LJP

Absolutely incredible! LJP

Hi Cathead, Thanks for the comments! I really like the grain pattern of using individual planks although it does take more time. LJP

The boiler deck has been planked. My four piles (plus some more) of 1/8 by 1/32 by approximately 6-inch basswood boards were used. Time to get started on the superstructure: saloons, staterooms, galley, &c.

Keith, Thanks for your kind words. Love your build but the scale is unbelievable. I wish I had your patience. John, Thanks from down under. It is taking me longer as our summer & fall are busy on "other duties as assigned" but I hope to be able to dedicate more time to the boat in the next few months. LJP

The carlines are done and now it is time to plank the boiler deck. Surprisingly it was not the carlines which took the time but all of the other little piddly stuff: the two bells, the speaking tube, steering ropes, and a bilge pump. Several water pipes were also added. Most of this will never be seen unless it is really looked for. Still needs a bunch of cleanups before the next step can start. Note the four little piles of deck boards needed for the next step.

Keith, Thanks for the support. It is coming along with lots more to do. Cathead, Thanks much. I am trying to provide better views. There are lots of detail that simply get buried because of my picture angles. LJP

The stairs are now completed. JHC had a very utilitarian set of stairs. Many of the other early steamboats had a wonderful rounded double stair with an arched entrance underneath. JHC was simply squared off and angled. Early construction shows the sliding doors from the inside of the boiler room. I needed to repair one of the door slides which I had knocked off. The stairs stringers were cut to an 8-inch rise. A tread was then added along with a riser. The arrangement for the stairs was a short central stair to a landing and then a short course of stairs to either side. Two frontal views. The first shows an up close with the access doors to the coal chutes. The second view is a front on with a view through the access doors. The green hand pump is in the background. Time now to complete the rest of the underside of the boiler deck. Before I can add the carlines, I need to add both bells, the speaking tube, steering ropes and a bilge pump. I also need to complete the various water pipes. Lots of little odds and ends.

Glad to hear the good news about your health. That is the most important thing. That said, I love that you choose topics that are more unique. And in the scale that you use is unbelievable. Take care, LJP

Had some time to spend on the model. Quickly installed the boiler panel. The bull rails were added. The forward one could be opened. I used Bates’ method where the rails could be inserted onto hooks. I also added the canvas coverings above the rails. Apparently, this was a common practice for passengers due to weather. Lastly, I included a gangplank. The gangplank was used where a finished dock was not available. Long and narrow, it was prone to accidents according to newspaper articles. There were several references to people falling in, women in hoop skirts, and a boy who broke his arm and sued the boat. Now I can get started on the stairs.

I completed the half of the panel entrance into the engine room and the single sliding door. Initially I thought that I could cement the hog chains and the stern wheel chains at a later point in construction. But I found out that would not work. So, I had to affix that panel and the starboard engine panel. The hog chain braces are still loose and will be cemented in at a later point in construction. Next steps will be working on the bow hog chains, affixing the boiler room panel and then the bull rails. Hopefully after that I can start on the stairs. But the way I keep changing the sequence once I get started, who knows what will be next.

Sorry about the delay, but I have been away. JacquesCousteau, Thanks much! I have gotten much better but will continue to improve my skills. This is in no small part to all of the information provided on MSW. The insights are invaluable. John, Still have much to do in the engine room. It continues to amaze me how they got all that stuff in such a small area. LJP

Hi John, Thanks much. II know my time working on the model has really been in fits and starts. It will continue to be sporadic in the near future. I have completed the engine room panel. As mentioned earlier, I will only complete an engine room panel on the starboard side and leave the port side off to allow better viewing of the engine room itself. This also means I will only complete half of the panel entrance into the engine room, and only a single sliding door. For the engine room “glass” for the windows, I used mica. My thanks to Roger Pellett & wefalck for their recommendations and discussion of the same in Cathead’s Peerless build. The thickness is much more to scale, and the imperfections in the mica replicate the imperfections in early glass windows. For the grids, I was able to find 1/32 x 1/32 strips, but I no longer remember where I got them from. The interior view is a bit more busy with all of the engine room detail. I still need to do lots here: more pipes, bells, some machinery and all of the boiler room carlines. I may do the stairs first and then the carlines as this will make piping placement much easier.

