Sternwheeler From the Susquehanna River's Hard Coal Navy by Keith Black - 1:120 Scale

[Keith Black]

22 minutes ago, MAGIC's Craig said:

Wonderful detailing, Keith!  Another fine old rough craft brought to life for all of us to respect and appreciate.

 Thank you very much, Craig. 

[clearway]

having two coal fires in the house i use real coal smashed up in a bag to coal my railway locos- now we have to use re-constituted coal so i saved a few lumps of "real" coal for future projects.- build is looking better and better Keith.

 

Keith

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, clearway said:

having two coal fires in the house i use real coal smashed up in a bag to coal my railway locos- now we have to use re-constituted coal so i saved a few lumps of "real" coal for future projects.- build is looking better and better Keith.

 Thank you, Keith.

 

 I just asked Mr Google how many homes in Britain are still heated with coal and the answer was 30,000. I then asked how many narrowboats and wide beam boats there are in Britain and the answer was 35,000. I watch several YouTube videos on canal boating and several use coal to heat their boats. I would think coal usage is declining but you and the canal boats seem to be hanging on. 

[wefalck]

There are no hard coal-mines in the UK anymore and neither in most European countries, only in Poland I think. This is becoming a real problem for the European steel-makers (Trump will be happy ...) and also for the preservation railways and traction-engine owners. Coal has become very expensive, as it is imported from South Africa and Australia. 

[Keith Black]

Thank you to all for the comments and likes.

 

 Quick update...

 

 The knee braces and winches have been added and that completes the bow face except for the deckhand and he will be the last piece added to the model. 

 

 With the exception of the water and steam pipes the boiler is done and glued in place

 

 Next on the list is the steam engine. 

 

 Thank you for the support and for being part of the journey.

 

   Keith

Edited Friday at 03:56 AM by Keith Black

[MAGIC's Craig]

Always a treat to see the development of your model(s), Keith.  They open my mind to new techniques and possible future models.  Carry on!

[John Ruy]

Love the detail and weathering technics. Awesome work, Keith. Holds up to magnification and inspection. 🧐 

John

[Keith Black]

15 hours ago, MAGIC's Craig said:

Always a treat to see the development of your model(s), Keith.  They open my mind to new techniques and possible future models.  Carry on!

 

7 hours ago, John Ruy said:

Love the detail and weathering technics. Awesome work, Keith. Holds up to magnification and inspection

 

 

 Craig, John, thank you both so much for your kind comments. It's high praise coming from the builders of the beautiful Twilight and Klondike models. 

[Keith Black]

 Regarding the steam engine.

 

 We know it was a non condensing steam engine because we see the exhaust being emitted directly into the atmosphere. We know it was  vertical steam engine and not a horizontal engine.  We know the height was no more than four feet high as the exhaust pipe from the engine can be seen through the engine room window viewed from the bow.

 

 If it was an expansion steam engine the exhaust would be water. The idea of a non condensing expanding engine is not a possibility according to what I've read and I've done a bunch of reading/research over the past two days trying to come up with an engine design I can make. 

 

 The power of a two cylinder expanding engine was only suitable for a launch, so that eliminates a vertical two cylinder non condensing engine because of the lack of power and a vertical three cylinder non condensing engine also sounds like it wouldn't  have also had the power to push barges. I did find a photo of a model of a vertical three cylinder non condensing reversing engine, see photo.

 

 They did make a special marine vertical four cylinder reversing non condensing steam engine but I can't find a model or better yet, historical photo of one.I did find a photo of a vertical four cylinder reciprocating (V-4) but that wouldn't work because there would have two exhaust pipes coming off the engine, not one.

 

 The vertical marine four cylinder reversing non condensing steam engine was powerful and smooth running engine. Because of the length of the drive shaft and the wheels being gear driven, minimizing the amount of vibration would have been a huge factor. 

 

 What's a guy to do? The only thing I know to do is get creative and add a cylinder to the three cylinder engine shown.

 

 "Houston, disregard that last transmission" .... 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 12:10 PM by Keith Black

[Dr PR]

I would search the US Patent Office for vertical non-condensing steam engines. I would expect to find quite a few - with drawings. Just pick one dated from about the time the tug was built.

[Javelin]

On 8/24/2025 at 6:12 AM, Keith Black said:

We know it was a non condensing steam engine because we see the exhaust being emitted directly into the atmosphere.

