzYzbTr9i2ORyt7P0AEneuitJU%3D&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6ItYBaHR0cHM6Ly9tZWRpYS5nZXR0eWltYWdlcy5jb20vaWQvMjEwNDgxNjQ3Ny92aWRlby9zdXNxdWVoYW5uYS1yaXZlci1ib3R0b20taXMtZHJlZGdlZC1ieS1sYWJvcmVycy1mb3Itc2FsdmFnZS1jb2FsLXJ1bi1vZmYtZnJvbS11cHN0cmVhbS1taW5lLm1wND9zPW1wNC02NDB4NjQwLWdpJms9MjAmYz1uLUxkc2x5akNNUFhBQVE1VlR6WXpiVHI5aTJPUnl0N1AwQUVuZXVpdEpVPUgAUABYAHAAeACQAQCYAQCgAQCqAQC4AQPIAQD4AQL4AQGYAgCgAgCYAwCSBwCgBwCyBwC4BwDCBwDIBwA&sclient=gws-wiz#imgrc=dKKHNdGkDUEucM&imgdii=JAkcoAbrXzNgcM https://www.gettyimages.in/detail/video/the-bottom-of-the-susquehanna-river-is-dredged-by-news-footage/2104816477

The skylight turned out very nice, great job. if you wanted to give the skylight the look of glass you can cut thin clear plastic from processed food containers. I've done this a number of times and it woks really slick. You have to do all the painting or staining first and once that is done just add a tiny dab of CA on the inside corners, only doing two corners will work to hold the plastic. Just add enough CA so it doesn't smear onto the visible area.

Good morning, Eric. I've got some windows arriving from Itchy Train today and I'm about to start building the hull. Did you see Lula and the pile driver in the Album images section? About a week ago I had a chance to check out the port side area next to the pilot house and I don't think that's a skiff/dinghy, If you look through the engine room window toward the port side you can see a vertical pipe with a circular valve handle near the top. A diagonal (?) crosses in front of the vertical pipe just below the valve handle. There is a horizontal pipe more to center of the vertical pipe. All this piping could be part of a centrifugal pump system with parts of it next to the pilot house on the port side? Though small, the photo below is the best view of the area on the port side next to the pilot house. For that "white" to be bow, the stern would hang off the edge and would make for a crazy storing angle. Thank you for checking up on me. I should have a final answer on surgery this coming Tuesday. As of last Tuesday the surgeon wanted me to travel to Detroit for surgery but after further discussion he is going to get with two over vascular surgeons and go over all the reports to make sure everybody is on the same page. Keith

Well, that tugs at me ole heartstrings.