The Gymnasium

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Marshall Drew recounted how he and his Aunt and Uncle were allowed in the gym to look around on sailing day. Mrs. Astor is seated on a mechanical camel that night as she waits, then there is that photo of an unknown lady on a stationary bicycle- but I wonder if anyone knows what those horizontal bars are for, which line the walls- have seen them in very old high school gyms too. Here is the old Franconia's gym- looks a lot like Titanic's.This is a postcard. Can't remember if there was a rowing apparatus- ironic if so.

 

[James Alexander Carlisle]

There was a rowing machine onboard Titanic. The electric horse has it's own story. On the way from Belfast to Southampton all the Yard workers wanted to try it with the result was that it broke down. It was thought that apprentice electrician should repair it, but he was too busy.
H&W's Ass. Elect.Manager ended up repairing it and the photograph of him sitting on it, is now very famous.

 

[Nigel Bryant]

Thats actucally quite funny;-)

Thanks for sharing that James.

Best,

Nigel

 

[Brandon Whited]

Interesting story; I never heard that about the electric camel until now.

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Neither have I. Thanks James.

Best regards,

Jason

 

[Shane Worthy]

Hello all,
I just thought I'd add in, that on Day 4 of Ballard's first Titanic dive, the metal frames for the mechanical camel had been seen, although nothing has been recovered.
Excellent pictures were taken through the windows though, able to see some of the remains of the machinery.
Sadly, since then the roof has collapsed.

 

[Brian R Peterson]

Hi Shane,

The roof has sagged inwards as you mention, but we did gain something useful from this event, Ballard and Ken Marschall recall clearly being able to see the wood paneling which was remarkable almost perfectly intact along the rear wall.

Best Regards,

Brian

 

[Nick Howes]

Does anyone know where I can see a colour copy of the steamer route/hull plan framed on the gym wall? It was recreated in the cameron film so I presume a copy survived from Olympic?

 

[Ana Florencia Pinton]

Interesting story; I never heard that about the electric camel until now.

I think the first time I heard of that "contraption" was in Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. It was the place where the player was supposed to meet Penny Pringle for the first time, I think.