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Paddle
Steamer Schiller at Brunnen, Lake Lucerne in 2008. She is one of five
paddle steamers operating as part of the SGV fleet in the main summer
season on this beautiful lake in Switzerland - a place where such ships
are seen as indispensible part of the lake's tourist industry and so retain a place in the fleet alongside modern motor vessels
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UNDERSTANDING PADDLE STEAMERS - PAST AND PRESENT
: Rise, decline and reasons for survival
Paddle Steamers are
historical ships which are now firmly established favourites in
the tourist industry, providing excursions amongst fine scenery
on lake, river and in the case of the renowned Waverley, coastal
cruises. Their fascinating steam engines, linked to large paddle
wheels, are a unique selling point making a paddle steamer trip
an extra special day out and retain many advantages
over a diesel or oil engine despite their higher operating cost. Paddles also
have their advantages in shallow waters and paddle steamers, like any other
screw ship, can benefit from modern aids such as bow thrusters. In the appropriate place, professionally
managed and marketed, paddle steamers could be a successful business proposition
and a considerable benefit to the areas in which they are located.
Unique
Features : Paddle steamers have something
extra to offer the interested observer or passenger compared to most ships :
visible engines and paddles
Significant Benefits
: Paddle steamers are smooth, quiet and virtually smell and vibration-free in
operation
- all leading to a better
customer experience.
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PADDLE WHEELS |
STEAM ENGINES |
DECORATIVE
PADDLE BOXES |
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The form of propulsion unique
to paddle steamers
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The engines are a major on-board
attraction
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The most distinctive feature
when seen from shore
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The method of
propulsion used by the first steamships and still ideal for calm
and shallow
waters. Many paddlers have viewing port-holes on the main deck so the
turning wheels and splashing waters can be seen to good effect.
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On most paddle steamers the engines are clearly
visible and promoted as a major on-board attraction.
Here, lubrication oil is topped-up on Lake Lucerne's PS Schiller
whilst the engines are stopped as she calls at a pier
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From a distance, Paddle Steamers
can often be identified by their distinctive paddle boxes, with
vents of different sizes and shapes, often highly decorated. The
Paddle Steamer Waverley's port side vents gets a touch-up of paint
whilst she waits at Tighnabruaich.
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Those paddle steamers which survived the development
of road networks, increased car ownership, the construction of bridges and the
introduction of car ferries also had to face the pressure of ship operators
which, if they were to continue at all, were under pressure to use smaller and
cheaper ships. It looked bleak in the 1960s and early 1970s until enthusiast
pressure groups raised the profile of this disappearing mode and the ships began
to be heavily marketed for their own attractions as well as for the tourist
excursion programmes they were forced to adopt as regular ferry service customers
disappeared. Where conditions were right, they have survived and prospered :
big marketing attractions despite higher costs than some newer
technologies.
Now it is almost unthinkable that paddle steamers would be withdrawn and scrapped
and those still in existence are now being regularly renovated to the highest
standards of structural integrity and passenger comfort. Even modern ships are
being built and marketed as paddle steamers even though they are
not strictly speaking either. Such is the cachet which is now associated with
something which, not long ago, was seen as obsolete.
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An anachronism ? : Paddle Steamer Maid of the Loch (right, at Luss
in a photo by Kenny Whyte) was built in 1953 for service on Scotland's
Loch Lomond. It was the last of a long line of passenger paddle
steamers built for service in the UK and many thought it was
obsolete as soon as it was ordered. In mainland Europe, the last
paddlers had been built 25 years earlier. It was not just the propulsion
method, but the size of the ship which raised eyebrows,
but it seemed a good idea to the ship's operators at the time. The
critics were probably right. The Maid accumulated increasing losses
and was eventually withdrawn after the 1981 season - but still
survives as a static exhibit in the care of a charitable company
with a long-term hope of returning her to service.
Only three
other paddle steamers were built for UK service after the Second
World War, with Waverley still in operation but with Bristol Queen
and Cardiff Queen failing to see out the 1960s
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The heyday for sea-going
paddle steamers was short - but there remained a niche where they survived
An
early technology : Man had long used wheels to harness the power of water
and turning wheels were an obvious way to propel boats through water, if a way
could be found to power them. The
first commercially successful steam ship is generally acknowledged to be
Henry Bell's paddler Comet of 1812 which inauguarated a service between Glasgow and
Helensburgh in Scotland but this was five years after Robert Fulton introduced
a passenger service between New York and Albany on the Hudson River in the USA
with his ship Clermont. His ship the Albany is credited as sailing from the
Hudson to the Delaware River in 1808, albeit acting as a tug, and earning the
accolade of the world's first sea-going paddle steamer. These were the culmination
of several efforts to put steam engines to work in ships, which seemed an obvious
development in the Industrial Revolution. It needed the size of engines to be
reduced considerably before they could be applied to turning a paddle wheel
- itself something known about for centuries - and they had to be reliable.
