Here are some pics of a small steam powered paddle boat under construction and finished pics too!

I started this project several years ago and until I acquired the engine (in kit form) it just sat on a shelf collecting dust. The engine is powered by a small copper vertical boiler fueled with sterno. The piston is only 5/16" in diameter.

A close up of the drive set up shows a reduction shaft with roller bearings. The engine is quite small & I figured this might be necessaryto power the paddle wheel.

Here is a view of the engine side. You can see that it is a vertical copper  boiler. I made this engine from a kit and it is powered with sterno. It runs for about 15 minutes.

This is a view of the starboard side. As you can see there is still more work to be done. Kind of looks like a "tug boat" eh? I'll post more pics as soon as I can!

Well here they are........and to my surprise....... well I'm sure you'll get a laugh too!!

This is a view of the finished boat as viewed from the port side. I added a copper splash guard to keep water from the burner.

From this view you can see the drive set-up with the delrin paddle wheel bearings. I thought a brass hand rail would add a nice touch.

From the stern...well a picture's worth a thousand words......allmost........... Where's the water? Well in all my efforts to make a realistic looking model steam powered 'tug' boat with a working paddle wheel (which looks quite neat when it runs), I neglected to see if it would even float. I just had to laugh . I had just built my first steam powered submarine! Still looks pretty neat though.

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Page updated  03/10/01 by 'The Brainman'