Keith, Thanks much for your praise! Really appreciate it! Cathead, Same question I had: how would these work in a boiler pit? My distance between the boiler and coal shoot is 6 feet. I actually used one of the tools (the "D" - see below) and it works if you start in the corner of the boiler pit. And a bit obsessive on my part... Not ideal but workable. This is where I got my info: Marine Boilers; Marine Engines; Western River Steamboats - International Library of Technology. (1902) Probably way too much information but hope this helps. LJP

I have been working on the boiler room. The outside panel is simple. The hand ropes are the only detail on the outside. Not certain what it is called, but on the main deck, a panel was added to keep people from falling into the pit. On the inside, there is the handles for the capstan and the fire hose. Although the capstan was steam powered, there seems to have been a habit of still including manual handles “just in case”. The panel is still removable and will not be cemented in until after the hog chains are finally set when the hurricane deck is in place. Lots of little (time consuming) details have been added. In the boiler pit, a coal shovel and the four firebox tools were made. Period publications listed the tools at eight feet tall - probably long enough to both stay away from a hot fire box but also to keep the handles cooler. On the opposite side is the ladder into the pit. The steam dome had several additions. Piping to the capstan, and the radiators in the men’s smoker and the pilothouse were added. Other stuff like finishing the water piping and spent steam vent to the chimney were also built. Now I would like to finish up the engine room. Again, sorry for the delays but life has gotten in the way.

Hi Keith & John, Thanks for the comments! Life has gotten in the way and I have not been able to dedicate much time to the model. It may be awhile before I can again, but I will sneak in time when available. Take care, LJP

I have completed the stationeries and deck beams. Things are getting crowded. Nothing too exciting but now it is time for lots more piping and panels. The hog chain braces are only set in temporarily.

Wonderful choice of subject and a great build! How you can work on a scale this small always amazes me. Absolutely loved all the details - including the kitties. LJP

Simply EXCELLENT! LJP

Excellent news Take care and soon to be back modeling. LJP

Hi John, Engine rooms are really wild. I looked at several and simply could not make heads or tails out of them. I would need a complete set of pictures, a bit of luck, and two generous fingers of Bourbon. At least the Bourbon would help... Keith, Thanks for the encouragement, Having done this, I would adjust the intake & outtake pipes on the machinery so things would line up better. I have learned a lot since my last build but still have a long way to go. Eric, I appreciate the encouragement. I have tried to find out as much as possible but there is not as much nor as concise as I had hoped. Like everything else, I would suspect once you have seen one layout, you have seen only one layout. Thanks all, LJP

I placed the previously made machinery into the engine room: the engine assemblies, feed pumps, bilge pump and hand pump. The engines are now attached to the pitmans and the wheel. The engines and pitmans are offset by the required 90 degrees. Another view of the clutter in the engine room. I included the intake and exhaust steam lines and the water lines. I did a simplified version of both. Photos of engine rooms are best described as an explosion in a pipe factory. It is nigh impossible to follow where the pipes came from and where they went to. I did look at photos from S S Moyie and some steamboat diagrams. I found the ASME 2010 Diagram of the Power Plant of the Belle of Louisville to be the most helpful. Other diagrams which I reviewed were the American Queen, ElectircalEngineeringInfo.com and of course the ubiquitous Alan Bates EngineRoom Cyclopedium. But who knows how accurate my interpretation was. Any insight on this is greatly appreciated. On the port side photo, I included a black main valve with a lever (a/k/a throttle) for the steam line from the boiler. Steam lines would have been run to the engines. I may have made a mistake but I also included steam lines from the throttle to the feed pumps. The starboard side photo includes a feedwater heater in the engine room but not a condenser. The latter was apparently not common on smaller craft due to its size and weight. The feedwater heater was noted in JHC articles. I used a generic period pump for the model. The exhaust from the engines went to the heater. Documents noted that the exhaust from the feed pump went to the stacks to improve draft. Water went from the feed pumps to the heater and then below the main deck. The rest of the JHC exhaust was noted to have gone out the stern at the waterline. I still have a ways to go to complete this part of the model. There was a fire system with hoses that still needs to be completed. I would expect that this was river water as part of the existing feedwater system. River water was settled out and strained in the units located within the hull. I totally ignored a bilge piping system as it was below the main deck. A potable water system probably existed for the kitchen, hand wash sinks, maybe the laundry. More exotic drinking water systems included a separate tank, its own feedwater pump and a heater. Again, JHC was a small boat designed for cargo and no overnight passengers. So any portable water may have been a very simple system – maybe just a barrel or two. Next I need to put in the rest of the stationaries and the deck beams. And complete more of the piping.

Hi John & Rick, Thanks for your support. Some days you really need it. I hope to have an update in the next day or two. Engine room is getting closer to finished. LJP

Hi Cathead! Thanks for the praise!. Currently working on the engine room - the steam and water pipes are really being a challenge. LJP

I have completed the crew quarters in the engine room. The forward two rooms are set up as double bunk bed crew quarters. The room to the right is set up as the engineer’s closet, and the one across is postal and regular storage. The panel on the back will eventually be used for the starboard engine room superstructure. I will leave the port side open for viewing. Another view but with the engine room work area & gauges. The crew quarters do not reach the full height of the boiler room stringers. This is by design. The space above was used for numerous cables, pipes, &c. Now I would like to finish the engine room: place the machinery, finish the starboard superstructure, add in some pipes and detail.

You are in my thoughts. Your health and your wife's welfare is what is really important. Take Care, LJP