electriclaunch

This model uses the same hull as the 1904 open Windermere steam launch, but the scale drawing supplied with it is completely different, as the model is intended to represent one of the electric powered cabin launches that were popular on many rivers such as the Thames in the same period, as an alternative to steam power, or the relatively noisy and smelly petrol power plants then available. Due to the effects of spilled battery acid and the attendant fumes, very few launches of this type have survived to the present day, almost all having rotted slowly away. The full size launch on which this design has been based was indeed electric powered, but the inclusion of the word ‘electric’ in the title did appear to put a few people off. Although a small electric motor would be an obvious choice to power the model, with only very minor modifications to the design, it would be every bit as suitable for steam propulsion. Details of an alternative steam version of the model are shown on the plan, and this time, one of the small steam plants produced by Stour Valley Steam Engines is shown, as this is what powered the prototype. The picture on the left shows a very handsome steam powered model built using a standard hull by Günther Büscherhoff from Lohne in Germany. Günther fitted a Cheddar Pelican plant and based the model fairly loosely on the Victorian steam launch design, which is itself copied from the well known full size launch Branksome.