Further to my prior posting see "A Piece of Collingwood's maritime Past" the Collingwood built steamship Norisle has recently undergone an evaluation of ship's steam engine and auxilary equipment. Volunteer members from the Ontario Steam Heritage Museum in southern Ontario surveyed the ship and while the Norisle is over 60 years old, the engine (see photo) and other working components are 1/10th that age in terms of service life.
The Norisle went into service in 1947 and was retired in 1974 hence it has a working life of just 27 years. Further, since the ship ran only on a seasonal basis from spring to fall, the actual operating age is much less. Steam engines of the type found in the Norisle typically had a service life of 100 years. Given the limited hours of actual run-time, the Norisle's engine was deemed to be good as new. Ontario Steam Heritage Museum staff removed a variety of the ships components which will be shipped to the museum for diassembly, reburbishment where required, testing and prepared for re-installation of the ship.
Hopefully the preservation group spear-heading this initiative will develop a viable business plan which will see the ship returned into service as a cruise vessel. Volunteers of all sorts have offered their expertise and service in helping to make this potentially happen. Watch for future postings as I endeavour to keep those interested abreast of the latest progress to restore into service, the last steam powered passenger ship to cruise the Great Lakes or visit Friends of the Norisle.
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