Okay ;
Now what was this referring to ? Yes, soundings taken of the river by Boatswains ( Boatmen ) On our great rivers when steaming up or downriver .Especially the Mississippi !
This was even heard on the Monongahela ! Why the lesson ? Well , Daniel in another post made the comment ( " By the mark 17 " ) got me to thinking ( Ooops ! ) . What if someone built say a small Sternwheel Riverboat ? You don't see them often and besides unless it's a Thames Sidewheeler they seem to be stuck on the ( Robt.E.Lee and Natchez types .)
If I can figure out the gobblydegook and git them pichures hear . I will try to see if anyone is interested in this type of vessel .Guys and Gals there must be at least two dozen permutations ( types ) I've seen .
Now the beauty of it is , Yes , they can be large or small .Yes , Regal , or a muddy beat up Cargo boat . Or a Snag Boat and so on .Now as to scale .How about this ? all the way from 1/1200 to 1/4 scale and everything in between .
You have heard of Lionel and American Flyer Trains , Right ? Well , that's the largest I,ve seen in R.C. Now , the smallest was a Tie Tac at an engineers convention in Chicago . Yes , the fellow made it himself .Seems he started out on the rivers as a deckman and then got the coveted position of sounds-man on the main deck . Calling up depth to the wheel-house .That's actually where the phrase " By the Mark - Twain ! " Came from !
I am going to try one in " N " scale and if it's too big it will be railroad " Z " scale .Wanna build along with me ? You can't call it a group build Cause I don't know where interests lie .Just for fun . Tanker - Builder