"The Steam Ship "Eliza Hobson" was purpose built in 1996 as a steam boat of the late 1800's incorporating all the best features of that era." is a quotation from the Eliza Hobson brochure's title page.  A modest statement, to say the least, when one examines the photos contained in the brochure, which is reproduced on the Eliza Hobson web page.  Just CLICK the icon to visit it.

We first heard about the Eliza Hobson when her owner contacted us about an electric motor/battery propulsion system for her.  Apparently with the long working day, the task of preparing, delivering, and loading the boiler's wood fuel supply was becoming a burden.  Some quick calculations showed that the weight of the boat, and the frequency of trips would require a battery load that was too much to be feasible, hence the idea was abandoned.  At right a suitable electric motor and reduction gear unit.

A logical alternative was to replace the wood with oil as the boiler's fuel.  From a cost and practical point of view this is extremely efficient.  Our Beckett 12 volt Model ADC burners are small, light, compact, quiet, and very efficient. 
Moreover the fuel problem is completely eliminated as oil is stored in tanks and easily loaded at the dock.  A couple of on-board filters insure that clean fuel is fed to the boiler for dependable operation.  For picture taking the oil burner can be adjusted to provided the standard stack smoke, however during general operation the fuel burns completely and leaves no soot or ashes to mar the environment.