Hi all I am building a model of a railroad car ferry and I’m looking for a source for lifeboats (not life rafts). I checked the Walters catalog and none of the boats there are appropriate. Can anyone suggest sources for HO life boats. Even the model ship websites I check come up nil. Thanks for the help.
I dunno about bought ones, but JaBear whipped up a few nice little ones just last week. Take a peek here:
Sylvan makes HO scale life boats.
And here:
Gidday Karle, while researching lifeboats I came across this link…
http://www.crowriverproducts.com/11_CoveredLifeboat_Davits.htm
I don’t know what length these are in scale feet, but with the davits, could possibly kill two birds with one stone. Incidentally mine are 20 feet in length.
If you don’t mind,are you building any particular car ferry?
Cheers, the Bear.
Unless the ferry was used for passenger trains - I remember reading of such an operation by the SP in San Pablo Bay - there would be no need or reason for more than one lifeboat for the crew. Cargo doesn’t need/rate lifeboats or liferafts. In Army parlance (I was Coast Guard), “…certain losses are acceptable…”
Lifeboats would be used for ocean-going vessels or crossing the Great Lakes, but life rafts would be sufficient for harbor operations. If the prototype modeled pre-dates life rafts, it’s quite possible there would be nothing for a harbor or river ferry.
just my thoughts and experiences
Fred W
Gidday Fred, I’ve only researched, (read skimmed the surface) the Detroit River ferries and they all appear to have lifeboats. I say “appear” because though I haven’t seen a photo, when they were self propelled, of one without a life boat, no doubt I would be proved wrong. [sigh]
Any how this is just the excuse I’ve needed to post a link to this great photo, every time I look at this I am almost persuaded to sell all my gear and model the 1900s.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/14494?size=_original#caption
Cheers, the Bear.
Bear,
Thanks for sharing that pic,Without knowing,where it is at,aside from the Ferry,it looks like a part of the Chicago River,in winter…I like the arch bar trucks,also…[tup]
Cheers, [D]
Frank
Gidday Frank, in 1905 the “Detroit” was one of the Michigan Central Railroad Detroit River fleet, crossing between Detroit and Windsor. If you’re interested enter, “Ambassador Bridge, Detroit, MI,United States”, into Google Maps and you will see just to the right of the bridge the remains of three ferry aprons used by the Pere Marquette and Wabash. Go further right and across the river you will see the site of the Canadian Pacific Railway Ferry Ramp Locations. This was one river crossing, I gather back in the day there were others which haven’t survived the developers.
Cheers, the Bear.
BEAR,
[(-D] I won’t go into,how many times,I crossed the, ‘‘Ambassador Bridge in Detroit’’ on my way to Toronto,Ontario by truck,I came back,via,Sarnia,Ot,at Port Huron,Mi,to Grand Rapids,Mi. where CSX, had a trailer drop yard…I was leased to CSX Intermodal Trk Ops. at the time…A lot of times,I had more Canadian Money in my pocket than American,for anytime you gave them American money,they gave you back,Canadian money and kept the US money…[(-D]
Cheers,[D]
Frank
Geez, I like JaBear’s life boats the best. [Y]
I wonder if he would build some for me. [:^)]
I could pay for them with some of my Fiji War Bonds [(-D]
Rich
Great picture jabear! I love the old steam tractor. I got a large model of one very similar to the one in the picture made by a local man in his upper 90’s.
Need some HO scale 25 foot life boats? A quick Google glance led me to several suppliers.
Of course, they are catalogued as 28 footers - in 1:96 scale.
1:96 is a common nautical model scale. 1:87.1 isn’t.
Chuck (Ex-USMMA Cadet-Midshipman modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Gidday Rich, I’m not sure you’ve got enough.[(-D] and that’s just for the freight, thanks for the kind words though,.[:$] I’ve been asked before why I don’t model New Zealand Railways Simply its because of the cost of the locomotives and because virtually everything has to be scratch built., so what am I doing for my own first major project?, yes, scratch building [banghead] [sigh]
Seriously I’d be looking at Chucks option,thanks for the tip, there’s some nice looking stuff available, if it wasn’t for the freight costs to this side of the world.
zstripe. I won’t go into,how many times,I crossed the, ‘‘Ambassador Bridge in Detroit’’ Gee Frank the next time I start to try to*" teach my Grandmother how to suck eggs"* please let me know. [:$][:-^][(-D]
Cheers, the Bear.
Bear,
I hope I didn’t sound,offensive in my statement,sometimes I’m too blunt in my comments…But try a straw,on the eggs,the trick is making the hole…[bow]
Cheers, [D]
Frank
Frank, if any one was offended by your statements they’d have to have a very thin skin, thinner perhaps than an egg shell. [:-^] [(-D]
Cheers, the Bear. [B]
JaBear,
I was offended by Frankie’s statement, but, then, I am offended by all of Frankie’s statements. [(-D]
Rich
I must say, that’s one fine photo.
And remember, a dual-era layout allows you to have twice as many trains!
Very interesting photo, thanks for linking. The passenger compartment appears too big for just the ferry’s crew. So I suspect there was the ability and the need to ferry a couple of passenger cars as well as freight. It would be interesting to know whether passengers were ever carried.
OTOH, I only see one lifeboat (possibly a second on the other side), which would not hold all the passengers the ferry was capable of carrying. Typically, the more compact rafts would be used to make up the capacity difference. The boats were for the ship’s officers and senior crew - rafts for the rest! And the addition of rafts was only after the advent of safety regulations that came about after multiple tragedies. Sorry I don’t have good dates about the requirements for and development of life rafts.
Fred W
I suspect the Shorpy photo is pre-Titanic.
The Titanic disaster was the catalyst for most of the mandatory lifeboat requirements, at least in the English-speaking countries.
That may not be a passenger compartment. With four boilers, the stoker staff must have been large, and they (and the rest of the crew) may have lived aboard. Narrow as the enclosed space was, it probably didn’t have much floor space.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Gidday Fred, What I find great about model railroading is the diversity of the subject. When I first got back into the hobby as an adult, (well at least I got older, just not sure of the growing up bit) if someone had said I’d be researching lifeboats I would have laughed at them.
The Detroit , (I am paraphrasing from The Great Lakes Car Ferries by George.W.Hilton), built in 1904 had a requirement for a compliment of 34 officers and men in summer, and 55 in winter, and had the capacity for 24 freight cars or 12 passenger cars. Passenger trains were scheduled for about half an hour for the mile between Detroit and Windsor stations.
I am not sure when the practice of actually carrying passengers was discontinued. In the book there is a drawing of the Transport another Michigan Central river ferry built in 1880, which does appear to have substantial passenger accommodations, showing four life boats.
I wonder if the rules for life boats and rafts were tightened after the Titanic?
Apologies to Karle for hijacking his thread.
Cheers, the Bear
Edit. I see that Chuck has brought up the matter of the Titanic. The Shorpy photo I linked is “circa 1905”.<