History:

The Moyie of Vancouver was constructed in Toronto for service on the Stikine lake. The stern wheeler was shipped in sections by railroad. When the gold rush on the river deterred out, the boat was diverted to Nelson, where she was assembled and launched in 1898. She inaugurated the Kootenay Landing-Nelson Run which connected with the railroad from the east to the west. Her service on the lake ended on the 27th April 1957.
 

She was the last active stern wheeler in Canada. Today she is preserved in the Kootenay Lake Historical Society at Kaslo, BC.
 

Two sister ships were constructed for the same service. When the gold company became bankrupt they were sold to The Amazon River Navigation, Manaus, Brazil.
 

The ships arrived in Brazil in sections as in Canada, and were used for rubber and passenger transportation between Belem and Manaus.
 

As the Amazon River is a very big river about 6 to 10 miles wide and more than 3,000 miles long, this generates waves as high as 6 foot. The ships were always in danger of sinking during tropical storms which is a very usual scenario at the Amazon basin.
 

In 1913 they were dismantled in sections and transferred to Rio São Francisco, Bahia.
 

A brazilian company named San Francisco River Navigation (Companhia de Navegação do São Francisco) renamed the boats with  the names of “Benjamin Guimarães” and “Delmiro Golveia” famous brazilians entrepreneurs.
 

The Delmiro sunk in 1954 and the Benjamin Guimarães still exists as a museum whose preservation quality adopted is unknown. Both boats were the last active stern wheelers used in Brazil, the same history as in Canada.
 
 
 

The model:
 

I ´ve been building models since 1950, when I was twelve years old. My intention to build a stern wheeler dates back to 1980, when I visited Disneyland, Los Angeles CA. I sailed on the Mark Twain and I was astonished by the performance of the boat
 

In 1985 I obtained the plans of construction, they were not good and rather looked like a toy than a model. There was no engine design and the boat was supposed to have an electric engine instead of a steam engine.
 
 

In England a friend named Brian  E. Hillsdon sent me the drawings of the engines from “Marine Iron Works of Chicago, USA. I made my choice of a single expansion, twin cylinder engine and constructed it.
 

The boat s hull is made of fiberglass whit epoxy resin. The superstructure is in wood, mainly Mahogany of high quality, and some parts as the connecting rod (pitman) and engine holder of a typical hard Brazilian wood named  “Ypê” (this kind of wood sinks in water as the ebony does.)
 

The duration of the work lasted four and half years from 1985 to 1989.
 
 

The engine is made of brass and stainless steel, the boiler is made of copper all silver soldered, and burns petroleum liquid gas, a mixture of propane and butane.
 
 

The engine is of 9/16” bore and 1 7/8” stroke, working pressure 30 PSI, it has feed and oil pumps and an autonomy of approximately 2 hours without refueling or watering.
 
 

The colors are the same as the drawings illustrate, mainly white and the wheel cover pale blue.
 

The funnel is pale yellow turning to buff. The poles are black, the same color as the sustaining ropes they hold. Since you cannot obtain the typical sound with steam, the whistle is made of an old Lionel electric train and turns with the battery of the radio control.
 
 

I won several prizes in Brazil, and never took the boat overseas, due to the size of the model.
 

The original has 729 tons gross; 161 foot, length; 30 . ½ foot, breath and the model is at a scale of 7/16” to 1 foot this means 5.1/2 ‘ length and a weight of about 30 pounds.
 

 

For further information, I can be contacted at: nautimodelismobr@yahoo.com.br