Built in Germany by Howaldtswerke AG in 1927 as the M/S Schiksee”. She had a length of 30.7 meters/100.7 ft. and a beam of 7.2 meters/23.7 ft. She was powered by a 6 cylinder diesel engine and had a speed of 10 knots. She could carry 130 passengers. During WWII she was used by the Soviets and named “Uranium””. When she was taken over by Poland she got the name “Graƶyna”. She was used in cruises until 1964. The small size of the ship meant it would fit on my layout and the best part is that I could download free plans. Win win.
It seemed to me that I could take the basic hull design of the ship (hence the plans) and create something that lived in my world. The ship served for 37 years. Since I model c.1920’ish .. I was thinking that it would have been built c.1880′ ish.
In O scale the length of 30.7 m. / 100.7 ft. and beam of 7.2 m / 23.7 ft. would be 25.175 in. and 5.925 in.
As shown to the left I would for certain need a dolphin (structures designed to either stop or redirect ships) similar to the one at the end of the wharf to protect Juke’s.
I wanted to make Grazyna’s Muse a steel ship so I could go nuts with rust if I wished, rather than a wooden ship. In “Armor and Ships: Journal of the United States Artillery pub. 1906 – the transformation from wood, to iron and to steel .. it was only about 1860 that iron could be produced in quantity for ship construction and It wasn’t until after 1880 that steel became extensively employed in building ships. This worked for me then as a history for a build date for he Grazyna’s Muse. The idea of a small river steamer carrying passengers and cargo seemed like a fine idea.
I … may … have got a bit carried away with backdating the ship to the 1880’s .. but life is short and why not have fun .. so I did .. have fun that is. The ship is now steam powered and a bit strange perhaps but I had tons of fun designing it.