For the love of steam

Twenty-five years ago, Al Dunlop started drawing the plans for the steam sternwheeler, Cheng-tze.

Stephen Morrison fell in love with steam engines in the north of England almost 40 years ago and bought the Linda J in 2002. Both members of the NW Steam Society travel many miles to visit with friends and share their boats—Dunlop comes from Spokane and Morrison from Tucson, Arizona.

Morrison fell in love with steam engines in the early 1970’s. He was looking for good bike parts in the north of England for the bicycle shop he ran, when he saw a steam traction rally across the field.

“They were beautifully restored, just magnificent, shimmering with polished brass. One was black and gold, one green and red, one beige and maroon,” Morrison said wistfully, 38-years later.

That early inspiration went on a back burner until six years ago.

“I found the website and spent a couple of years on the net. I was going to build something, but I realized I didn’t have the time or the energy.

“I kept my eye on the Linda J for about six months, and thought it was a fair price. I rescued it from Canada,” he said, adding he’s taken the boat to Rhode Island, to Michigan and to Pennsylvania.

“The best part of these boats is that they’re visually interesting. You can see the engine work. They’re quiet.

“They don’t go that fast, just enough to feel a breeze and you can see what’s close to shore."

Then Morrison echoed the other members, “The group is just fantastic. They’re just wonderful people.”

Al and Sue Dunlop operate the Cheng-tze with the familiarity of a long-married couple.

The boat is named for Sue, whose real name is Cheng-tze. After the weight of the boat tore the bumper off an SUV, Al Dunlop bought a white Freightliner tractor-trailer to transport the sternwheeler, which weighs 6,000 pounds.

It is 27-feet of gleaming Honduras mahogany and brass. As she gets up steam and heads down the slough, Sue puts glass vases with flowers onto brass brackets.

Sue is the hostess, offering cold drinks and a guest book, taking a damp washcloth to Al who sits in the sun. She explains that when the boat gets up 30 pounds of pressure, you’ll hear the stern wheel start turning.

Al says, passengers have to be prepared for his hillbilly music. Sue operates the sound system and “On the Wings of a Dove” fills the cabin.

Al said he’s loved steam since he was a boy in San Mateo, California, when a neighbor had a steam train. “It’s been down hill from there,” he said.

Sue grabs her ears when he blows the whistle at the request of a passing fishing boat, and the men in the boat wave with big smiles and give thumbs up.

Dunlop was a mechanic at TWA, volunteering with co-workers for a friend with multiple sclerosis, and being a Boy Scout master, Sue explains.

“He started with a piece of paper and pencil, and 25 years later, he had it,” said Norm Davis, coordinator of the meet. “He made the gimbled brass lanterns and everything but the boiler.”

Dunlop said the boat takes a fair amount of maintenance. Its 10 coats of spar varnish have lasted for nine years, but they’ll need some attention soon, he says, “but that’s pretty good.”

At a banquet at the Norse Hall Saturday, at the end of business, Al spoke to the group.

“I had an eight-year-old boy on the boat today. He looked at the whistle, and he said, ‘I’ve wanted to blow one of those all my life.’ I said, ‘Go ahead,’ and he did and he just lit up.

“Then he said he’d like to go under the (Puget Island) bridge and I let him steer. He said, ‘this is so much fun.’ He said it again and again, all the way to the bridge and back, ‘this is so much fun.’ For me, that’s what it’s all about.”