Date: 10/01/2019

A 65-year-old paddle steamer which once transported tourists across Loch Lomond is to be taken out of the water ahead of a planned restoration. The Maid of the Loch will be lifted by the original winchhouse and onto the Category A-listed Balloch Steam Slipway - the second time the ship has been slipped in nearly 40 years. The steamer has been moored at Balloch Pier since 1996. Once out of the water, an ultrasound survey will investigate its condition.

External links

Workers flee as ship slides back into water

BBC News

The Maid of the Loch paddle steamer was being winched out of Loch Lomond when it broke free.

Related images

Pier in use - see the heaving line being thrown - as PS Maid of the Loch berths in 1976. Note the catenary at Balloch Pier station on the far right. Originally opened as Balloch Wharf in 1850, the station closed to passengers in September 1986.
Location: Balloch Pier
Company: Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway
//1976 Colin Miller

PS Maid Of The Loch at Balloch on 18 August 2012 operating as a tea room while undergoing restoration and repairs.
Location: Balloch Pier
Company: Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway
18/08/2012 John Steven

The paddle steamer Maid of the Loch photographed on Loch Lomond in September 1955 on one of her regular trips out from Balloch Pier.
Location: Loch Lomond
Company: Piers on Loch Lomond
06/09/1955 A Snapper (Courtesy Bruce McCartney)