SS Sir Walter Scott
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The SS Sir Walter Scott is a small white painted steamship that has provided cruises and a ferry service on Loch Katrine in the scenic Trossachs of Scotland for over a century, and is the only surviving screw steamer in regular passenger service in Scotland.
In 1859 Loch Katrine became Glasgow's main water supply, connected by aqueducts and tunnels to the city more than 30 miles (50 km) away through a hilly landscape. The Trossachs became very popular in the Victorian era, and there were early steamship services on the loch. The Loch is surrounded by wooded mountains, and has romantic historical connections including the birthplace of the outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor. Queen Victoria had a holiday house built overlooking the loch.
The Sir Walter Scott is named after the writer Walter Scott, who set his 1810 poem Lady of the Lake, and his novel Rob Roy of 1818 around Loch Katrine. She has sailed on the loch since 1900. The steamer was built by Denny Bros Ltd, fabricated at Dumbarton on the River Clyde, transported in pieces by barge up Loch Lomond and overland by horse-drawn cart to Stronachlachar pier on Loch Katrine where she was rebuilt and launched. The original cost was £4269, which included a delivery charge of £2028. The vessel weighs 115 tons, is 110 ft (34 m) long and 19 ft (6 m) wide. She is driven by the original 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine and has two locomotive-type boilers which are still fired by solid fuel fed into the firebox by a stoker. At a time when most steamers changed to oil-fired boilers, the Sir Walter Scott kept using coal or similar solid fuel to meet the requirement of ensuring that Glasgow's water supply is not polluted. If there were any spillage, the solid fuel would float and would not do any harm. The vessel has a crew of five.
During the summer (April to October) Sir Walter Scott sails from Trossachs pier (at the east end of the loch, 7 miles (11 km) north of Aberfoyle) and runs a ferry service in the morning 8 miles (13 km) west along the loch to Stronachlachar pier, taking walkers and cyclists who return by land, then takes those those getting on at the pier and those doing the round trip back to Trosachs pier. In the afternoon she does two shorter cruises. In the winter the vessel is taken up on a slipway for maintenance work.
External links
- Loch Katrine Steamship, Sir Walter Scott - Steamer on Loch Katrine (http://www.incallander.co.uk/steam.htm)
- SS Sir Walter Scott (http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/ss_walter_scott.htm)
- Sir Walter Scott (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/tramways/SirWalterScott.htm)