LJP

Hi Michael, I loved the Yukon and want to make it up there again. Wonderful country & people. Murray Lundberg & ExploreNorth have recent photos of the graveyard. As expected, nature has truly taken its toll and now it appears graffiti has found its way onto the wrecks. How sad. Hi Kurt, I have FINALLY found the Thistle build articles in newspaper accounts. Those provided lots of info and confirmed some of the measurements that I had made. But some of that information directly contradicts engine and boiler information that I had obtained from another source. I still want to do the archive research during the long cold Wisconsin winters and go from there regardless of what I do or do not find. The boiler photo has nothing I can compare to measure against. Again, the photo is really poor quality so unless I can find a better quality photo, its use is more of info and less of building assistance. Thanks, LJP

Hi Patrick, and a warm welcome to all of Belgium. The steamboat that I will build, Thistle, appears to have been owned for many years by a family with Belgian ancestry. The Lefevre family name is prevalent in the Belgian settlement community northeast of Green Bay in Door County, although the Thistle family was located in Tustin. Hi Kurt, I could not agree with you more on research rut. But I would really like to have the type and dimensions of the final Thistle boiler so I can determine if I can set the boiler on the main deck (8’ height) or if it needs to be set within the hull like its sister ship Paul L. (a 9’ Scotch Marine boiler). The initial 6 x 12 firebox boiler lasted until 1899 when the then J. H. Crawford was lengthened 14’, renamed Thistle and “two new boilers were put in her lower deck”. New boilers were again added quickly in 1901 and boilers were overhauled in 1914. Ironically, at least one of the 1914 boilers ended up heating an Oshkosh school until the mid-1960’s. I have a very poor-quality newspaper photo of that boiler. I would hope that archival boiler inspection records from the Eighth District will provide an answer. If not, then it is “reconstruction” time. Sadly, possible research literally “went up in smoke” when a fire at the Oshkosh Public Museum in 1994 destroyed their model steamboats and materials. Thanks! LJP

EJ_L, Jim and Geoff thanks for the warm "On Board"! EJ_L, I expect it will take me another year before I complete the research and actually begin building. I keep finding new info which makes me modify the draft plans which I have created. This has really been an interesting process doing the research and I love it. Stay tuned but research and then build is a new process for me and it is taking a long time.

reklein, thanks for the info. I found the historical society but you are correct that it will take some googling to find the catalog. I will find it... Eric, I am jealous that you were there for the '98 Centennial. When I was there in '95 the steamboat Keno in Dawson was closed for renovations for the Centennial. And the Klondike and Nenana were closed for the day by the time the tour got there and we had to leave before they opened the next morning. Walking around them is not like wandering around in them.

Earlier in the forum, I noted comments on the steamboat graveyard across from Dawson City. I have attached several photos that I took in 1995. The steamboats had long since collapsed, were unsafe to walk upon and completely enclosed by the underbrush. Hope you like 'em. LJP

Thanks for the warm welcome! And Kurt, thanks for the Bates info. I have no idea why it took me so long to get onto MSW...

Not quite a year ago I returned to modeling after a long hiatus. Work, life and an incredibly long post-retirement “honey -do” list had kept me from this hobby. In the past, everything was about clipper ships. I had kit bashed models of Cutty Sark (one still uncompleted and may never get done), Thermopylae, Flying Cloud and hull sections. The prospect of returning to spars, masts and rigging no longer intrigues me as it once did. Over that sabbatical I was able to visit museums and museum ships as part of business trips or vacations. On a trip in 1995 what really caught my eye was the Klondike Gold Rush steamboats. I was able to visit the Klondike, Keno and Nenana, along with the remains of the Tutshi and the Dawson City steamboat graveyard. The Institute of Nautical Archeology, John Pollard et al., has had a wonderful series of surveys done on these and other Klondike steamboats. I loved the steamboats but really wanted to research and scratch build a sternwheeler with local interest. I chose the Thistle (1894) of Oshkosh, Wisconsin partially because of its unusual octagonal pilothouse. As a sternwheeler with a 21-year life, although no hull plans exist (no surprise there) there are numerous photos, similar sternwheelers and newspaper articles to draw from. And lots of general publications as Bates, Hunter, Kane and others. And of course, the MSW feeds on Bertrand, Arabia, Herione and Eric’s excellent forum on steamboats. What amazes me is the quality of the models, but also the willingness of all to answer questions non-judgmentally. While I may never rise to that level of mastership and it will take much longer than most, I really appreciate the wonderful interaction with like minded people, regardless of their skill levels or where they live. Thanks, LJP