# Maid of the Loch paddle steamer



## Davie M (Apr 17, 2009)

A call has gone out to find engineers to help with the restoration of the Maid on Loch Lomond.
Details can be found on Facebook under Vale of Leven History or by contacting [email protected]


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## david freeman (Jan 26, 2006)

Gentlemen please,engineers first,? The maid of the loch! What an honest subject- however i quote""and the stop cock was left handed" just another engineers song??


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

That is tautological. Engineers are gentlemen.


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## jg grant (Nov 22, 2007)

I think I've been on it. Me and my mate and girlfriends trained through to Glasgow from Edinburgh and got a bus up to the Loch. Lots of piss being consumed and as is the habit with girls they always went to the toilet together. Synchronised or sympathetic bladders? Anyway that was the signal for some serious slurping of Drambuie and disposal of glasses before they came back.Along the time frame somewhere their was a rocking motion and it was announced that we were back at the wharf so be prepared to disembark. We never saw squat of Loch Lomond but I'm sure it's very nice.


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## Dartskipper (Jan 16, 2015)

I really do sincerely hope that this time, she is restored properly, and hope against hope that she can be made to pay her way. Otherwise it will once again be a triumph of ambition over experience.


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## eddyw (Nov 6, 2007)

"Maid of the Loch" (1953, 555 grt)
https://www.paddlesteamers.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Maid-of-the-Loch.jpg


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## Davie M (Apr 17, 2009)

Dartskipper said:


> I really do sincerely hope that this time, she is restored properly, and hope against hope that she can be made to pay her way. Otherwise it will once again be a triumph of ambition over experience.


You are right Roy, I likewise would like them to succeed and hope they do.
The big difference between her and Waverley is she is in a fixed place which means people are going to have to go to her rather wait until she comes to them.
That aside she is the last paddler built in the U.K. and for that reason I personally would like her to be in working condition.
She is also part of my youth. I watched them putting her back together on the slipway without using nuts and bolts.
Davie


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## double acting (Sep 14, 2008)

Sorry, you are looking at the birth of a real white elephant. West Dunbartonshire need this like a hole in the head. She was laid up as she couldn't pay her way. This is what is known as a vanity project. It will only drive the existing commercial boat owners out of existence. It will ask for - and no doubt get - an enormous subsidy to operate. Meanwhile the roads in the area are full of potholes and other services cut. Get it into razor blades as quickly as possible


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## Satanic Mechanic (Feb 23, 2009)

double acting said:


> Sorry, you are looking at the birth of a real white elephant. West Dunbartonshire need this like a hole in the head. She was laid up as she couldn't pay her way. This is what is known as a vanity project. It will only drive the existing commercial boat owners out of existence. It will ask for - and no doubt get - an enormous subsidy to operate. Meanwhile the roads in the area are full of potholes and other services cut. Get it into razor blades as quickly as possible


Bit harsh , she is in good walk on condition, don't know about subsidies- any evidence of this, I know she did get lottery money.

Not sure how scrapping her would solve the pot holes


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## James_C (Feb 17, 2005)

The reason she was withdrawn by Calmac in 1981 was that she basically needed re-boilering and a lot of other mechanical work done which coincided with massive public spending cuts by our friendly political party with the blue rosettes. Not only that but she was an anachronism within the Calmac fleet at the time, operating solely on the loch for tourist purposes, being a paddler and being steam powered.
She's also not owned by the council and so why would she receive a subsidy?
Loch Lomond has an enormous tourist catchment and Maid of the Loch has the ability to offer a service that the existing boat owners cannot provide, especially considering the size of their vessels (very much smaller).
High end dining cruises as well as jollies up and down the loch for punters of different means is what I believe is envisaged and I'm sure she shall be successful at it. The length of cruise will likely be longer than the current operators, many of whom seem quite positive about the Maid's return to service as she'll be an attraction in herself.
You only have to look at comparable operations on Windermere and abroad to see how it can and indeed will work.


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## Davie M (Apr 17, 2009)

double acting said:


> Sorry, you are looking at the birth of a real white elephant. West Dunbartonshire need this like a hole in the head. She was laid up as she couldn't pay her way. This is what is known as a vanity project. It will only drive the existing commercial boat owners out of existence. It will ask for - and no doubt get - an enormous subsidy to operate. Meanwhile the roads in the area are full of potholes and other services cut. Get it into razor blades as quickly as possible


Agreed it was years ago but at that time there were three private boat hiring companies at Balloch and one at Balmaha and the Maid.
They all managed to get along together.
As was said in another post the Maid would provide a different type of cruising on the Loch.
I am not right in thinking that it is a private group who are undertaking the restoration.
As for holes in the road maybe the council would see that getting this project going might give them some income from visitors to repair the problem.
Davie


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## double acting (Sep 14, 2008)

You wait and see, the begging bowls will be offered to the council in no time.
The sad fact is , she was not economically viable. That is the reason she stopped running, if she was viable she would still be in operation.


