Lula by Keith Black - 1:120 Scale - 1870s Sternwheeler Supply Boat for Floating Pile Driver

[wefalck]

I gather it depends on the master and his safety consciousness ... there are/were well-kept boats and others ...

 

[GrandpaPhil]

2 hours ago, Javelin said:

Unfortunately I have to agree with Ferrus. 

Although nowadays safety is improving, a lot of "old school" people are still around on work boats. 

The drive to perform and do things quickly is often that high that people ignore the hazards to their own life and limb. Very often they are not aware of the hazards or have gotten away with some practices for a while not to consider them dangerous at all. 

When at work, tools are often scattered around to avoid losing time to get them. A lot of it depends on who's leading the operations and which kind of mix of characters you have onboard. 

All in all the rate of injuries and casualties on workboats remains high, even today, and that's not entirely due to the inherently dangerous activities they perform...

 

 

That said, I'm happy to hear of the good news (considering the circumstances) about your health Keith! 

Great to see you continuing Lula! 

Don’t forget the extension cords run out and the air hoses!

 

The crews I worked with were pretty conscious about them though.

 

Cleaning them and everything else up was part of our shift change.

[Keith Black]

On 5/16/2025 at 9:10 AM, GrandpaPhil said:

Keith,

  Glad to hear that you are doing better!  Lula looks amazing!

 

Regarding workboat cleanliness, many years ago I worked on a supply boat in the former Gulf of Mexico.

 

It was usually kept as uncluttered as possible to reduce the possibility of tripping or otherwise damaging either the crew or the equipment.

 

We were pretty careful about making sure that we kept everything picked up and stowed.

 Thank you, Phil.

 

On 5/16/2025 at 12:18 PM, Javelin said:

Unfortunately I have to agree with Ferrus. 

Although nowadays safety is improving, a lot of "old school" people are still around on work boats. 

The drive to perform and do things quickly is often that high that people ignore the hazards to their own life and limb. Very often they are not aware of the hazards or have gotten away with some practices for a while not to consider them dangerous at all. 

When at work, tools are often scattered around to avoid losing time to get them. A lot of it depends on who's leading the operations and which kind of mix of characters you have onboard. 

All in all the rate of injuries and casualties on workboats remains high, even today, and that's not entirely due to the inherently dangerous activities they perform...

 

 

That said, I'm happy to hear of the good news (considering the circumstances) about your health Keith! 

Great to see you continuing Lula! 

 Thank you, Roel. I hope and pray your life is not at risk because of shortsightedness and greed by those that have authority over you.

 

On 5/16/2025 at 1:23 PM, wefalck said:

I gather it depends on the master and his safety consciousness ... there are/were well-kept boats and others ...

 Companies would be run much differently if the director's children worked in those high risk areas.

 

 

Thank you to everyone for the comments and the likes. 

 

 

 Lula has her crew. There are eight crew members including Captain Bill.

 

 The boilerman can be seen at the front of the boiler and the lead deckhand is the person walking toward the bow on the starboard side. 

 

 The deckhand hanging on the grab handle is the youngest member of the crew. A lot of his foolishness is overlooked and forgiven because he is also the strongest and least fearful of any man onboard.  

 

The engineer and his assistant are replacing one of the seals on the hand pump that went wobbly. There are four deckhands including the lead deckhand. 

 

 

 Next on the list are the chain supports for the cylinder timbers. What jolly good fun awaits. 

 

 Thank you to each of you for your support and for following along.

 

  Keith

 

 

[Rick310]

It just keeps getting better and better Keith!!

Rick

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, Rick310 said:

It just keeps getting better and better Keith!!

 Thank you, Rick. 

[LJP]

Simply EXCELLENT!  

LJP

[Keith Black]

23 minutes ago, LJP said:

Simply EXCELLENT!

 Thank you, LJP

[Paul Le Wol]

Keith, that is a great looking crew!

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Keith, that is a great looking crew!

 Thank you, Paul.

 

 I was going to add a figure using a push broom and I thought I better check Google and check when the push broom was invented. I'm certainly glad I did because the push broom patent was applied for in 1950. How bizarre is that!  

[TBlack]

There’s a patent for a push broom!? Amazing!

[Paul Le Wol]

Good going Keith, I would never have thought of that.👍

[kurtvd19]

That's a good catch about the broom.  That is in keeping with the NRG's motto - Advancing Ship Modeling Through Research".

[wefalck]

What's a 'push broom'?

 

[clearway]

15 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Next on the list are the chain supports for the cylinder timbers. What jolly good fun awaits. 

we do like to "entertain" ourselves Keith- it's a kind of sado-masochism 😁- crew look great and i like the story being told.

 

Keith

[GrandpaPhil]

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

What's a 'push broom'?

 

Eberhard,

  It’s a large broom used for cleaning floors (or decks in this case).

 

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/home-and-decor/cleaning-and-disinfectants/push-brooms/1581016
 

 

[Keith Black]

3 hours ago, TBlack said:

There’s a patent for a push broom!? Amazing!

 Patent Attorneys gotta eat too. 

 

3 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Good going Keith, I would never have thought of that

 Thank you, Paul. It's hard to believe that push brooms predate the first artificial earth orbiting satellite by only seven years. That's just mind blowing crazy.

 

3 hours ago, kurtvd19 said:

That's a good catch about the broom.  That is in keeping with the NRG's motto - Advancing Ship Modeling Through Research".

 Thank you, Kurt.

 

2 hours ago, clearway said:

we do like to "entertain" ourselves Keith- it's a kind of sado-masochism 😁- crew look great and i like the story being told.

 Thank you, Keith. For me, doing chain work is like stabbing myself repeatedly with a sharp needle. Okay, a little over the top... a dull needle. 

 

18 minutes ago, GrandpaPhil said:

It’s a large broom used for cleaning floors (or decks in this case).

 Thanks. Phil. 

 

 

 Speaking of chain work, I'm off to upstairs to blacken me some chain. 

[mcb]

Hello Keith,

Lula is almost finished now I suppose, looking good with all the details and a crew to liven things up.

Thanks for posting about the 'Hard Coal Navy', very interesting, I never heard of that before.

 

Now I'm off to scrape the broom off my grain elevator.😀

 

Thanks for posting,

mcb

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, mcb said:

Lula is almost finished now I suppose, looking good with all the details and a crew to liven things up.

Thanks for posting about the 'Hard Coal Navy', very interesting, I never heard of that before.

 

Now I'm off to scrape the broom off my grain elevator.😀

 

Thanks for posting,

 

 Thank you, mcb.

 

 The push broom is such a simple idea and it fills a large need, I can't help but believe someone hadn't made a rudimentary push broom long before 1950. They had to have. 

[TBlack]

7 hours ago, wefalck said:

What's a 'push broom'?

 

[wefalck]

Sorry, I don't want to dilute the thread, but I am curious, when a broom would be a 'push-broom', rather than just an ordinary wide broom? Below is an image of Berlin street-sweeps from around 1910, who seem to push fairly wide brooms: