Steamers on Loch Tay

By on Jan 8, 2017 in Lady of the Lake, Loch Tay, Queen of the Lake, Sybilla | 3 comments

The possibility of a steamboat service on Loch Tay, one of the natural passages between the east and west highlands, was first broached in 1855, at a time when road communications in the west were developing to expand the tourist trade.

“At last, steam will flutter its pennon across the base of Ben Lawer—a company having arranged to start a small steamer to ply on Loch Tay during the summer months. The vessel will be an iron one, and is being constructed in England; its parts, of course, requiring to be put together on the loch. It will perform two trips from either end of the lake in the day.”—Caledonian Mercury, Thursday May 3, 1855

Loch Tay

Although the promise of a steamboat on Loch Tay as well as one on Lochearn was mentioned in the following year in connection with coach service between Crieff and Killin, it did not make an appearance. Almost a quarter century passed before more concrete steps were taken. These were prompted by the opening of the Callender and Oban Railway in the summer of 1880. In November 1881, Parliamentary Permission was sought to acquire land for a branch railway to the shore of Loch Tay where a pier would be erected and, in an agreement with the Earl of Breadalbane, steamboats would be supplied and worked on the Loch.

Lady of the Lake

On board Lady of the Lake

Lady of the Lake (Valentine)

Lady of the Lake (Valentine)

The steamboat service was to begin on July 1, 1882, but at that date, the vessels were not yet ready. The main passenger vessel was called the Lady of the Lake and was designed and first constructed in iron by Messrs Anderson and Lyall of Govan, then taken apart and conveyed in parts to a point below the village of Acharn, where a temporary slip was erected. The Lady of the Lake was 110 feet in length overall with a length of keel 96 feet. Her breadth was 14 feet. On July 1, the vessel was ready to receive her engines that generated 150 horse-power, supplied by a steel boiler. The main deck of Lady of the Lake was planked in pine with teak hatchways and fittings. It was hoped that she would be launched on July 13 by the Countess of Breadalbane to be ready to take up her station on Monday July 17.

Lady of the Lake and Sybilla at Kenmore (Stengel)

In addition to the Lady of the Lake, a cargo boat, Sybilla, was constructed of locally grown, native larch from Drummond Hill with a length of 70 feet, keel length 60 feet, and breadth 14 feet. Her builder was Mr. James Fenton of Perth and she was to be fitted with engines similar to those of Lady of the Lake.

The pier at Kenmore was complete and piers were also under construction at Acharn, Fernan, Lawers, Ardtalnaig, Ardreonaig and the railway terminus at Killin.—Evening Telegraph, July 1, 1882.

The Lady of the Lake, like Sybilla, was owned by the Loch Tay Steamboat Co. which was an enterprise promoted by the Earl of Breadalbane when he failed to convince others to join him. He had two objectives; to improve the position of his tenants and to accommodate the travelling public. The new Lady of the Lake was very attractive and was described as more of a yacht than a vessel built for commerce. By the summer of 1884, the whole plan was complete with the exception of the railway connection at Killin. Coaches were used to convey passengers from the railway at both ends of the Loch in the interim. In addition to Sybilla, two more steamers had appeared, Magpie, a small wooden puffer for cargo work, and Carlotta, another puffer-like wooden vessel launched in June 1883.

Carlotta

Lady of the Lake at Killin Pier (Stengel)

Lady of the Lake at Kenmore (Valentine)

Lady of the Lake leaving Lawers

Loch Tay is around 15 miles in length with piers at Killin at the western end and Kenmore in the east. On the north bank there were piers at Lawers and Fernan, and on the south bank, at Ardeonaig, Ardtalnaig, and Acharn. In most cases a separate pier was used for tourist traffic from that used for agricultural produce and merchandise and several barges were used for the latter, towed about the loch by steamer.

Map of Loch Tay with steamer connections

The tourist service featured in no less that seven circular tours offered by the Caledonian Railway with a coach connection from Killin station, five miles from the village. The Killin Railway branch was opened in March 1886, running from Glendochart to Killin Pier.

Lady of the Lake leaving Killin Pier

In 1893, the Loch Tay Steamboat Company reorganized as a joint-stock company with a capital of £8,000 in £10 shares. The Marquis of Breadalbane maintained control as a director.

Glasgow Herald, July 10, 1894

Glasgow Herald, September 25, 1896

Queen of the Lake at Killin Pier

Queen of the Lake at Kenmore (Valentine)

On July 11, 1907, a new twin-screw steamer for Loch Tay, Queen of the Lake, ran her trials. Built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Troon, she was trans-shipped in parts to Killin and drawn on a barge to Dalreb near Kenmore before reassembly and launching on June 19, 1907 by the Marchioness of Breadalbane. She measured 110 feet long by 20 feet in the beam and was in many respects an improved version of Lady of the Lake. Some adjustments were required and she completed her trials on August 13, running the length of the loch at a rate of 12 knots. She had “accommodation for over 500 passengers with a fine deck room, and commodious handsomely furnished saloons.”

Breadalbane Hotel, Kenmore

Queen of the Lake and Sybilla at Kenmore

Sybilla at Kenmore

In January, 1919, Lord Breadalbane wrote to the general manager of the Caledonian Railway Company to say that as a result of financial difficulties, the Loch Tay service would cease at an early date. In August the matter reached the House of Commons. In September, the service was suspended because of the strike by railwaymen but it soldiered on till May 20, 1921 when it ceased. The steamboats were put up for sale in October and the Caledonian Railway, with no powers to intervene to run the service, persuaded the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. Ltd. to purchase the vessels. This it did later in 1921.

Scotsman, October 12, 1921

Lady of the Lake and Queen of the Lake at Kenmore

Lady of the Lake was refitted for the 1922 season, and the following year, she was joined by the Queen of the Lake. The Sybilla was also repaired but the Carlotta was left to languish and did not sail again. The steamers had a change of colour scheme from the red with a black top to the Caledonian yellow and then the yellow-red-black combination in the initial period of London Midland and Scottish Railway control until they settled to the buff funnel with black top.

Queen of the Lake

Queen of the Lake (Valentine)

Queen of the Lake in her final color scheme

In 1929, Lady of the Lake and Sybilla were withdrawn and broken up at Kenmore. Tragedy almost struck when Queen of the Lake was discovered to be on fire at the beginning of July in 1929. The cabin was gutted and part of her deck damaged but she was repaired and returned to service. Queen of the Lake soldiered on with two double runs each day and evening cruises in the height of the season. She was laid up on the slip at Kenmore at the beginning of the second world war, and was broken up on the lochside in May 1950.

Queen of the Lake laid up at Kenmore on September 25, 1949

3 Comments

  1. NICHOLAS KELLY

    February 21, 2018

    Post a Reply

    It was very sad that the Caledonian Steam Packet Company decided not to resume the Loch Tay Steamer services post WW II.
    I doubt the BTC made much money from the scrapping of the ‘QUEEN OF THE LAKE’ A great lost opportunity.
    It is also a great shame that the recent attempt to build and run a new purpose built Steamer has also ended in failure.

  2. Dave G

    August 21, 2023

    Post a Reply

    I well recollect in the mid 1950’s playing on the remains of some largish boat, always said to be ‘the remains of the passenger steamer’ that rusted away on a rudimentary stone slipway at the east end of Priory Island.

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.