I may have missed something, but in the pictures, I only see black smoke being emitted from the main funnel. That would be the exhaust of coal being burned in the boiler. I do not see any white steam being emitted except from that small pipe in some pictures. 

 

That said, with such small space, placing a condenser etc. wouldn't be very practical. On the other side it would require a lot of fresh water stored in tanks...

 

All in all, a very fine build! Love that subtle weathering, a difficult task at such scale.

[Keith Black]

2 hours ago, Javelin said:

I may have missed something, but in the pictures, I only see black smoke being emitted from the main funnel. That would be the exhaust of coal being burned in the boiler. I do not see any white steam being emitted except from that small pipe in some pictures. 

 

That said, with such small space, placing a condenser etc. wouldn't be very practical. On the other side it would require a lot of fresh water stored in tanks...

 

All in all, a very fine build! Love that subtle weathering, a difficult task at such scale.

Thank you, Roel

 

 The below photo is the best for showing the exhaust. As much as I tried talking myself into the engine being a triple expansion I couldn't because of this photo.

 

 

 

On 8/24/2025 at 1:03 AM, Dr PR said:

I would search the US Patent Office for vertical non-condensing steam engines. I would expect to find quite a few - with drawings. Just pick one dated from about the time the tug was built.

 Thank you, Phil.

 

 I have enough engine photos to move forward as they all look close to being the same. Finding mention of a special four cylinder marine non condensing engine allowed me to consider and make that engine. Good news, the engine build is going well. Hopefully I'll be able to post photos this evening.

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to everyone for the comments and likes.

 

 

 There should be a steam engine in there somewhere. 

 

 In the heat of battle. All that mess working on a piece less that an inch long. 

 

 Cylinder heads and steam chest glued to plywood backing. I have a large work surface but invariably I work at the bottom edge of the table, that's why I have so many escapees.  

 

 The top end is done. Horrible photo, no more taking photos on a white background. 

 

 I'm pleased with the top end, hopefully I can get the bottom end to match.  It took 31 pieces to make the top end. I was trying to hold the top end length to 0.70 inches but it came out to be 0.90 inches. This means the completed engine will be about 1.1 inches, to scale that makes the engine 11 feet in length. What a monster!

 

 Thank you for your support and for following along.

 

   Keith

Edited 17 hours ago by Keith Black

[Paul Le Wol]

Keith, that is a fine bit of micro-fitting!

[Coyote_6]

So small.  So cool.  Love seeing the fleet together!!

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Keith, that is a fine bit of micro-fitting!

 Thank you, Paul.

 

2 minutes ago, Coyote_6 said:

So small.  So cool.  Love seeing the fleet together!!

 Thank you, Steve.

 

 Those photos in my last post were bugging me so I took what look a little better. I had also wanted to include a top down photo of the three cylinder model. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 When the engine is completed I'm going to ploy coat it due to machinery paint gloss, oil, and moisture. I think it will look more natural with poly coat than flat black. 

[Dr PR]

Could the steam in the photo in post #222 be a whistle instead of engine exhaust?

[wefalck]

8 hours ago, Keith Black said:

I have a large work surface but invariably I work at the bottom edge of the table, that's why I have so many escapees.  

Sound awfully familiar 😬

 

And yes, it's better to take pictures on a medium grey surface. I tend to use a medium green surface, as most of our parts are usually not green and that gives a good colour contrast.

 

Good progress so far. Looking forward to the rest of the engine !

 

[Keith Black]

10 hours ago, wefalck said:

Sound awfully familiar 😬

 

And yes, it's better to take pictures on a medium grey surface. I tend to use a medium green surface, as most of our parts are usually not green and that gives a good colour contrast.

 

Good progress so far. Looking forward to the rest of the engine !

 Thank you, Eberhard. 

 

12 hours ago, Dr PR said:

Could the steam in the photo in post #222 be a whistle instead of engine exhaust?

 I don't think so, Phil.  If it the engine had been a condensing/compound engine there wouldn't have been the need for an exhaust stack at all, just a pipe over the side. Note the exhaust pipe coming off the engine as seen through the engine room bow window. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

 While I'm marking up photos......

 

 The only view to the port side is through the engine room's bow window. The arrow points to what I thought was a jack pump but there's no line to what would be a unseen pump. I don't have a clue, anyone what to hazard a guess?