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## douglasjamesmichael (Nov 21, 2005)

Hi all I have answered the call.....dusted down my second's gold and maroon epaulets .......NOT the steaming bunnet.....I have already been down the hole....have seen worse at a drydocking....with new boilers, new piping,new pumps....bottom scraped...paddle blades renewed..."daddy's yacht....will be as good as new....Thank goodness I took my steam ticket


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## eddyw (Nov 6, 2007)

Good for you, Douglas James Michael! Plenty of what were thought of as 'unviable' paddle steamers thrive on Europe's inland waterways. What better way to appreciate the 'bonnie bonnie banks'. She would be a great asset to Scotland's tourism industry.


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## duquesa (Aug 31, 2006)

double acting said:


> You wait and see, the begging bowls will be offered to the council in no time.
> The sad fact is , she was not economically viable. That is the reason she stopped running, if she was viable she would still be in operation.


Regrettably there is an element of sourness in your posts on this matter which will do your long term health no good. I reckon you need a long chilled out holiday and fresh air. 
I went through a few negative periods in my life and at one time would have applauded your comments. Fortunately I got over them. Positivity is a happier road to tread.


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## Davie M (Apr 17, 2009)

douglasjamesmichael said:


> Hi all I have answered the call.....dusted down my second's gold and maroon epaulets .......NOT the steaming bunnet.....I have already been down the hole....have seen worse at a drydocking....with new boilers, new piping,new pumps....bottom scraped...paddle blades renewed..."daddy's yacht....will be as good as new....Thank goodness I took my steam ticket


Looking forward to seeing her back in steam.
Davie


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## stevekelly10 (Apr 3, 2012)

douglasjamesmichael said:


> Hi all I have answered the call.....dusted down my second's gold and maroon epaulets .......NOT the steaming bunnet.....I have already been down the hole....have seen worse at a drydocking....with new boilers, new piping,new pumps....bottom scraped...paddle blades renewed..."daddy's yacht....will be as good as new....Thank goodness I took my steam ticket


Well done Douglas  If I lived nearer I would join you and help ! I was involved in Bringing a 1921 steam yacht back into service, SS Delphine so I know what you are up against. I had to remember things, taught to me in college, that I thought I would never have to use ! Good luck


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## Varley (Oct 1, 2006)

13&17. I count you both lucky buggers!


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## stevekelly10 (Apr 3, 2012)

Varley said:


> 13&17. I count you both lucky buggers!


 Yes I was Varley. Even more so that the Delphine, was highly unusual as she has twin Quadruple expansion engines, against the normal triple expansion engines. Her boilers had been replaced with one vertical watertube boiler and a slightly larger normal watertube boiler. All the other Steam plant was original but she did have to modern deutz diesel generators.


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## double acting (Sep 14, 2008)

Just read in the Herald that the expected £3.6 million from the lottery funding will not be forth coming. They also must have realised that it would not be viable. The Gondola on lake Windermere is around 50 tons whereas the Maid of the Loch is around 500, the two are not comparable.
I didn't know the Scottish government have already bunged them £1 million already, that would have been better spent on pot holes or schools or the NHS


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

double acting said:


> The Gondola on lake Windermere is around 50 tons whereas the Maid of the Loch is around 500, the two are not comparable.


... and, of course, it is in England!


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## Davie M (Apr 17, 2009)

double acting said:


> Just read in the Herald that the expected £3.6 million from the lottery funding will not be forth coming. They also must have realised that it would not be viable. The Gondola on lake Windermere is around 50 tons whereas the Maid of the Loch is around 500, the two are not comparable.
> I didn't know the Scottish government have already bunged them £1 million already, that would have been better spent on pot holes or schools or the NHS


Sad news, maybe the money for the potholes will come from the new holiday village?
Davie


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## double acting (Sep 14, 2008)

Just had a lovely wee cruise on Loch Katrine, the Sir Walter Scott , glided through the magnificent scenery like a dream, smooth,nearly silent. None of those horrible thump thumps you get from a paddle steamer. Unlike the Maid of the Loch she was not and will not need a subsidy.

Saw a lovely wee steam boat , the Vesuvios, steaming out onto the loch. Does anyone have any information on her?


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## eddyw (Nov 6, 2007)

"Sir Walter Scott" received a £1.75m grant from Scottish Govt and Scottish Water for maintenance work and the steamer is cross subsidised from other tourism activities eg Loch Katrine eco-lodge and camping development, which was itself grant funded.


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