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Canally Timbers - March 2020

In 2011 when the Canally arrived in Morgan it came with several bundles of timber to be used in the reconstruction of the boat.

Early working bees prepared the timber in readiness for use as decking planks some of which have ended up as the wheelhouse floor & flooring on the lower deck.

The timber which is NZ Kauri was sourced from rum vats in Queensland. We believe they originally came from the person who had replaced the timber vats with stainless steel ones in Beenleigh. Whilst preparing the timber a South Australian connection with the rum vats was discovered.

An inscription in pencil on one of the pieces states:

ERECTED BY
A SCHAHINGER
J. HOUSTON
JULY 1939

The Shahingers were Coopers in Adelaide from around 1904 until 2003. Albert (Bert) Schahinger was a cousin of the last owner Geoff Schahinger & trained as a Cooper, he was also a well-known amateur cyclist in the 1930’s & 40’s. He spent some time in Brisbane before the war where we believe he used his skills as a Cooper. This may have been one of his last coopering jobs as Bert joined the Air Force during World War 2 after which he joined the Australian Tax Office & never returned to the old business.

January/February 2020

Lots more progress:

Firstly a big thank you to our Shipwright Adam for his kind donation of the new Canally name board for the front of the wheelhouse. It was made to look like the one in the vintage pictures & will soon have a border around the sign to suit.
Bob has finished painting in the Aft Peak and has started preparatory work in the Forward Peak. Bilge alarm and control wiring is continuing and some shed clean up carried out.
Decking timber arrived & has been stored in the Canally Shed.
Many extra volunteer hours have been put in running & conduiting the bilge alarm & control cabling. Thanks to Wayne's eagle eye we now have an extra 2 handrail posts which need to be cleaned up & undercoated.
The flooring is down in the wheelhouse & reversing lever in position.
Thanks to Matt the pressure gauge facia has been changed so that the pressure red line has been placed at the safety valve lift pressure as requested by the boiler inspector.
We now have a period dresser for the dining salon which Mark Davis has kindly offered to refurbish. Flooring for the holds have arrived & the engine room railing supports have been cleaned & undercoated.
The old Morgan Council Chambers table donated by MMC was craned into position & roofing started.

October/November 2019

Lots of progress.

Most of the steelwork & flooring joists for the top deck are now in place. This work will continue when Adam returns from Echuca.
A working bee saw the relocation of the night lighting & alarm pole away from the upper deck flooring. Paddle box internal steel frame painting is continuing.
With the help of volunteers from the PS Marion & PS Oscar W around 22 ton of wood was cut & delivered to the council yard for the Living River Festival. Thanks to Mid Murray Council for the use of chain saws & heavy moving equipment.
The steam winch has now been relocated onto an old sleeper trolley so we can keep it out of the weather & work on it at a reasonable height off the ground.
After a couple of days hard work the Canally boiler was prepared for inspection on Wednesday 30th. I am pleased to report that we passed the inspection so are now good for another 12 months

June/July 2019

The 4 sponson decks have now been completed with Adam’s crew finishing off the starboard side stern area. A general deck clean-up has been carried out and steel work for the upper deck is on site & has been drilled in readiness for the start of the next step.

The cold wet weather has slowed things down a little however work to start undercoating the superstructure and paint the steelworks is underway, as well as collecting useful wood for the boiler from nearby tree trimming.

October/November 2018

Sponson decking is well under way & the 'J' bolts for the paddle floats have been produced locally by Matt Seton. We have also received a rather grandly bound log book for the Captain to start filling out on her first voyage under steam since 1940, many thanks to Anthony Presgrave from the PS Oscar W. Other behind the scenes activities have included the purchase of a whistle valve & the construction of a steam whistle. Working drawings for the superstructure prepared by Dick Bromhead & the rebuild of a mechanical oiler for the engine by volunteers from the Cobdogla Irrigation & Steam Museum. Two steam feed pumps have been reconditioned by volunteers from the PS Oscar W & hopefully they will be delivered when she visits Morgan in the near future. The new helm is progressing with Frank Tucker turning up the handles with wood from the PS Success.

June/November 2018

Over the last couple of months a lot of progress has occurred with the restoration and fitting of the engine and boiler. Adam and Brad, with the assistance of volunteers, have worked tirelessly to undertake this huge task. Steam and water pipework is in place and boiler inspection occurred on the 12th of July, 110 years and 2 months since its first test by the Marine Board of Victoria. The boiler has now passed inspection and its all steam ahead. The paddle boxes have been constructed with volunteers reinstalling the paddle wheel spokes; and timbers for floats have been cut ready for fitting.

Photo credit: Adam Auditori, Phil Reed, Michael Snell

April 2018

In 1966 Mark Randell salvaged the helm from the PS Canally where she lay at Boundary Bend behind the PS Hero. It was then held in storage for 50 years until he heard of the restoration of the PS Canally and he has very generously donated it back to the Restoration Committee.

Photo credit: Adam Auditori, Phil Reed, Michael Snell

March 2018

Over the past month much work has been undertaken by Adam Auditori and Brad, with the assistance of volunteers, in installing the boiler and engine into the Canally. To date the following work has occurred:

- Engine cylinders lowered aboard
- Valves, eccentrics, man hole cover, piston glands & assorted gear carried on board

- Positioned steam pipework
   - Paddle shaft inner bearing aligned
   - Paddle outer bearing hull supports
   - Dismantling steam winch ready for sand blasting

Pictures below show the 2 cylinders, engine bed & engine crank being unloaded onto the deck of the PS Canally by local volunteers. This engine was the 3rd engine installed in the PS Ruby which was built in Morgan. The PS Ruby operated as a passenger steamer between Morgan & Echuca in the 1920s. The 2 cylinder direct drive engine was built by Horwood & Co. (now Horwood Bagshaw) of Adelaide in 1916 & installed in the PS Ruby in 1922. The Boiler found on North West Bend Station was built by Cowley Ironworks in Ballarat in 1908 & was dropped into position last December.