I am the present owner of the Portland Fireboat 'David Campbell" which was built at Portland Oregon in 1913 of Iron on steel frames, coal fired and steam powered. it was retired in 1926 and converted to a diesel powered sail/schooner fur trader at lake Union Seattle and renamed Aleutian Native. in 1932 it was converted to an oil tanker and renamed Express in 1940, servicing Alaskan villages until the early 50's and then converted to a tug of upper Columbia River Towing Company. it is also the first US Big Bering sea King Crabber durring the late 50's into the late 60's. Now a Salmon Tender out of Chignik Alaska and docked at Port Orchard, Washington where I am converting it for a combination tender/research Vessel (constructing the third of three masts this month), I have A bit of history about it can be found on my website; aleutianexpress.com
John

I am looking for someone with scratch model building talents to construct a model of the Portland Oregon Fireboat David Campbell to be displayed at the central fire station in Portland. The Fireboat David Campbell has a long history serving Portlands harbors and waterfront since 1927 and is still in-service today. The Fireboat is unique as there were three built in 1927 and the David Campbell is the last Fireboat left out of the three. I am presently a Harbor Pilot on the vessel and have had the pleasure of operating the Fireboat for the last 5 years.

Tim

I did some more research on your boat. it was built in the Joseph Supple shipyard about 1903, the city's first steel hull vessel to replace the older wood hull fireboat. The designer was R.A.Ballin. Go to amazon.com and buy a copy of Ferryboats, A Legend On Puget Sound. Used copys start at a couple of dollars. There are several pictures in there. Also do a search on books.google.com. You will find many references in early west coast marine publications.

Mike

I am looking for someone with scratch model building talents to construct a model of the Portland Oregon Fireboat David Campbell to be displayed at the central fire station in Portland. The Fireboat David Campbell has a long history serving Portlands harbors and waterfront since 1927 and is still in-service today. The Fireboat is unique as there were three built in 1927 and the David Campbell is the last Fireboat left out of the three. I am presently a Harbor Pilot on the vessel and have had the pleasure of operating the Fireboat for the last 5 years.

Tim

Are you looking for a professional model builder or a hobbyist? You will probably need a copy of the builders plans set which should be onboard the boat, in order to have an accurate model. You will also need lots of photographs. The only thing I could find on Google was a postcard. Professional rates can easliy reach many thousands of dollars. So that is something to keep in mind. There are many capable amateurs but keep in mind they will not be able to devote the time required to complete the project in a timely manner.

Mike,
Owner
classicwoodenboatmodels@yahoogroups