The first paddle steamer of the industrial era is believed to be that built
by Claude du Juoffroy in France in 1774 when he undertook experiments on the
Doubs River but it was not until 1783 that his "Pyroscaphe" undertook
the first of what can be considered any sort of journey as she sailed for a
short distance on the River Saone. William Symington, a Scottish engineer,
took up work on steam power culminating in the PS Charlotte Dundas of 1802 which
hauled a cargo barge along the Forth and Clyde Canal, but the canal's conservative
owners did not pursue this form of propulsion further. After 1812, technological
developments continued apace and soon steamships were criss-crossing the globe,
although initially most had auxiliary sail rigging.
Technical
drawbacks : The earliest steamships were paddle
propelled, but very quickly they were made obsolete by the development of the
screw propeller, which replaced paddles for most marine applications. The screw,
although not without its own problems,
was permanently under water so was generally more efficient than the paddle
wheel, whose individual floats are out of the water for most of the time as
the wheel rotates, and in choppy waters this advantage
was particularly apparent. Paddles were unsuited to the long-distance cargo
trade, as the draught varied as coal stocks were used up, resulting in the paddles
rarely working at their optimum depth. In this trade sailing ships still had
advantages over steam due to not needing to carry coal stocks and themselves
survived into the twentieth century. Military ships also favoured the screw because it
was much less vulnerable to damage by enemy gunfire and damage from floating
debris. .....but some timeless advantages :
Paddlers found their niche in areas of calm and especially shallow
water as ferries and excursion ships and found particular importance as
river steamers where their shallow draughts helped navigate shifting
sands and potential snags. Stern paddle wheels became particularly
associated with the opening up of rivers in the American mid-west.
Wheels at the back gave the mechanism extra protection from floating
hazards in such waters. The military were glad of paddle steamers once
again, however, during World Wars I and especially II where their
shallow draught made them ideal for coastal minesweeping duties and
most commercial paddlers were requisitioned for war service. A number
of paddle steamers distinguished themselves at the Dunkirk evacuations
but both this and minesweeping involved great risk and many were sunk
by enemy action or mines as a result. Many
ferry operators persisted with paddle steamers in the face of new
technologies. They were tried and tested and the capital cost of the
engines tended to be lower and several of those companies working in
areas with frequent calls at piers preferred what was, at least for
some time, an advantage in paddlers' speed of acceleration and slowing.
Even today, a screw motor vessel can be extremely noisy and juddery
when asked to make a quick getaway from a standing start. The
development of variable pitch propellors, such as the Voith-Scheider
design which found early success around 1930 on Lake Constance and more
latterly azimuth drives have meant that ships are now so maneovrable
that they can sail sideways and spin on their axis. The use of
bow rudders and bow thrusters aided paddle steamer manoevrability, but
this still leaves
the handling of such ships a highly skilled task with
increasingly few mariners trained in its art.
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Crowds at a Royal Navy review on the Clyde in
the mid-1960s edge to the starboard side to view a destroyer leaving
the port-side wheel largely out of the water and paddling air. The
starboard wheel would have been bogged down and the paddle box full
of water .............. an inefficient situation, albeit unusual
for an excursion steamer in calm water ! Pictured is the Caledonian
Steam Packet's PS Caledonia of 1934
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Changing circumstances
: The demise
of paddle steamers, once found in large numbers on short ferry and excursion
services around the world and also as estuarine and river tugs, was in part a result of the relentless need for operators
to continuously cut their operating costs - a requirement common to any enterprise
in a competitive economic environment. Although Paddle Steamer technology had constantly
evolved over the years, the advent and refinement of the motor ship gave
operators the prospect of substantial reductions in their fuel and crew costs.
As the noise and excessive vibration which plagued motor ships was improved,
they reduced what was probably their biggest disadvantage, but in this respect
still lag steamships.
However, that is not the whole story. The decline of passenger steamers coincided with a change
in demand which meant that, with the exception of a few cases, they were not
replaced at all - except by car ferries, better road connections and where feasible, bridges. That
left the pure excursion traffic and in
many places remaining passenger numbers meant that only considerably smaller boats were needed.
