PS "Ruby"

PS "Ruby"

 While we were camped at Merbein common or Horshoe Bend/ Sandbar we were very surprised to see an old Paddle Steamer come past . All our group were out frantically taking pictures and waving to this lovely " old Lady of the river"

 While we were all admiring her a couple from Wentworth told us some of her history. This beautiful old boat has been reborn  by a dedicated group of people from Wentworth who had taken down to Mildura to be slipped and surveyed. She only needed her boilers to be certified and then she could be put into service.

The "Ruby" was originally built at Morgan in 1907. She was the fourth riverboat of that name. She was 205 tons gross and 132' in length and a beam of 18'9''.  She only drew 2'6''- 3' when she was fully laden at 85 tons. this allowed her to operate at much lower river levels that some of the other steamers.

 She carried 30 passengers and had 3 decks. In 1909 she became part of the Gem navigation Company . The Gem ( Swan Hill ) and Marion( Mannum) were part of the same fleet. All the boats were modernised with electric lights, fan and wire screens on the windows and doors. She was known as a bottom ender by virtue of the fact she only worked between Swan Hill and Morgan. After being used as a residential houseboat at Mildura for many years she had deteriorated a lot . She was then purchased by Wentworth Rotary to be a feature in a local park for 30 years.

 In 1996 a committee was formed to commence full restoration work on the beautiful old boat. The work was very challenging and by 2004 she was recommissioned and placed in a working dry dock. Storyboard outside her dockRuby still undergoing her refit

 While we were wandering around taking photos, we were invited aboard to look aound and see what progress the volunteers have made towards getting her back in to working condition.

 Lynn and volunteer admiring the boiler

  The previos day I had rung  Lynn's sister for her birthday and she was out having coffand cake with her closest friend, Ruth. When I told her about the paddlesteamer she asked me if it was the Ruby. Apparently Ruth is one of the Friends of Ruby who have donated money or time towards the restoration. Ruth is also a member of a group of quilters that have made quilts for all the cabins.

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All berths are single , but all cabins have 2 bunks

As we wandered around we were able to see the enormous amount of work that had gone into restoring this steamer. Lynn spent quite a long time talking to the Captain as he is particulalry interested in steam and apparently one of the next hurdles the workers have is to get the boiler certified and as it had a couple of small leaks they were working hard to rectify the situation as a certifier was coming in 2 days to test the boiler and hopefully okay it so it could go into survey wiht mainly an educative role. It was also hoped that it would do a few cruises.

Main deck , it's a pianola under the covers at the back

Back up on the upper deck the saloon had been fitted out with pine furniture and in the corner was a winding map of the river which all captains had as their personal map with features that had accepted names or their own names on them.

 Saloon or dining room

 The winding river chart The driving mechanism

 Lynn leaving the Ruby. Note the pile of wood on the rear deck to feed the boilers.

 We were very glad we made the effort to visit the PS ruby and spend time aboard as the workers were so enthusiastic about her  and she had been so lovingly restored. I would love to take a trip on her one day just to complete the story .