Does anybody know what happened to the Semple Engine Company
Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 9:58 pm
Satisfying my armchair interest in steamboats has kept me out of trouble for the last few years. I'd pretty much run out of "daydream material" on small craft and things maritime until I widened my horizons. Particularly in my reading and rereading of Durham's "Steamboats and Modern Steam Launches" I keep seeing references to and advertisements by the Semple Engine Company. It's easy to deduce what the Semple Engine Company WAS back in the sixties, but does it still exist? It does not seem to have any web presence, nor even a phone number alive today. I gather it was pretty much a one man operation in its day. Apparently, their products continue to exist and perform service today. Does anybody know the story of what happened to them? Could their business model be resurrected, or has Pat Spurling of "Elliot Bay" done just that? Inquiring minds want to know! (Or at least this one does.)