TS Dover.

Evening All,

I did a quick Internet search to see what I could find about the Dover, and found this :

http://www.hhvferry.com/ne_1_2.html

This pictures are from five years ago - I wonder what a present day inspection would reveal?

 

Evening Ron
The latest photo I can find of Dover is May this year on site below-she looks just as rough!

http://severnshipping.fotopic.net/p65117097.html

Richard

 

Austerity, you know me better than that, how much does it cost to restore a steam engine £100,000 for any ex ferry multiply this ten fold, raising money to fund an overhaul of a austerity is going to be hard enough, my point is this, money doesnt just turn up, people need to want to support an engine, boat, aircraft or what ever , and from what you see, not just from here is its got to be a much longer term thing, trying to save a boat thats been out of service is going to be a lot more expensive than getting one thats just come out of revenue earning service , im not anti saving our heritage but when you are talking such vast sums, i cant see where the money is coming from, duke of gloucester and tornado, were both well run and focussed projects that had the benifit of time and the facilities , an engine you can store anywhere that you can lay track you cant do that with a boat and how much does dry docks charge?

 

Very true but we cannot just keep watching these old girls being scrapped.

It really needs help of the HLF to ensure some of these vessels survive. Its quite sad to think other than the Royal Yacht there are no preserved (with engines intact) turbine passenger steamers in the UK. Sadly if nothing is done soon to correct this there wont be any in existance.


Stan

 

Martin
If an ex ferry was one that used to be a nightclub-would an ex loco be one that was used as a stationary boiler?
It would cost 150 times more than restoring a steam locomotive to resuscitate an old turbine steamer-certainly not ten!
We are both old enough to remember D.O.G being rescued from Barry.Can we honestly say that you knew where the money was coming from?..and can we honestly say that we knew at that time if the appeal was well run or not? In 1979 the amount of money needed to restore a steam loco was vast to the man in the street-but the world was changing to a place where individuals or small groups could lay their hands on the cash required. Tornado was not only a first class project but a masterpiece in marketing,using all the accrued experience with restorations,lots of different organisations and individuals digging deep, modern technology and of course the www. What makes you think that a heritage ship project would not be well run or not focussed-everything is relative. TS Dover is the very lastcoastal turbine steamer-the very last( if we lose Manxman)capable of being restored. That is why she is so important. Loco Supporters have to worry about 1000's of machines-Shipping supporters have very few sea going vessels to worry about.

Here are some rough costs for some of the operations encountered during the early part of a restoration:-

Pilotage to Dry Dock....................£5000.00

Dry dock occupation charge(for survey)...........£1500.00 per day.

Expected cost of Survey ..............................£3,000.00

...And that is chicken feed...it really starts to escalate then...and the fun begins!

One thing is for sure BR liked their ships well built and 'Dover' is basically sound-she has a sturdy hull.
Funding?..Sponsorship(currently unlikely),Good old HLF,European intereg ,Regional Development funding(currently being re-organised), Big Society-whatever form it takes. It can be done. We are not short of courage, conviction and expertise-but we are short of time,the Achilles heal of the 20th century heritage ship that has survived somehow into the 21st century.

Future generations will blast us for our lack of action if we do not succeed. Quite a responsibility for the maritime heritage community/ shipping and general transport enthusiast.

TS DOVER IS THE LAST ONE-when she's gone,she's gone...let's get organised-watch this space.

 

You can add £6,000 for towage in and out of dry-dock, dry-docking daily rate is ok but the shoring and un shoring will be another £5,000 (total). Survey will be more like £6,000 and if towage approval/ load line exemption is required for tow then add another £6,000 for surveyors/ MCA fees. Then she will need to be insured for any movement, say as much as £5,000 for one short movement within a port.
I would say with all the above and a week in dry-dock, along with a HP wash of the hull (£3-£5,000) you would be looking at raising £50-£55,000 just to move, drydock, wash off, survey and re-float.
Best of luck.

 

Thankyou Dan
Information gratefully received.

 

If the costs are more then those who love our maritime heritage and really want to see something saved will just have to dig deeper in their pockets rather than poo poo any preservation attempts.

Please keep us posted of any developements and fund raising appeals.

Stan

 

Evening all
I would like to announce a public meeting to establish a support association for the campaign to save and restore TS Dover. The venue is the historic Kings Hall, 287 London Rd., Dover CT17 0SY. on Tuesday 8th February 2011 19.30hrs for 19.30hrs start.
All are welcome. Will be visiting the ship with colleagues the week after next,weather permitting. Already cancelled one trip owing to the snow. There will be a presentation,Q&A and refreshments.

 

Thanks for the info.

Stan

 

Visited TSS Dover (Tuxedo Royale) on the 19th Feb. Was made very welcome by Captain Harrison of Able UK and was shown around the ship and discussed terms. She's a bit of a tip but quite solid. Don't forget about the public meeting at Kings Hall, 287 London Rd ., Dover on Tues 8th Feb 2011 at 19.30. Click on images to see 'em bigger.

 

There is now a website for this project - www.tssdover.co.uk

Nigel

 

Thanks for posting the link.

Looks good.

Stan

 

As many of you will now know, Fotopic has disappeared taking all the pictures with it!

I have therefore started to re-upload some of my pictures onto a Flickr site and a couple of the TS Dover are included.

You probably saw them on Fotopic, but, for the benefit on any new members that may not have done, they are now here :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/train-pix/sets/72157626200744927/with/5550316464/

 

Stan have you joined yet?!

 

No not yet, but will do within the next day or so.

Thanks for the reminder, its been on my "to do" list.

Stan

 

Great consternation caused this week to the Dover Steamship Company and other supporters of the last surviving purpose built steam car ferry. Over last Bank Holiday weekend raiders entered TSS Dover(Tuxedo Royale) and vandalised vital equipment below her waterline. This caused a large ingress of water which has resulted in her being down at the stern with a increased list to starboard. Able UK are currently surveying the damage. We await the results with trepidation.

This scenario very much mirrors what happened to 'Manxman' during her latter-day lay up.All very unfortunate for DSC who recently have received the full backing of Dover People's Port Trust after being shown the door by Dover Harbour Board. Funding has looked promising to date,but this latest occurrence does not bode well for 'Dover' or the wealth of the future of British Heritage Shipping. At this stage we can only hope that the situation is not beyond recall.

Will keep the forum posted

 

Hi, went across the transporter bridge today and took this photograph of TS Dover. Sad.

 

not nice, whilst i dont agree with plans to save every last bit of our heritage for the sake of it, when you see what might have been a possible, if not very expensive future heritage project ruined by what can best be described as vandles , it makes you sad, so how will this set back effect the hope to save her ? is she even capable of being saved.

has anyone heard what the fate was of the manxman? i should imagine that if cutting started a couple of months ago, she probally is no more now

 

The project to save Dover/Tuxedo starts to roll...

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