Blairstown by mcb - 1:160 - PLASTIC - Steam Derrick Lighter NY Harbor

[mcb]

Hello everyone,

Here is the start of another NY Harbor waterline model.

'Blairstown' was operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in New York Harbor from approximately 1914 to the early 50's when it was sold. 

She was an open decked, self-propelled, vessel equipped with a derrick boom rated for 35 tons.  These lighters, being self-propelled as opposed to ordinary 'stick' lighters, were used to transfer important cargo from the railroad piers to ships around the harbor.

'Blairstown' will be built from photographs for the most part as was my previous model 'Isis'.  I am preparing a crude drawing to work from using a good broadside photograph.

I may paint this model as she was after she was sold to a non-railroad lighterage firm (and still working in NY harbor at least into the 1960's).

The sources I am using are the same ones I used to build 'Isis' which I will list at the end of this project.

Unfortunately, I only have a couple of photos that I am able to post which are of the 'Blairstown' soon after being built.  My model will have among other things a pilothouse added above its former location, a narrower engine house etc.

Photos below are from National Park Service, Steamtown DL&W glass plate negative collection, Watson B Bunnell

 

Thanks,

mcb

 

 

[Keith Black]

 MCB, I look forward to your Blairstown build. I really enjoyed following your Isis journey and I'm glad to have gotten a front row seat for Blairstown.

[mtaylor]

I'm in also.  This should be interesting as well as different.

[von_bednar]

That looks really interesting! I'm just starting in the hobby, also with an early XX century ship, so will be following along hoping to pick up some tricks. Not to mention I find that era quite fascinating and now I discover work boats I never imagined existed - like this and your previous build.

 

Looking forward to seeing it come to life!

[Jim Lad]

Looks like that will be a very interesting build.

 

John

[Canute]

I'm in.  The Bunnell photos are really good for enlarging. They're large plate glass negatives. Details are amazing. The Steamtown crew did an excellent job scanning most of the photos. Unfortunately, some had started de-laminating and the pictures are gone.  I've used some of the freight car pix from the collection.

[mcb]

Hello Again,

 

Thanks to Keith Black, mtaylor, von_bednar, Jim Lad, and Canute.  And thanks to all for the likes.

 

I had to start this thread since I was mired in indecision about which subject to start next.  Once I start the thread I am committed and motivated.

Below is a photo of the progress so far, roughing in the bulkheads.  I hope to improve a few things compared to the last one.

 

Also, below is a picture (NPS/ Watson B Bunnell) of another, older and smaller steam derrick lighter, 'Bangor' so that you can get another view of these steam lighters.  This is a crop of larger photo.

 

As Canute said above these glass plate negative images can show a lot of detail of the subject and the background as well.  Note the laundry drying on the clothesline!  Believe it or not that is a common sight in these images.  I was surprised to see the clean appearance of the inside of the funnel of the 'Bangor' as well as the almost white funnel of a (paddle wheel) ferry at the bottom edge of the pic.  There is an interesting thing in the background of the first pic in the first post too

 

Thanks again, I will be back after the hull is faired and skinned I hope.

mcb

 

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

 Another great photo, MCB. Why/how is the inside of that stack so clean? The barges in the background would make a good secondary subject. 

Edited June 2, 2022 by Keith Black

[mcb]

Hello again everyone,

Thanks Keith Black, and thanks to all for the likes.  I am sorry that I took so long to answer you Keith.  I don't know how those stacks look so clean, I suppose the ferry especially could have just had maintenance, but I doubt it.  

Anyway, here are some pics showing recent progress.  I am currently installing rubbing strakes. 

I hope to be a little more careful with the hull on this one.  Unfortunately, it will look much the same as 'Isis' until the superstructure is well along.

I promise that the next one will look much different although still 1:160.

Thanks for looking,

mcb 

[Keith Black]

MCB, good to see an update. The hull is coming along nicely. 

[Canute]

Coming along nicely.

