PS Bilsdale - Traditional Excursions

[colinb]

In view of the interest in the ps Waverley thread I thought it worth posting photos of my recently completed model of ps Bilsdale which conducted excursions from Scarborough during the 1920s and 1930s.

The accommodation aboard was rather more basic than on Waverley as the ship was a modified steam tug design dating back to 1900. Unlike Waverley and other excursion steamers, Bilsdale was fitted with independently controlled paddles as is my model which certainly improves her handling!

I took the liberty of adding a rather famous time  travelling lady to the passenger list!

Times change but coastal excursions remain popular although nothing like they used to be.

 

[hermit]

Thanks for posting this - congratulations on a most impressive model, which captures very well the feel of traditional paddle steamers.

There is certainly a demand for coastal cruising, as is shown by the capacity loads for Waverley during her brief visit to the Bristol Channel and her longer spell on the south coast this year. This reflects the mostly very good weather we have had. But it is not always thus, and Waverley has just cancelled the last two cruises round the island and along the Dorset coast because of approaching strong winds. She is heading off to Gravesend to be ready for her Thames cruises from the end of the week.

There have in the past been years when long spells of bad weather led to many more cancellations, as the Balmoral experienced during her revived, and ultimately unsuccessful, period of operation a few years ago. I also have the impression that both regulators and passengers are less tolerant of rough conditions than used to be the case, and so ships don’t venture forth when perhaps they might have in the past.

It’s certainly a financially precarious business.



 

[khaines]

Great model, Colin.  Never heard of that paddler before, will look up on her.

I think regarding Waverley, she tends to weather every storm, she has faced such difficulties in recent years, what with the pandemic, needing funding for a new boiler and then her unfortunate Glasgow kiss to a stone pier where she came off worse, requiring repairs to her bow.  She always comes up smelling of roses.  It is a precarious business indeed, but she seems to be the exception to the rule and seen off many threats to her future.  

[colinb]

Thanks for the interest. A bit more info: The plans were published in Model Boats magazine in 1972. I had to make a few minor modifications for a working model but nothing too drastic! The ship was well known along the East Coast and a search online will bring up various snippets of interest including a number of postcards, example below.

Plan published in Model Boats Magazine

One of the postcards of Bilsdale