Keith Black

Yes, welcome back, Micha.

It's really coming together well, Eric. At some point I hope we'll get an audio clip.

It's going to be a late night waiting up for breaking news so I figured I'd go ahead and go into the reason I think this sternwheeler is gear driven. All the arrows are in the way of clear viewing so reference the photo in the post above for an unobstructed view. Pitman arm driven shafts end right after going through bearing housing as there's no necessity for a shaft collar. Chain driven shafts are held in the center of the hull because the chain runs over the drive sprocket and then over the idler sprocket mounted on the hull. The chain holds the drive sprocket connected to the wheel shaft in a centered position. On gear driven shafts, the wheel gear must be held steady in absolute alignment with the drive gear. If the wheel shaft has any lateral movement there's either too much distance apart from one another resulting in no power to the wheels or too close and the gears were out quickly or even break. The shaft can not have any lateral movement whatsoever. The below image components started making sense a couple of weeks ago and I thought I knew what I was seeing but the why of it didn't make sense until today. My reasoning for thinking this is a gear driven system below. A. Vertical support timber. B. Steel (?) rod anchored to the vertical support timber that holds D secularly in place. C. Tension adjustment? D. Rube Goldberg shaft collar penetrated by rod. It would appear this slips over the end of the wheel shaft with an internal shaft end bearing keeping the wheel shaft from making any lateral movement. E. Rod exiting D. F. Through Bolt. G. Through Bolt. H. Grease cup? I. Wheel Shaft bearing. J. Grease cup or grease nipple? K. Rod entering D. For lack of a better explanation of the above components, the above makes sense to me. If it doesn't make sense to any of you please explain what you think the purpose of the above components are. Keith

Evidently I was fortunate because I got two bundles of 1/32 x 1/32. Working at small scale it has its place.

John, now that I think about it I think I ordered their woods off Amazon.

I echo Glen's comments.

John, do you have a razor cutter? If not they're well worth investing in. Hey. Midwest Products sells some pretty small wood and they're a good company IMHO. https://midwest-products.myshopify.com/collections/basswood

Thank you, Keith. Because of photographic evidence in the below photo I've determined that this Susquehanna sternwheeler was gear driven. See if you can find Waldo. I've got to mark up the below photo with arrows and do a write up on my reasoning which I'll hopefully have done by tomorrow.

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.