 

The interior of the stack question got me thinking it may be due to the fuel burned, anthracite or hard coal. Had different characteristics from the soft coal used. The Lackawanna used hard coal from the NE PA area. They used Miss Phoebe Snow, a lady dressed in white, to advertise traveling on the railroad. If you've ever rode behind a steam engine with car windows open, you'll get dusted with ash from the burned coal. This didn't happen on the Lackawanna until WW I, when the Navy requested as much hard coal as was available to use in their ships, since another characteristic of hard coal was much less smoke. I suspect less residue in the flue gases, so less buildup. I'm a little out of practice with this info, since it's been over 50 years from my engineering college studies.

[Roger Pellett]

I have been pondering the internal construction of smokestacks for a while; not because “I need to get a life” but because I need to have an answer for my current modeling project.  So far, I have been unable to find any information.

 

I doubt that they are just empty pipes, as boiler gasses were hot enough to burn off paint.  It would seem that some sort of internal liner would be needed to provide an insulating air gap.  I believe that recovery of heat from boiler glue gas was also a consideration;  to preheat combustion air or feedwater.

 

Roger

[Canute]

If I can dig up some concepts I learned in power plant designs, we'd take the hot gases to heat the feedwater, since it was more efficient to raise the pre-heated water just a few degrees, rather than the cold water from the cistern/tank and dumping it into the boiler. This is what the more modern steam locomotives do, warm up the feed water going into the boiler. That was the fireman's job in the engine, tending the water level in the loco. Sometimes you got a nervous engineer who was paranoid about  letting the water level in the boiler sight glass drop too low, permitting exposure of the crown sheet and resulting explosion as water is dumped into the boiler. This was usually in hilly country. The fireman ran the injector from the feedwater heater; the engineer had an injector fed directly from the loco tender (colder water). This colder water would drop the pressure and the engine would slow down. Safe, but showing a lack of faith in the fireman and possibly late arrival.

[Richard R]

Hi - just wanted to contribute to the Blairstown story.  The vessel was partially aground and sunk on the Reinauer property on the north shore of Staten Island for decades.  Sometime in the mid to late 1990's, Disch Construction from NJ removed the wreck.  They used one of their dredges with a chopping spud and buckets to breakup the vessel and load the components onto a scrap barge.  It took Disch about a week to remove the majority of the vessel.  Warren Disch (now deceased) told me that the superstructure, hull, engine and running gear were completely removed and he thought that other than a few stray pieces, he got the vast majority of the wreck to the scrapper. I still work for Reinauer and will see if anyone has pictures of the vessel or the scrapping operation. 

 

FYI - this is an undated photo of the rig that scrapped the Blairstown.

[mcb]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the comments Keith Black, Canute, Roger Plett and Richard R.  Thanks everyone for the likes.

I remain puzzled by the 'clean' stacks.

 

It is amazing to me that someone (Richard R) turns up with a connection to this vessel.  There is an encyclopedia of knowledge on this forum.

I would appreciate any info or photos of Blairstown as my sources are few.

 

The build has slowed down lately due to the climate in my basement.  I may post a couple of photos of the hull ready for paint soon though.

Thanks again,

mcb

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, mcb said:

There is an encyclopedia of knowledge on this forum.

 Isn't that the truth, it's absolutely amazing.

[mcb]

Hello again everyone, 

I thought I would post an update of progress on this, such as it is.

I am working on the hull while trying to make drawings of the superstructure.  

The last picture should be as it sits today.  I have to touch up some damage which was caused by the masking.

 

Thanks for looking,

mcb

 

[Keith Black]

 The hull turned out great. Nice going, MCB. 

[Jim Lad]

I agree with Keith.  The hull looks really good.

 

John

[Canute]

Nicely done.

[wefalck]

How could I possibly have missed this new project since May!

 

A (a non-selfpropelled) derrick lighter after some 1880s plans has been on my projects list for decades ... looking forward to see your solutions for the derrick and the machinery.

