Canals and their associated craft are one of my other interests. Maybe as long ago as 2003, I saw a narrow boat in London being cruised up the River Lea between Tottenham and Stonebridge locks. I couldn't stop what I was doing at the time helping a friend on his mooring, but his boat was called N Gauge. I did manage to shout across to the chap at the tiller find out if he had a layout on board, and he does/did!
I always regretted not being able to introduce myself further and hopefully be invited aboard to see said layout,
to see how it could be done aboard a boat with a beam of 6' 10".
Within the last 6 years, a fellow member of the MRC of London saw him at Waltham Abbey on The Lea but didn't think too much of it, just a curious name for a Narrow Boat.
He obviously gets around a bit, because he's been noted at Congleton on the Macclesfield Canal back in 2007.
Here is a photo of the boat's semi trad-back rear cabin. Does anyone recognise it, and perhaps know the boating/modelling gent who owns it? If not, perhaps someone knows if he's even still with us now as he seemed like he might have been quite old at the time in 2003.
I'd love to be able to put this mystery to bed as it's one of those things that still comes to mind now and then; and still bugs me.
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/104/5564-060121140406.jpeg) (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=104251)
Hi Malcolm,
How fascinating ..... knowing how cramped a narrowboat can be really goes to show that the excuse of "not having enough room for a layout" doesn't hold up :D :D
A friend of mine is a retired signwriter, and now keeps his hand in working on traditional fairground art, and narrowboats.
For the narrowboats, he is part of this forum https://livingonanarrowboat.co.uk/
Perhaps asking there might find someone who knows the guy whose boat you saw.
All best wishes
Kevin
:beers:
Malcolm, I found this detail at canalplan.co.uk:
N-Gauge Built by Northwest N/boats - Length : 15.392 metres ( 50 feet 6 inches ) - Beam : 2.13 metres ( 7 feet ) - Draft : 0.61 metres ( 2 feet ). Metal hull N/A power of 999 HP. Registered with Canal & River Trust number 51419 as a Powered Motor Boat. ( Last updated on Wednesday 22nd May 2013 )
You can register with the CRT - I think they issue licences to boaters etc, but comments elsewhere on the www suggest their records can be very wayward, and probably don't give any more than the detail above.
initial thought, not knowing much about them, though did watch a series on TV by that guy who does motor cycle racing, was that you possibly could fit a U shaped layout around the bow, but perhaps that is where the sleeping area is :-[
Quote from: class37025 on January 06, 2021, 03:09:44 PM
initial thought, not knowing much about them, though did watch a series on TV by that guy who does motor cycle racing, was that you possibly could fit a U shaped layout around the bow, but perhaps that is where the sleeping area is :-[
Some people do use the bow for sleeping, but you're better off having access to the cabin at both ends which makes this impractical. Any use of space on a narrow boat needs some serious thought and planning.
If you use 3rd & 4th radius curves, you could still have a gangway along one side of a tail chasing layout.
Quote from: daffy on January 06, 2021, 03:09:03 PM
Malcolm, I found this detail at canalplan.co.uk:
N-Gauge Built by Northwest N/boats - Length : 15.392 metres ( 50 feet 6 inches ) - Beam : 2.13 metres ( 7 feet ) - Draft : 0.61 metres ( 2 feet ). Metal hull N/A power of 999 HP. Registered with Canal & River Trust number 51419 as a Powered Motor Boat. ( Last updated on Wednesday 22nd May 2013 )
You can register with the CRT - I think they issue licences to boaters etc, but comments elsewhere on the www suggest their records can be very wayward, and probably don't give any more than the detail above.
:claphappy: Thanks Daffy, that is brilliant and I agree it's as good as it gets. The former civil service body called British Waterways could be difficult enough to deal with, but now it's a charitable trust called the Canals and Rivers Trust, it certainly hasn't improved any! Quite the reverse from what I gather from my old pals in the boating community.
Oh well I'll give them a shot. In for a penny in for a 'pound' (that probably leaks badly because of the poor state of the lock gates down stream :D ).
Might it have been Patrick Stewart as he was always saying :ngauge:
(https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/75/264-080419112257-758991307.jpeg)
Bit of a comedown from a Starship, though :D
Quote from: Newportnobby on January 06, 2021, 04:31:18 PM
Bit of a comedown from a Starship, though :D
Much lower dilithium footprint ;)
I'm thinking NPN might possibly be right about the owner, because I just noticed the boats reg details I quoted suggest it might capable of warp speed!
"N/A power of 999 HP" :o
I'm assuming of course that "N/A" stands for "Nuclear/Atomic" in this instance.;)
Might explain why Malcolm hasn't seen it for a while - it's boldly gone where no narrowboat has gone before.
:D