Pride of the Murray Passes through Nathalia

The Pride of the Murray, a 98 year old paddle steamer, passed through Nathalia on Tuesday the 7th of June, on it’s 2300 kilometre trip from Echuca/Moama to Longreach, Queensland. The 60-tonne load on a trailer with 106 tyres to spread the load negotiated many different obstacles on its journey including Nathalia’s round-a-bout and bridge over the Broken Creek. 

Originally built at Echuca in 1924 as a red gum logging barge for the PS Adelaide, the then named C24 transported logs from the Barmah Forest to Murray River Saw Mills at Echuca. After World War II, the paddle steamers and barges were no longer used, and she was abandoned on the banks of the Murray in the 1950s. 

In 1972, Max Carrington dug it out from the riverbed sediment and transported it to the Moama slip where he began restoring and converting the old barge into a paddle boat, complete with a diesel engine. It was named the Pride of the Murray in honour of a paddle steamer that sank at Echuca in 1866.