Where demand was less affected, paddle steamers
had a better chance of survival and in the 1970s, enthusiasts, and to some extent
the public in general, embarked on campaigns which were to save threatened ships
and change their prospects completely as the tourism industry and the "heritage"
industry entered a period of rapid growth
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Car ownership : Tattershall Castle and her sister Wingfield Castle
(1934) were innovative paddlers, designed to carry cargoes on the
relatively short crossing of the Humber Estuary between Hull and New
Holland, and in this photo dated 1971 by Jake Dale, it can be seen
that the cargo space became useful for carrying cars. Nevertheless,
the two only had a few more years of working life and their younger
quasi-sister Lincoln Castle only until 1978, replaced by a diesel
(albeit paddle for draught reasons) car ferry temporarily introduced in anticipation
of the ferry service being replaced outright by a road suspension bridge
in 1981
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Cost considerations : Germany's mighty River Rhine was a stronghold
of paddle steamers providing connections between piers along both
sides of the river - primarily for passengers, but in early years,
goods as well. PS Goethe (seen right in 2000) was built in 1913
as a goods and passenger ship and has been expensively rebuilt on two occasions
for her now passenger-only role. The last paddler built for the
German section of the Rhine appeared in 1929 and operators KD have
since then specified motor ships (often propelled by Voith-Schneider
units) as road, rail and bridge connections left the ships increasingly
with the tourist trade only. From 1981, Goethe was the only remaining
paddler and even she was withdrawn in 1989. Restored late in 1996
after a significant rebuild she was placed on the "Nostalgic
Route", the highly-scenic tourist run between Koblenz and Rudesheim.
Still marketed as a nostalgic paddler, she was converted to motor
operation after the 2008 season, partly on technical grounds but
also as a cost-limiting measure. Fuel costs were reported to have
halved after the conversion and there were also savings in engine
room personnel.
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Paddle Steamers can be
operated successfully - but only if the circumstances are right
New
roles were needed : Paddle Steamers can only
survive if they operate either in
cooperation with or away from the direct competition of "commercial"
services and they must offer something that is a little
different from what a commercial service might offer. They have largely lost
their role as ferries,
but need to capitalise on the considerable and still growing demand for enjoyable
"days out". They must be popular attractions in their own right, providing
the best of modern facilities but also showcasing their unique engineering heritage. They
are a tourist attraction and must market themselves as such, but more crucuially
they must go from where the public is likely to be to somewhere that they are
likely to want to go to - or at least to see.
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Restricted roles : Paddle Steamer Waverley cruises up and down the
Firth of Clyde. Here she is seen heading homewards off Skelmorlie
in 2013 in a photo kindly supplied by Kenny Whyte. She now
fulfils a purely excursion cruise role. Ferry services were once
handled by similar paddle steamers, but the link between Wemyss
Bay on the mainland and Rothesay on the Isle of Bute is now maintained
by car ferries on a shuttle service. The current holders of that
roster are the Polish-built twins Argyle and Bute, seen above crossing
the Firth with the Cowal coastline behind and the higher hills of
Argyll in the distance
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Paddlers remained suitable in certain areas : Large
paddlers are now confined largely to the Swiss lakes, where there is the happy
convergence of most of the factors needed to sustain excursion ships of this
size : a sizeable local resident population, large tourist numbers, attractive
local scenery and popular lakeside resorts equipped with landing stages,
accessible maintenance facilities, supportive local authorities
and tourist development boards and a large supply of local enthusiasts. Most
of all, they are owned and operated by their original owners on a strictly commercial
basis alongside a fleet of motor vessels. It is known that they attract
more customers than an equivalent motor vessel but being part of a fleet allows
the additional costs of a paddler to be absorbed in a wider business. Smaller
paddlers survive in great numbers at the German city of Dresden largely for
the same reasons. Only in Australia, now the "home"
of the paddle steamer, have they survived in large numbers and are even being
built new, but these ships are much smaller than seen in Europe and many are
small enough to be operated a private houseboats or occasional vessels and only
on inland rivers, primarily the Murray
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Still popular ! : At the right place at the right time and going
to the right places, paddle steamers can attract the crowds like Waverley at Largs in 2011
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The cost of operating and maintaining large
ships,
especially in the tough and ever toughening regulatory environment concerning
maritime matters is enormous. These issues are particularly relevant to "sea-going"
vessels and why the UK's PS Waverley is such a rare survivor. It is not despite
her age, but probably because of her age. Being a paddle steamer is a unique
selling point and one which attracts excursionists when otherwise there might
be little or no demand, but they do have to beware of serving primarily the
existing "enthusiast" market. It probably will not be enough to ensure
long-term sustainability.