Edited September 2, 2022 by wefalck

[mcb]

Hello again everyone,

Thanks for the comments Keith Black, Jim Lad, Canute and Wefalck.  and thanks for the likes.

I am sorry it has been so long since I have done anything on this model.  I had begun to build the forward /main deckhouse and foolishly cut the openings in the wrong places (short attention span).

I put the model aside and decided to finish rigging the old AL Blue Nose II model I had started not long ago.  Well, when I started with the rigging I couldn't stop and so I finished that Bluenose II case and all. 

Anyway, I intend to get this Blairstown up to the point of the derrick and booms before the next break. (That would be a MS Kate Cory 1:64 and I will start a build log when I go back to it).

First pic shows the deck house on the hull (reject hull in background), the second pic is the current state, needs a little clean-up.

Thanks for looking,

mcb

 

[Keith Black]

Good to see this project back on track. 

[Canute]

Ditto. It's been a while. But, we are patient. 😄

[wefalck]

We all have other project and life in general slowing us down with particular projects ... looking forward to further updates along the road.

[Roger Pellett]

Great to see this interesting project back on the Front Burner!

 

Smokestack-  I have been researching for my Benjamin Noble project.  There are several possibilities-  I read about one ship here on the Lakes where the stack was just a plain steel tube.  Every so often it would get so hot that it would glow red!  When that happened the watch stander in the pilot house would signal the engineer who would spray down the stack with water.

 

There are also photos of stacks that clearly have internal liners.  These could either be plain liners with a static air gap, or feedwater heaters as Ken posted. I doubt if the air gap was used to heat combustion as these plants pulled combustion air directly from the fire room via the large cowl ventilators on the boiler house roof. 

[mcb]

Hello all,

Thanks for the comments, Keith Black, Canute, wefalck, and Roger Pellett.  And thanks to everyone for the likes.

I have the deckhouse almost ready for primer.  I drilled locating pins down into the hull so that I can easily remove and replace it on the deck when needed.

The openings in the upper deck are for a ladder way or stair well down to the main deck.  I will have to make stairs for those as the commercially available stairs are not steep enough.

The layout of the doors is very odd as the doors on the lower level are short and there is a rather large step from the upper door.  Under the upper door there appears to be a smaller access door with steps on it. Behind this door is a grill which will be shown in the view of the port side. 

Any way here is how it stands now, a little rough.

Thanks,

mcb

 

[Al S]

Joining this late. Interesting to know that there were TWO Blairstowns, both built by J W Sullivan at Elizabethtown, one in 1914 and one in 1916. The one you are modelling is the latter. 

 

https://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/bethelizabethport.htm

 

The first was sold to the Royal Navy and re-named Bullfrog. She served as a boom defence vessel at Scapa Flow and was scrapped in 1923. My grandfather served on her. 

[mcb]

Hello everyone,

Sorry to have not kept this log up to date lately.   I had some long-deferred maintenance to attend to at home.

Thanks everyone for the comments and likes. 

Thanks Al S for bringing that info to my attention.  I never had any idea.

It is still somewhat amazing to me that anyone else has ever heard of this obscure subject.

 

The stairs/ladders have been installed in the deckhouse, though in the pictures they look a little clunky.  I may have to build a new fixture with a lesser tread spacing.

I have begun the pilot house assembly which will be on top of the winch control room. The pilot house was raised at some point (after the photos at the beginning of this thread) above what became the winch control station.  I will probably put in some sort of interior details in the pilot house and winch room.  The pics show the attempt at window layout and the fancy? wood siding that goes on the pilot house.

 

I think I will have to build windows next.  Not my favorite job.

 

Thanks for looking,

mcb

 

[wefalck]

It's good to see another project progressing in 'our' small scale!

 

How will you do the glazing of the windows, sheet or some acrylic glazing fluid as the railways modellers use? The pilot house is round, but I would assume that the window panes were flat for cost reasons.