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[Baldrick]

That's an interesting insight into the practicalities of manouevering full size vessels. Us modellers are just used to pulling down on the throttle stick!

Dodes will no doubt remember the three Denny built diesel driven Isle of Wight ferries, Southsea, Brading and Shanklin. The first two were fitted with gearboxes but to save money, Shanklin did not have them and to go astern the engines had to be stopped and then restarted in the opposite direction. It made the vessel more difficult to handle  when coming alongside and despite being the newest by 3 years, she was the first to be disposed of after being relegated to excursion cruises and used as a relief vessel for much of her life.

Colin

my main memories of those ferries (not sure but think it was Shanklin ) was that their was limited covered accommodation and if your luck was out and it was a blowy rough crossing you got to your hotel thoroughly soaked with a suitcase full of water

[SimonCornes]

my main memories of those ferries (not sure but think it was Shanklin ) was that their was limited covered accommodation and if your luck was out and it was a blowy rough crossing you got to your hotel thoroughly soaked with a suitcase full of water

Might as well have walked!

[LightermanII]

Can anyone suggest a source for a decent 1/32 scale hawser for the rope and cable crate on the aft deck of my Imara please? As things stand I have a length of rather hairy hemp and I think something braided and black would look a lot more realistic but I'm afraid I don't know how to braid so I wondered if there was an off the shelf solution that didn't cost a fortune?
Thank you.

any decent haberdashers and ask for cotton piping cord. comes in many thickness' and being cotton you can dye it to looking old hemp or sisal I found the remains of the coffee pot does the trick AFTER you have drunk from it!

[dodes]

Cotton cord is very strong, on the Thames sailing barge the dolly winch forward, used to use a thin cotton rope to heave the barge about the docks but in latter years went to thin wire to save money.

[meechingman]

But keep in mind that on real diesel powered tugs when you change from one direction to another, it used to take at least 15/20 seconds before anything happens, because the engine has to slow to the correct revs to change gear..

Reminds me of when Dad and I were bringing in a freighter to Newhaven. Just one twin screw tug - Meeching, a little bigger than a 'Dog' but similar handling - and an anchor to keep the ship's head steady. We'd let go and come alongside to gently push the stern onto the quay - there was already a line at the bow. We weren't pushing hard, just 'Slow Ahead' on the Bloctube telegraphs, when the Pilot radioed 'Stop pushing.' So I moved the telegraphs to Stop, let the revs die and then went 'Gear Engaged Astern' to pull away gently. I'd only just done that when the Pilot radioed "I told you to stop pushing!" We replied that we'd stopped pushing thirty seconds earlier. He had no idea how the tug's engines and gearboxes worked. Dad kindly 'educated' him later!


And back on topic, Lidl were my friends for towing lines. They did a plain white cord (cotton?) just the right diameter - stained brown with tea for old looking lines - a pack of white/red synthetic cords in two sizes for the modern stuff and some bright orange line to emulate the polypropylene lines we used in the late 60s and early 70s. Not all at the same time, I had to keep an eye out, but it was silly cheap. Much less than you might pat in a model shop or DIY store.

[dodes]

Was not the Meeching first based Dover, she was a good design as the MoD dog class were based on them.

[Bunkerbarge]

Take your pick, and the quality is superb:


https://www.rigging-ropes.com/

[dodes]

Thankyou for the link, looks good.

[meechingman]

Was not the Meeching first based Dover, she was a good design as the MoD dog class were based on them.

You're thinking of the two twin sisters, Diligent and Dominant, built a couple of years before Meeching. British Railways sent a team up to Dover to look at the two tugs there and ordered a similar, but a little more advanced and more powerful version for Newhaven. Their decision was no doubt also influenced by the fact that British Transport Commission already had four similar, but smaller tugs based at Hartlepool.


The Dogs were similar in some respects, but didn't have the Hydroconic hull form that the Seawork-built tugs like Meeching had. And they were designed as harbour tugs. Meeching, Diligent and Dominant were more sea-going, with a higher freeboard. But look in the wheelhouse and you'll see the same wheel and Bloctube telegraphs!


To see how close Dominant and Meeching were in design, have a look at this image from the Sitakund incident of 1968. Photo in public domain courtesy of Dutch National Archives.

[dodes]

Just in the MoD it was always understood the seeds of the tugs were from your outfit, but the dogs were some of the best tugs for a very long time in coming and were not that altered much in service.

[meechingman]

Indeed they were. When Newhaven 'dispensed' with Meeching's services in 2000, she was bought by a Newhaven-based company, with the idea of making her their main tug. But they already owned Foxbay - ex Foxhound and they considered her to be a better tug for the work they had in mind. That, plus the fact that they'd spent a lot upgrading Foxhound - new 240V AC electrics for example.


Newhaven's "replacement" for Meeching was Nore Commodore, ex Airdale, owned by Murray Tugs and placed on permanent station here for some time. Murray eventually bought Meeching to go with her, renaming her Nore Crest.


Meeching, her near sisters and some of the Dog class are still very much in business at over 60 years old, a testament to some good design and building.

[NickelBelter]

That's an interesting insight into the practicalities of manouevering full size vessels. Us modellers are just used to pulling down on the throttle stick!

Dodes will no doubt remember the three Denny built diesel driven Isle of Wight ferries, Southsea, Brading and Shanklin. The first two were fitted with gearboxes but to save money, Shanklin did not have them and to go astern the engines had to be stopped and then restarted in the opposite direction. It made the vessel more difficult to handle  when coming alongside and despite being the newest by 3 years, she was the first to be disposed of after being relegated to excursion cruises and used as a relief vessel for much of her life.

Colin

If you want to be prototypical just build a railroad carfloat tug, post 1930s.  Most had diesel-electric drive for faster maneouvering.  In place of telegraphs they had contactor-rheostats in the pilothouse that changed the excitation voltage on the main generators to change the voltage to the drive motor and reverse the polarity, just like our ESCs!

[dodes]

Have found a pic of the inside of a dog class, found it on another site I go to. When I was at Chatham, we had one, where they were keen on bright work to the extent that one a/b had the sole job of polishing the brass. The telegraphs you could shave in and when she had a job, they put green baize cloth covers on them so that no fingers touched the brass, eventually they managed to find some one in the yard to dip the telegraph handles in plastic coating, red for port and green for starboard. The brass screw heads on the accommodation panelling were painted, she had so much bright work that Naval Officers would come aboard to view her as it reminded them of how once R.N. vessels were kept.