[SEL] FM boat engine

[Jeff Allen]

Hi all,

Got this from another list and thought it worth sharing.

> Last summer we took our summer vacation in Burlington Vermont.  After 
> a very nice week's stay in a local bed and breakfast, we decided to 
> take the ferry across Lake Champlain to the New York side and drive 
> south from there.  The Ferry ride was quite interesting.  This car 
> carrying ferry is powered by an eight cylinder Fairbanks Morse two 
> stroke diesel engine!   There is a pilot house on each end of the 
> ferry. The engine drives the hull through a central drive shaft to the 
> propellers , one at each end of the vessel.
> The captain uses the old method of signaling the engine room with bell 
> signals.   During the day when the ferry is in operation the engine is 
> running continually.  When the ferry arrives at the dock it is kept 
> running to keep it tight to the car ramp.  When ready to depart to the 
> other side of the lake, the captain gives a couple of dings on the 
> bell and the engineer reverses the engine!
>
> There was a plaque on the wall of the ferry describing the engine and 
> it's age.  I think it was 1929 and also a typed note written next to 
> the plaque asking for information on spare parts for this engine.
>
> During the trip I could stand at the door of the engine room an look 
> down and watch the engineer turning a large hand wheel that controlled 
> the throttle. 

Jeff

-- 
Jeff Allen
Arvada, Colorado, USA
transteck at earthlink.net
http://frapa.us/
http://oldengine.org/members/allen/