TSS Earnslaw To Receive Her Annual Makeover

As the vintage TSS Earnslaw steams towards her centenary, she is about to undergo her annual survey to ensure she remains in tip top condition for the celebrations ahead.

The 97-year-old steamship will be taken out of Lake Wakatipu at the Kelvin Heights slipway on Sunday 30 May and given a thorough overhaul during the following 5 weeks.

In her absence, Real Journeys will continue to transport passengers keen to visit to Walter Peak High Country Farm on an alternative vessel, the Explorer.

Work scheduled to be carried out during this year’s survey includes the complete strip down of both engines, checking all parts and re-machining or replacing them if necessary.  All fittings will be removed from the boilers, inspected and surveyed. The port propeller shaft will be withdrawn and inspected along with associated bearings.

The grand old ‘Lady of the Lake’ will also undergo some cosmetic work including major repainting of the white section of the hull and funnel.

Real Journeys Earnslaw/Walter Peak Manager, Andrew Husheer, said the steamship is one of the last remaining coal fired passenger vessels still operating in the southern hemisphere.

“She was originally built to service the remote farming communities around Lake Wakatipu, and was one of several steamers that plied the lake transporting sheep and cattle on her decks,” he said.

As road access around the lake improved in the 1960’s, demand for the TSS Earnslaw’s services declined and in 1969 Fiordland Travel, now Real Journeys, began operating her as a tourism venture.

“She still works really hard carrying over 100,000 passengers a year between Queenstown and Walter Peak and it is important that we ensure she is in top condition.”

The survey work is being carried out by Real Journeys staff along with teams from Gough Bros Engineering, Sheet Metal Craft and Aotea Electrical.

The TSS Earnslaw will be back in operation on July 5.

This year work has also been carried out on the 1868 steam engine Antrium and 1893 boiler used to haul the TSS Earnslaw up the slipway at Kelvin Heights. The boiler is the oldest certified boiler in New Zealand.

For further comment please contact:
Andrew Husheer
03 409 0592 or 027 273 7124
Email ahusheer@realjourneys.co.nz

Gabby Lake
Marketing Communications Co-ordinator
DDI 442 4830
glake@realjourneys.co.nz