The Stories Behind the Power

Four historic steam engines are now on display

This article first appeared in the summer 2023 edition of Reflections magazine

Steam power has been essential to the development of Muskoka since the mid-1860s, transporting passengers to the region’s many lakeside hotels and private residences, as well as moving finished goods and commodities. Employed on the region’s big lakes, steam powered boats and ships have ranged from the most sleek and sophisticated to everyday work craft. The engines from four of these vessels have been preserved and restored, and they’re on display and ready to reveal their inner workings at the Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre.

Naiad

In Greek mythology, a Naiad is a nymph who gives life to springs, rivers and lakes. The 21 metre (68 ft) yacht Naiad, capable of carrying 40 passengers at a top speed of 28 kilometres per hour (17.3 mph or 15 kts), was built in 1890 for businessman and philanthropist Senator Eli Sanford of Hamilton and Sans Souci Island, Lake Rosseau.

The boat operated on Lake Rosseau until 1940, when it was sold to collector Cameron Peck, on Lake of Bays. In the fall she cruised under her own steam to Gravenhurst and over the winter of 1940-41 she was transported by sleigh through Bracebridge and on to Lake of Bays. When Peck sold his collection, Naiad was bought by the Ontario Northland Transportation Company, which re-equipped the boat with a diesel engine and transported it by train to Temagami in Northern Ontario in 1955.

In 1964, the boat became derelict and the engine was placed on the dock in Temagami. It was rescued by Andrew Merrilees whose business bought and sold used railroad equipment at his yard in Weston, Ontario.

Naiad’s two-cylinder power plant is a fore-and-aft compound condensing steam engine built by Polson Iron Works of Toronto. The Scotch marine boiler drove a 163 cm diameter, 119 cm pitch, four-bladed cast iron propellor on a 7.62 cm shaft.  (64-in diameter, 47-in pitch, 3-in shaft). Two cords of hardwood stored beside the boiler were used for fuel.  In 1978, the engine was lifted by crane from the Merrilees property and transported to storage at the Muskoka Lakes Museum.

In the late 1990s the Muskoka Lakes Museum donated the Naiad engine to Muskoka Steamships. It sat on display near the office and was later stored in the Nelson Street Yard, Gravenhurst.  On November 5, 2020, Naiad’s engine was lifted by boom truck and placed in the Heritage Boatworks building, Gravenhurst for refurbishing.

Mildred

In 1903, Polson Iron Works built Mildred, a 21 metre (70 ft.) steam yacht for E. R. Wood. He cottaged on Lake Rosseau, and named the boat for his daughter. In 1921, the yacht was purchased by Captain Wesley Archer who used her for sightseeing cruises from Bracebridge. After Archer’s death in 1946, she was sold to Ralph McPherson who continued to offer cruises. In 1961, while on a cruise, Mildred burned on the Muskoka River. MacPherson rebuilt Mildred using steel. She was owned by four other people and is now being refurbished with the hopes of cruising the Muskoka lakes again.

In 1954, her triple-expansion steam engine was replaced by a diesel engine. Roy Davies, a Bracebridge machinist found her original rusty steam engine in a barn in 1993. He beautifully restored the engine and adapted a drive to turn it over. It was displayed at the former Steamship Museum and is now at the Muskoka Discovery Centre in Gravenhurst.

Wanda III

Wanda III was built by Polson Iron Works in 1915 for Margaret Eaton, widow of Timothy Eaton, the founder of Eaton department stores. This yacht was the third Wanda yacht owned by the family on Lake Rosseau.

At the request of Mrs. Eaton, the builder installed a triple-expansion steam engine similar to those being used in Royal Navy ships during the First World War. This triple-expansion steam engine, also built by Polson, represented the pinnacle of marine steam technology. Using steam from a wood-fired water tube boiler it was approved to a maximum working pressure of 300 pounds per square inch. Being 28.6 metres (94 ft.) long, with a beam of 3.7 metres (12 feet), she was sleek and fast. She was capable of 39 kilometres per hour (21 kts, or 24 mph), making her one of the fastest yachts on the Muskoka lakes.

Mrs. Eaton sold Wanda III to C. O. Shaw, owner of Bigwin Inn on Lake of Bays in 1930. The yacht was transported by water, rail and overland to Lake of Bays, where it was used to take guests on sightseeing excursions. The next six owners were all on Lake of Bays. In 1992, the last of these owners, Sandy Thomson, donated her to Muskoka Steamships in Gravenhurst. Since that time, Wanda has cruised the three larger lakes, undergone several restorations and been laid up for 13 years.

Today, Wanda III is housed in a new boathouse, undergoing restoration once again, and has been changed from steam to battery electric power.

Waterous Engine

In 1996, a small Waterous steam engine, built in Brantford, Ontario, was donated to Muskoka Steamships by the Krell family of Lake of Bays.

The Waterous Engine Works, dating from 1864, was a famous Canadian builder of farm and road engines. The Brantford factory also made small marine steam engines. This engine is a simple two-cylinder non-condensing steam engine with 10 cm (4 in) diameter pistons and a 12.7 cm (5 in) stroke, producing about 14.7 kw (20 hp.)  The slide valves on each cylinder allow steam to act on both sides of the piston, providing more power.

Single- and two-cylinder engines of this type were used on smaller boats up to 9 metres (30 ft) in length, and employed small wood fired boilers to create the steam power. Heritage Boatworks volunteers completed the restoration in 2023.

 

– By John Storey, a volunteer with Heritage Boatworks, a part of Muskoka Steamships & Discovery Centre.