paddlesteamers.info : The Internet's leading website for
Side-Wheeled Paddle Steamers
Firth
of Clyde, UK
London
& North Eastern Railway
(1923-1947)
Railway
amalgamation in 1923 left the North British fleet in competition with
a newly combined CSP/GSWR fleet and only added two units to its
ageing fleet. With Marmion and Waverley (I), which had been withdrawn
at the end of the 1938 season, lost during World War Two
and Lucy Ashton 57 years old at the end of
hostilities, plans were made for new tonnage. A
new paddle steamer, Waverley was introduced for the 1947 season, the
last before railway nationalisation and the transfer of the vessels
to the British Transport Commission and later to its newly acquired
subsidiary, the Caledonian Steam Packet Company, the LNER's former
bitter rivals. Waverley was the last paddler and last steamship built
for the Clyde, the last paddler to remain on the Clyde. Since 1975
she has steamed for private owners, including from a re-opened
Helensburgh, the pier from which the story of railway-owned steamers
was begun by the LNER's predecessors.
Above : Waverley was the last paddle steamer built for the LNER and also for Clyde
service (1947) and after 1969 was the only remaining paddler. After
being withdrawn in 1973 she found a new life in operational
preservation on behalf of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society and
continues in service, completing a major reboilering in 2021
Photo by Alan Brown (supplied by kind courtesy of Gillon Ferguson) shows her in her first season of operation
Vessels transferred from
the North British
Railway
PS
Lucy Ashton
PS Dandie Dinmont (until
1928)
PS Talisman (until 1934)
PS Kenilworth (until 1937)
PS Waverley (until 1939)
PS Marmion (until lost in 1941 on wartime
duty)
New
Build
PS
Jeanie Deans (from 1931)
DEPV Talisman (from 1935)
PS Waverley (from
1946)
Vessels transferred to the
BTC : Lucy Ashton, Jeanie Deans, Talisman,
Waverley.
Bibliography
Craigendoran
Steamers
Alan Brown
Published in 1979 by Aggregate Publications, Johnstone, Renfrewshire, UK
A detailed history of the NB, LNER and the Craigendoran services of the
post-war Caledonian Steam Packet Company.
Steamers of the Clyde : NB & LNER
Alistair Deayton
Published in 2000 by Tempus Publishing Ltd
ISBN 0-7524-2107-7
Brief historical summary followed by numerous photos with extended descriptive captions
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