As paddle steamers and historic ships
in general are now so rare in public service, they are less "visible"
and therefore less able to attract public awareness and develop a pool of potential
enthusiasts, whose support is has been
essential in keeping most running. It is little surprise that the strongest pool of support, proportionately,
is in Switzerland, where numerous examples of paddle steamers survive. (More
about preservation and its successes in Switzerland.....). Nevertheless, valiant attempts continue to ensure that
paddle steamers survive elsewhere and if they can attract sufficient custom
to fill their (generally large) capacities, they can be successful financially
and continue to provide what is now an educational experience in past engineering
methods and an enjoyable outing for the general tourist.
Here are three examples of how
the tide has turned in different ways to the benefit of paddle steamers
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RIVER ELBE - GERMANY
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SWISS LAKES
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RIVER DANUBE - AUSTRIA
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A global shipping corporation took control of the paddle steamer
fleet based in Dresden, the world's largest fleet, and refurbished
the ships, many over 100 years old to a magnificent standard. Most
people thought that the economic realities of the capitalist world
would spell the end of this East German fleet - but not so. Nine
paddle steamers are thriving.
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The larger Swiss Lakes would be unthinkable without their immaculately
maintained paddle steamers, although only 40 years ago it was assumed
that as the ships came to the "end of their lives" they
would be replaced by motor vessels. The paddlers have remained alongside
the newer motor vessels in this most technologically advanced and
high-cost country.
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Enterprising enthusiast and preservationist groups have shown
that it is possible to take a paddle steamer disposed of by its
"commercial" owners, and even after many years of lay-up,
return it to operational service. Schonbrunn, above,
the last of a long line of steam paddlers on the Danube in Austria, was
saved in such a way.
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In view of the difficulties, financial, regulatory and increasingly
personnel wise as the number of steam-certified engineers diminsh, it is surprising
that projects still exist to restore derelict paddle steamers. It is one thing
to take on a newly-withdrawn paddler such as Waverley when gifted to the UK's
Paddle Steamer Preservation Society in 1974 but another thing to take over a
derelict or near-derelict ship and restore her for service. This could be regarded
as in the realm of unrealistic dreams for nostalgic enthusiasts, but it has
been shown that it can be done. The most recent project concerns PS Patria on
lake Como, Italy, where the quasi-state-owned company NLC are refitting the
ship as a steamer. She has been out of service since 1990 with only local enthusiasts
to promote her cause. It is quite remarkable that the operating company, already
owning PS Concordia and only using her sparingly, decided on this course of
action. A return to service as a motor ship had been mooted in the past, but
this new turn of events was unexpected.
Enthusiast
support groups are now well established and fully contibuting to paddle steamer
operations
Enthusiasts
played a vital role in saving the last of the paddle steamers when
strict financial criteria dictated against them and public interest
in industrial and maritime heritage was still only in its early
days. Now, organisations are well established and instrumental in
ensuring their continued survival, either by supporting existing
operators or owning paddle steamers in their own right. This makes
it easy for the enthusiast to get involved directly and make a positive
contribution either financially or by helping to promote or maintain
the ships and know that their efforts are contributing to securing
the long term futures of our remaining paddle steamers.
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109 years old and as good as new ! : With the
help of enthusiasts and under the control of a sympathetic shipping
company, PS Unterwalden (left, one of a fleet of five paddle
steamers on Lake Lucerne) returned to service in May 2011 after a major refit. She
was restored to closer to her original profile, but with a glass-enclosed
upper deck to meet modern expectations. Clever design, however,
means she looks much more like she once did, with the heavy construction
of the 1961 refit removed.
This
photo of Unterwalden, back in service for the first time since 2009
was kindly supplied by Nadia Joehr
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Having a "paddle steamer" is
good for your marketing
It is unlikely that many,
if any, new genuine paddle steamers will be built although the term "paddle
steamer" retains a fair bit of "cache" and numerous boats, primarily
Mississippi-style sternwheelers are
built
for tourist purposes. These capitalise of the theme but the boats are powered
by modern cost-effective diesels and the propulsion is actually by submerged
screw with the paddle wheels often for decorative purposes only and are therefore
not genuine "paddle steamers". The ships rarely recreate the atmosphere of a historic
ship completely. Remarkably the operators of the shipping services on Germany's
Ammersee, a lake in southern Bavaria, decided to build a completely new vessel
as a side-wheeler. MS Herrsching entered service in 2002 and although
not powered by steam, she otherwise is a fine vessel.
