Alexander Arbuthnot (paddle steamer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other vessels of the same name, see Arbuthnot (ships).
The Alexander Arbuthnot is the last paddle steamer built as a working boat on the Murray River, Australia.
Characteristics:
- Weight: 46 tons
- Length: 76 feet (22.8 metres)
- Beam: 15 feet 3 inches (4.57 metres)
- Draft: 2 feet 3 inches (0.67 metres)
- Horse power: 10
- Speed: 6 mph, 10 km/h
- Fuel: Red gum logs
History:
- 1923 Built of wood at Koondrook (owners: The Arbuthnot Sawmill at Koondrook). The boat was named after the sawmill's founder.
- The engine was built by Ruston & Hornsby of England and was once used in an earlier boat called the Glimpse.
- The boat was built to work at the sawmill. It towed empty barges to the nearby forest to collect logs; then back to the mill where the logs were cut up into lengths of timber.
- The boat worked at the mill until the 1940s. It was then sold to charcoal producers at Barmah. Eventually it sank.
- Volunteers from Shepparton raised it in 1972 for use at the International Village theme park.
- In 1989 the Alexander Arbuthnot was bought by the Port of Echuca for further restoration.
- Currently the Alexander Arbuthnot carries 47 passengers per trip at the Port of Echuca. The Port of Echuca has the largest fleet of paddle steamers in the world.
