Keith Black

Thank you to everyone for looking in and for the likes. Eberhard, as I understand operating a steam donkey for pile driving. The drum actuating lever when in mid position was natural. The lever was pulled toward the rear to spool the drum and and pushed forward to unspool the drum. There was a brake to control the rate of unspooling of the drum. In pile driving applications when the hammer was raised to the appropriate height the drum was then allowed to freely unspool releasing the hammer for its decent. Tom, that or I'll search our 3/4 acres of heaven for the 'right' log. Thank you, Ken. I've ordered two of their sets. Keith

Bob, she's looking fantastic. Are you going to keep that scattered lumber on the stern's upper deck? I think it adds a touch of realism.

Thank you to all for the likes. Thank you, Rick. Keith, Ole Bob lost his job on the Tennessee, I think he's trying to land a spot on the pile driver? Tom, thank you for the laugh. Not enough humor in this ole world these days. The hammer is able to slide up and down so it's capable of it being displayed in any position. I'm undecided whether I should try and add a log into the slide. It would require more effort but I think the final model would show more action. The head log is in place but not attached as I still need to add the sheave wheels and pillow blocks. Thank you to everyone for following this project. Keith

What I love about MSW is, it's more than just a showcase of builds, it's also a great reservoir of information. @mcb was so kind in sending me the following message and photos. "Pile drivers in the NYC harbor area. These glass plate negative photos are from the Steamtown (in Scranton) collection National Park Service. Most (rolling stock, stations, coal mines etc.) are specific to the DLW railroad who hired the photographers and owned them originally. Fortunately, that railroad had interesting operations around NYC harbor The first pic is a whole herd of pile drivers, I think 3 steam donkeys on skids, one floating pile driver, a stick lighter and a concrete mixer/ conveyer tower. Location unknown, NYC harbor area. Second pic is Manhattan, Hoboken is across the river in the background. This shows a pier being demolished and it looks like the 2 pile drivers are set to pull out old pilings. Looks like old, rotten pilings floating everywhere." Both Photos are from William B Barry jr. circa 1914, Steamtown N.H.S. collection. I could look at the above photos for hours. Thank you mcb for the valuable addition to this build log. Keith

Charles, welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

Thanks, Eric. I'm pretty stoked about building her. My poor ole Tennessee is sitting there with that 'what about me' look on her bow. Chris. I think it's "Great Falls", which Great Falls is anybody's guess.

Thank you to all for the likes. Thank you, Kevin. Hopefully it proves worthy. Last night I got the hammer made allowing me to turn my attention to the head log which is the crown of the pile driver. I see this build being completed with in the next couple of months, Lord willing and I've settled on a candidate for the tug/helper boat. This photo of a small narrow paddlewheel two car ferry taken in the late 1920's or early 30's. I love this image, I think this boat is just cute as a bug. I wanted a small tug/helper boat and Lula (approximately 45/50 feet in length and 22 feet in width) appears to be good candidate to try and replicate. I'll make her steam driven putting the boiler where the Model A sits and I'll be borrowing ideas from Eric's @Cathead Peerless build. Keith

Thank you to all for the likes and for following along. Thank you, Keith. Thoughts on barge stability when I address Roel's comments. Eberhard, thank you, I agree, Glen, thank you. Grant's Foss Landing log is one of the builds I planned on reviewing. Thank you, Gary. Thank you, Tom. Roel, thank you. I built the barge and driver to the plan below. Also, the barge would have had logs lashed alongside waiting their turn to be drawn up into the throat/slide of the pile driver. It must have worked as there are photos that scale to the below plan. Thank you to all for your continued interest in my little project. Keith

Thank you to all for the comments and likes. Thank you, Eberhard and Eric. All suggestions are more than welcome! Keith, I do seem to have a full head of steam with this project, it's been an enjoyable break from the Tennessee, Dan, thank you for your kind comments and for your gracious offer. I'm making good progress on the pile driver tower, 1:1 it's 68 feet tall barge deck to the head log. There's a lot more to add, fitting bits, blocks, head log, hammer, port/starboard angled brace supports, ladder, and stays that run from the top of the tower to the barge's bow. Thank you to all for stopping by. Keith

Josh, welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

Maybe undernourished. Chris, how hard is it to fill and sand on a card model?

Michel, welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

Chris, the hull looks fine. I don't see no stinkin' starving cows.

Nick, welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

I think, Eberhard @wefalck, users varnish or lacquer to glue/anchor small objects onto wine corks allowing him to work on them as needed. One of the many images from his build log.

I don't know how I missed your Thursday post, Keith? That hull is drop dead gorgeous, are you absolutely sure it's gotta be painted? I know it the Cangarda's hull is painted but geez.

That's a face full of curiosity right there. Cute little mutt, does she sleep snuggled up?

Thank you to everyone for the comments, likes, and for being part of the journey. Thank you, Eric Glad you showed up, Mark. It's definitely different, time will tell if it's a "good thing" John, I've a passion for any steam powered water vessel built between 1860 and 1895. So many innovations occurred during that 35 year window yet lacking in documentation. Thank you for following along. The barge is done, I think the wood I was gifted by @Daniel Kimmer absolutely is lovely. I'm not used to building with nice wood, In the past I've used what I could buy at the big box stores. It really didn't matter because it got painted. For those who've followed the Tennessee build, you know I'm a great proponent of painted surfaces because that was the way of things, IMHO. I don't see any paint in the photos of these everyday towed working barges of the latter 1800's. They were truly the redheaded stepchildren of water vessels. If anyone has photos to the contrary, please share. Once all three elements are completed I'll have to weather the three into something that resembles a working day in the life of. Not exactly sure how I'm going to be able to manage that. I foresee a lot of researching weathering techniques and reviewing many of your build logs. The bit of chain is there for visual affect and is not permanently attached. Again, thank you to all. Keith

Congratulations, Eric. An extremely well done model of an unpretentious working boat. I only hope my future efforts will be half as well done.

Very nice.

Well duh on my part, of course. Sorry for the senior moment, Eric.

Eric, I'm thinking ahead on my pile driver project and the need for a paddlewheel helper boat/tug. The tug had to be able to tow some because the pile driver barge had to be pulled away from the face of the dock under construction. I did some searching and I think I've located an image of a vessel that will work, I'll PM. Thank you.

Eric, stern paddlewheel vessels like the Peerless could push but were they able to tow? If so, where were the bollards mounted? Because of the wheel a tow line would seem to be greatly hindered? TYIA.

Stuka, welcome to MSW. Glad to have you aboard.

Thank you to all for the comments and the likes. There's nothing romantic about a barge. They just ride the tide being their utilitarian self. Most of the wood elements have been added to the barge hull and pile driver base 2.0 has been finished. I didn't bother with staggering the planks., I made each plank a home run stem to stern. There'll be enough clutter plus the driver and the steam donkey to hide a great portion of the deck. I don't think the lack of plank joints will stand out. If a piece of wood used was chipped in cutting I went ahead and used it. Once completed the barge will need to be roughed up and weathered. . I'll poly the barge where it's protected plus the poly will provide a base that when I rough it up/weather if I don't like a particular result I can simply wipe it off and give it another go. I need to add cleats, bollards, hand tools, lumber, rope, chain, peeves, and the obligatory wooden barrel. I'll be spending the next two days in the pool hall so it'll be a few before I can resume work. Thank you to everyone for your willingness to follow along. Keith