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Why a paddler ? : MPV Herrsching - one of a new generation of ships
with a genuine set of paddle wheels. It was a surprise that the
ship was a paddler. It would have been even more of a surprise if
she had been a paddle steamer - an option which did receive genuine
consideration, but was ultimately ruled out on cost grounds. Nevertheless,
the operating company saw advantages in having a modern yet "traditional"
vessel
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Ships with a side-wheels which are for decorative purposes only
are not included in this database. However, the addition of a wheel
to a ship indicates that even appearing to be a "paddle steamer"
gives a ship and important selling point. Mock wheels tend to be
more common on motor ships trying to imitate Mississippi-style steamers,
but mock side-wheels are not unknown.
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Why the side wheels ? : On the left is the
Yarmouth Belle, taken on the Upper River Thames near London in 2010
and kindly made available under Creative
Commons License
by owner Garry Knight. What is interesting and disturbing about
Yarmouth Belle, now owned by the renowned and historical Turks
shipping company, is that its wheel, a very poor decorative
representation, has been added only recently to what was a magnificent
historical vessel. Yarmouth Belle was built in 1892 and was originally
a steamship and as well as the not-unexpected conversion, she also had
a modern deckhouse added aft to spoil her original profile. The paddle
wheel certainly detracts from her authenticity and, to the webmaster's
mind, her looks, but clearly it was a deliberate decision by the owners
to claim her on their website as a "traditional English side
wheeler" (which she clearly isn't) adding that it offers elegance and
versatility unrivalled on the Upper Thames.
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The world's Paddle Steamer fleet is growing !
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saw the return to working order of two paddle steamers which had been
out of service for many years and only recently had any hope of such a
renaissance. The provincial government at Como, Italy, sponsored the
restoration of PS Patria and a local enthusiasts' group in Switzerland,
with local government support, arranged the renovation of PS Neuchatel
(above). The Swiss paddler had been used as a restaurant ship for many
years and needed the installation of an engine and boiler. Photo by kind courtesy of Sebastien Jacobi (via Olivier Bachmann) |
With the help of the public it can grow further
| | Maid
of the Loch
looks like she is ready to cast off from Balloch Pier on Loch Lomond.
Unfortunately she has been out of service since 1981, but much work in
recent years has meant she has been open to the public for static use.
A major appeal by her charitable owners, the Loch Lomond Steamship Company, is now under way to finance a return to service and
a plan is in place for her should the finance be raised. |
WHAT
IS IT LIKE ABOARD A PADDLE STEAMER ?
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Come
aboard and take a detailed look around some of our paddle steamers,
going on deck, looking into the deck houses, cafeteria and restaurant
and, of course, the attraction specific to paddle steamers : the
engines.
All
Aboard - click here
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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PADDLE STEAMERS
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The main sections of this database are listed
on the blue main menu below. The main menu can be found on the entry pages to
each section and at other points in the database. You will normally be able
to get back to the entry page for each section by following the return links
at the bottom of individual pages.
Photographs
Good quality,
interesting and topical photographs are welcomed. paddlesteamers.info webmaster
Gordon Stewart has a large collection of his own work shown in reduced size
format on this website (see link above) as well as many other page-sized photos
helping to illustrate this database. This database deliberately excludes movies.
With the growth of internet-based private movie platforms, illustrative
film is now easy to access.
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This
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may be published on this page or in the topical photograph archive.
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Click
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ABOUT THIS
WEBSITE
paddlesteamers.info
is researched, designed and
maintained by Gordon Stewart and
is based in England
The website aims to be
a source of basic reference, setting the scene for those who wish to understand
the general situation regarding paddle steamers. Those who wish to research
further are directed to the appropriate sources shown in the bibliography sections
of the relevant past of the historical database.
Links to external websites are provided to take viewers to steamer
operators' websites and for general research purposes only. It is not responsible
for the content of these websites. Please report any broken or corrupted links
to webmaster
The webmaster attempts to keep information as up-to-date as
possible but does not guarantee that any information such as ship status etc
is necessarily current. If you have any news updates or corrections, please
advise the webmaster so these pages can be updated. Any
views expressed are those of the webmaster alone unless otherwise indicated.
