Paddle Steamer Engines

Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape
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Paddle Steamer Engines

Vertes engine.jpg

Here is a good illustration of paddle steamer engines and their attached paddle wheels. This set comes from the River Danube paddle tug Vertes (ex-Tihany) which operated from 1914 until 1963 and which are now displayed in the grounds of the Budapest Transport Museum

Photo kindly supplied by Zsolt Szabo

How does a paddle steamer engine work? Put simply, water is heated in a boiler until it evaporates, producing steam. The steam is transferred through pipes into a cylinder where it expands under pressure to push a piston in the cylinder. This provides the motion which is transferred from the piston to a drive shaft (crank) which turns the paddle wheels. The task is then to ensure that as much power as possible is obtained from as little fuel as possible in the boiler. Throughout its history the steam engine has evolved with engineers discovering and incorporating more efficient means of achieving their objectives at each stage of the process. Perhaps the most important was the development of the compound engine which used the residual pressure of steam after it had pushed the cylinder's piston to repeat the task in a second "low pressure" cylinder. The triple expansion engine was a further development, where the steam was used three times, although this was reasonably rare on lake and river paddlers. Common for deep-sea (screw driven) vessels, even quadruple expansion was used on the largest of ships. The precise design of the cylinders also evolved over time, with so-called oscillating cylinders eventually replaced by fixed, diagonal-lying cylinders being the preferred configuration in paddle steamers. Boilers themselves were subject to continuous design improvements, especially as iron was replaced by steel as a stronger material and the properties and reliability of steel improved over time. This allowed steam to be delivered to the engines at higher and higher pressures.
Excursion steamer operators were no different to other commercial organisations. Cost reductions were continuously sought with the most modern technologies normally chosen for new vessels. In Britain, three large new paddlers were built shortly after World War II with steam engines (Waverley, Cardiff Queen and Bristol Queen) and whilst they incorporated the best engineering practice, they were a result of the conservative engineering policies of their owners. In the late 1920s, the marine diesel was coming to prominence in Europe and by 1930 had totally swept all before it. Even in Switzerland, where numerous steam paddlers have been retained, PS Geneve, then only 38 years old had her steam plant replaced by a diesel unit as early as 1934.
Paddle steamer engines now remain mainly as a curiousity, for their own sake, as historical relics reminding us of a proud engineering heritage. Most people who see them do marvel at these magnificent pieces of machinery and they add something special to the excursion experience.

Unterwlden engines.jpg

Many paddle steamers have helpful interpretative displays to help passengers understand how their engines work. A good example is PS Unterwalden on Lake Lucerne which has its panels attached to the railings from where the engines can be seen (see picture above)

For screw steamers, the principal is the same although the engines are arranged vertically and act on a shaft located close to the bottom of the ship and running along the length of the rear ship to the screw at the stern.
Turbine steam engines became popular after 1901, mostly for larger vessels including short sea ferries, ocean lines and military vessels. They found application in excursion steamers on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland and a brief description of this method of propulsion is to be found in our associated website the Clyde Turbine Steamer Foundation. (Return link to this website's homepage - Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape - is at the foot of the page)

A MODERN PADDLE STEAMER ENGINE !

All "modern" paddle steamers have been built with diesel engines, but one older steamer, PS Montreux (1904) on Lake Geneva received an entirely new set of twin-cylinder diagonal engines when she was re-converted back from diesel to steam in 2001. Her owners had hoped to convert their three other "conversions" back to steam but this was later ruled out on financial grounds and the fact that Sulzer, who had been involved in the new design finally closed its related manufacturing operation. Nevertheless we now have one example of "modern" paddle steamer engines.

PADDLE STEAMER ENGINES PHOTO GALLERY

Follow this link to see photos of the engines of many of Europe's active paddle steamers, plus other engines preserved in museums or in storage

An even older design principle, the oscillating engine, which was obsolete technology by the end of the 19th century is still to be found in operational service in the 21st century ! The set seen left is from PS Pirna which operates on the River Elbe out of Dresden, Germany ........ and it is not the only paddle steamer in the Dresden fleet so equipped !

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