Steamboat Ride

 

I went for a steamboat ride yesterday. The only steam powered boat plying the waters of Indiana. The Department of Natural Resources is in charge of all the boats on the waters and they wouldn't allow any wood or coal fired boats, so this one was running on kerosene.

The boat was originally a lifeboat for a ship that worked the Great Lakes. It reminded me of the boat in the movie The African Queen only in much better condition. The ship had a two man crew, the captain and the engineer. The engineer did a real good job of weaving a bit of local history in with the history of the boat and promoting the museum where the boat is stationed for the week. The Missus used to volunteer at the museum many years ago. It's been a long time since I've been there. Nice to see all of the improvements that have happened over the years.

There was a young guy there playing with his traction engine. About the time I was leaving, he had a head of steam up and was driving it around the lot. There was a builder's plate on the front of the boiler. This thing's been around for a while. I really admire the welders and machinists who can put one of these things together. Long ago in a land far away, I started building a small scale locomotive and tender from plans in Live Steam magazine. I had access to a complete machine shop and would stay after work and machine parts. I've still got the plans and a box of parts. I doubt seriously if I ever make any more headway on that project but you never know. It would be a good winter time project for my little workshop down the basement.

The old International is from the local ice business that closed down in 1988. I used to buy block ice there. The owner of the ice business also had a tire business and he drove a school bus back when the buses were owner operated rather than corporation owned. He was my bus driver for a couple of years. Coincidentally, his son was at the museum yesterday. I went to high school with him but hadn't seen him in years. He was walking with difficulty like maybe he had had a stroke - not all that unusual at our ages - but he told me he had gotten hit by a car while riding his bicycle three years ago. Seemed to have a damn fine attitude in spite of it. We reminisced a bit about the old days while I was waiting to board the boat. Nice chat on a beautiful day.

I rode the Himalayan to the museum and stopped at the grocery for a few things on the way home - those saddle bags are handy. I put about 60 miles on the bike cruising the backroads. Finally have more than 1,000 miles on the odometer. I really need to get out on that rig more often.