Send
an e-mail to the Webmaster, Gordon Stewart
Your
comments and views, questions or information requests are welcomed
What counts as a Paddle Steamer in this database
?
Steam
powered side and stern-wheelers including those which have been
converted to diesel power and those which survive statically (even
if the machinery has been removed). Side-wheelers built as motor
vessels are also included
where they can be regarded as equivalent in size to the steamers covered.
Stern-wheelers built as motor vessels are excluded because a large number have been built
in recent times (some are genuine paddlers, others have screw propulsion and
wheels mainly for effect only). Very
small steamships of the "hobby steamboating"
nature are excluded. The historical database is limited to
lake, river, estuarine and inshore paddle ships
Copyright
and re-use of information and images
All material and photographs displayed on this
website are the property of Gordon Stewart, Tramscape or
accredited photographer where shown and not for re-use without permission of
webmaster (uncredited photos are those of the webmaster) or photographer unless
allowed under the appropriate Creative Commons licence (quoted alongside all
photos used under this permission).
All
information is presented in good faith based on meticulous research.
If any information is clearly wrong,
please advise the webmaster and it shall be corrected
 Tramscape and
Gordon Stewart.
All photographs displayed are with the permission of the acknowledged photographer
but are not to be copied for re-use for any other website or publication without
the specific authorisation of the photographer. You are welcome to use the text
from this website as a research source and basis for your own work but it should
not be copied and republished elsewhere verbatim or only slightly altered.
All
material on the paddlesteamers.info database (formerly and including the Paddle
Steamer Resources by Tramscape database) is
Tramscape and Gordon Stewart or the individual photographer where acknowledged.
Photos not otherwised attributed are by Gordon Stewart
Acknowledgements
The webmaster gratefully
acknowledges many sources of information, including websites shown on the links
page, magazines such as Paddle Wheels and Dampferzeitung and published books
which he has read and absorbed information from. Many of these are listed in the Bibliography
sections of the main pages to which they refer and readers of this website are
referred to these books for much more detailed information about the relevant
subjects. Thanks go to everyone who has submitted photos. They are acknowledged
on the website alongside their photos.
Paddle Steamer Information Requests
Most of the information available to me is
presented in abbreviated form in this database and it is unlikely
that I will be able to help with ships which are not included in this database,
but please Send the webmaster an
e-mail and I will give as much assistance as I can. I
can for example also give general guidance about paddle steamer services in
Europe (e.g. Swiss lake steamers operations) and guide you to the best sources
of external information. The website www.paddleducks.co.uk
is the home of the world-wide modelling community where there is a lively
forum for information about paddle steamers as well as modelling issues. Paddleducks members often have access
to ship plans and other information of specific relevance to modellers.
Paddle Steamer Preservation Society in the UK accepts enquiries for inspection
of the material in its historical collection for research purposes. Coverage
is of UK operators only. Click
here to go to website for more details
Can You Help With This database ?
The webmaster would be delighted to receive any updates of relevant information
and photographs (of which you own copyright) which could help to keep this database
as up-to-date as possible and fill in gaps in the historical record
ASSOCIATED WEBSITES
Clyde Turbine Steamers
Although
Clyde Steamer fleets were dominated by paddle steamers, the introduction
of the turbine steamer King Edward in 1901 dramatically improved
the quality of the long-distance day excursion fleet. The world's
first ever passenger ship powered by turbines brought a new
level of speed, comfort and smoothness and in the next 35 years
a number of excellent vessels joined the Clyde fleet.
The
only surviving example is TS Queen Mary (seen right in 2007 when
she served as a floating restaurant and bar in central London) which
sailed from 1933 to 1977.
This website aims to draw particular
attention to TS Queen Mary and the webmaster maintains close contacts
with the ship's current owner.
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Tramscape Tramway Cities
The Tramscape tramway photograph
archive includes over 24,000 photos of 118 mainly European tram systems from
the 1970s up until the present day.
The photos are primarily intended to illustrate trams in their
environments - the city surroundings, the track alignments and the
tramstops served - to provide a detailed snapshot of tram systems at
given points in time. The aim is to have a record of as much of each route of
the tram system as possible - something not necessarily available from the numerous
other sources of tramway information on the internet.
Many will be attractive pictures in their own right with well-balanced
views of tram and surrounding architecture and street life. No particular attention
is paid to the design features of the trams depicted.
Trams are the focal point of the photos and the common thread throughout.
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