T.L.C. - Timberclad Style

T, L and C of course refers to the three Union Timberclads - Tyler, Lexington and Conestoga; the models of which pictured above were completed last night. These three ships were the forerunners of the great river fleets employed by the Union and they all saw much action. The Conestoga was lost when she was accidentally rammed by the General Price (after she had been captured by the Union) in 1864. Tyler was damaged in a running fight with the Confederate casemate ironclad the C.S.S. Arkansas and only escaped when she hid amongst the Union fleet that the Arkansas then proceeded to sail through

Of the three models the Lexington is in the centre flanked by the Tyler and the Conestoga. The Tyler and Conestoga were described as being very similar in appearance except that the paddle boxes were slightly different. As I have only been able to find pictures of one of them, the Conestoga I have built both models to the same configuration.

These are the last side wheel paddle steamers I am building for the river part of the collection although I will need to build a few when I tackle the Gulf end in due course. In the meantime though I am now left with having to build only two more vessels to finish this phase of the project - a pair of sternwheelers for the Ellet Ram fleet. This will bring me up to 50 models - more than double than what I had originally set out to build!