Hey guys,
I’ve got a complete motor and running hardware set for the Dumas American Beauty (#1215) available if anyone is interested.

This is the full Dumas kit #2339, including:
Shafts & stuffing boxes
Bronze props
Rudders, shafts & tubes
Drive dogs, arms, and fittings
Electric motor

All associated hardware (as shown in the photos)
Everything is new and unused, still in original packaging.

If you’re building the American Beauty—or thinking about it—this saves you hunting down all the running gear separately.
I’m happy to let it go for a very reasonable price to a fellow builder.
👉 Feel free to PM me if interested or if you need more details.
😎

A couple of thoughts on towboats and the Dumas American Beauty in particular.
Because towboats generally don't need the typical sea-keeping qualities of her ocean going sisters, the vast majority of them are flat bottomed with the aft portion kicked up to house the wheels, steering and (in some cases) flanking rudders or Korts. This allows the boat to run in "shallower" water and lessening the danger of ripping out the propulsion and steering systems. Using a search engine to look up images, check out the profiles of boats in dry dock or on the ways and this tuck up is apparent.

As for Dumas' American Beauty, the plywood they used and the dies to punch out the deckhouse parts leaves a little to be desired. Keeping in mind the wooden pieces should all be sealed against moisture, and to provide a smooth surface (her deckhouse is metal) a work around was discussed years ago here on this site.
The outcome of that was to obtain a sheet or two of .020 or .030 styrene and trace the wooden parts onto it and cut the parts out of the plastic. This of course is your choice and by no means mandatory. It would be tedious yes, but the end result may be much more satisfying than wrestling with the substandard ply and the finish would be much easier.
Do read through the instructions a couple of times before you embark on this journey.
Patience.

Yes, you are quite right! The powering of it interested me and wondered whether a Z drive would be a more modern way to run it?

Steamrod, did you mean American Beauty?
Lew

As a tribute to Dumas I ordered the American Queen with dual Korts. Should be a learning experience.

Having grown up in Cincinnati I look forward to learning about towboat operation. As a youth the muddy Ohio river did not capture my interest.

One of my favorite subjects! 😊
I worked on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in the late 60's to middle '70s.
You're right Lew, the Corps dredged where necessary, but in the interim we'd maintain the buoys, daymarks, and mile number markers. The CG was charged with maintaining the 9' channel depth. This meant if the river levels rose, we'd move the buoys out. When the river went down, we'd have to move them back in toward the center.

The amount of commerce moved on the river systems is amazing and hard to describe without sounding like an exaggeration.