This page is for information on the history of the boat, and the parts that make Endion unique. A lot of this is information for some of my Lyman buddies, but maybe others will find interesting as well. I know there is a lot more information out there, and will add it as it comes along. Please let me know if you have any info that might help.
Much of the research I've done for this page came from Design News Magazine, which featured the Endion in its October 19, 1951 issue in one of a series of articles called "Modern Designs", which I was made aware of by Tom Koroknay. A current editor at the magazine finally succumbed to my harassment and photocopied the article for me from their archives. I've also learned a lot from Alan Briggs, once the technical director of the Lyman Boat Society of North America. Alan has a CD available that contains many of the brochures and data from Lyman boats, and a lot of valuable commentary by Alan. If you would like to buy a copy of his CD, let me know (it's certainly worth the $35.00)
Tom Koroknay (aka "Doc Lyman") has recently released his book on the history of Lyman boats. Tom puts a lot of time into preserving the Lyman lore, and his book is a must for anyone interested in these amazing boats - it's called "Lyman Boats - Legend of the Lakes". Click on the blue text and buys the guy's book! Tom kindly mentions the Endion (as well as Commander McDonald's other notable Lyman, the Mizpah of 1942), and describes some of the functioning of the remote control system, as was described in Design News. Tom was smart enough to rescue the files of the Lyman Boat Works from destruction after the factory was closed permanently. Building the Endion involved a lot of correspondence between Lyman, McDonald, Zenith and the Sandusky area machinists who built the gearbox. I believe that Tom will have some of that paperwork in his files, and he and I will get to that in the near future.
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This photo was taken of the Endion at the time of its delivery - I have no idea of who is in the boat. I intend to return the boat to this condition before my hair looks like the guy in the forward seat... You can see some of the unusual items in this shot: there is a second, smaller engine box; the lightning rod antenna is fully retracted (it's on the bow deck, immediately ahead of the windshield); the thru-hull fittings for the overflows on the Port and Starboard live-wells are on the transom just above the waterline; and there is a gas fume detector on a rear-facing panel, just below the center section of the bow seat. You can't see any of the five mounting plates that were put around the boat for the remote-control. |
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This photo of Eugene F. McDonald was in my grandfather's files - he's the Grant Turner in the inscription. Date of the photo anybody?? The Endion is a utility-style runabout made by Lyman Boats in 1950 -51. She was part of a group of special-order boats and her hull number is X-1008. She's 20' long and 86" wide (to the planks, not the gunwales). Although only nineteen boats were made in this series, this hull closely follows the "function-first" philosophy of all Lyman boats. Yes, there are esthetic values applied to the boat, but has a beauty that derives from a rugged, purposeful design. In many ways, this 20' hull is more similar to the 22' Runabout model of 1947 than it is to the later 20' model offered by Lyman in 1955-56. Some of the details (like the steering wheel and windshield) seem to be exactly the same as those used on the 1947 22' Runabout, although this boat has fewer planks on the hull. The hull planking is 3/8" mahogany plywood,
(plywood is what you'd expect for the early 50's) and the ribs and stringers are
white oak. The interior is a mix of Honduras Mahogany and Philippine Mahogany (which, of course, isn't
really a true mahogany...) The still-original engine is a
135 hp Chrysler Crown Special (model M47S), although the running gear has been altered a bit from the way it was
originally delivered: the boat was originally made with an electric auxiliary
motor, which could be engaged to the driveshaft through a special gearbox, and
was controlled by a remote-control. I have been unable to find the
original electric motor, gearbox or relay panel - although I have some working
drawings that would help recreate them; as the boat is rebuilt and more information comes along, maybe it can be
returned to its original configuration. If anyone has more information on other 'X' boats, I'd love to hear
it (I've only heard of one other boat from this series of 19 units). |
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This is a pencil drawing of the Endion that was used by
Design News Magazine. The emphasis here is on the propulsion system,
although you should note the tank under the rear seat (there is a port and
starboard livewell there) and the box under the forward seat, where the
batteries and the control relays for the electric motor were located. |
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The design criteria for Endion's electric motor was "efficiency", so the
motor was controlled by a set of relays, not resistors. The schematic shows
a system of true beauty, to me. It meets the efficiency standard beyond the
1950 time frame, and given better batteries and more weather resistant
materials for the relays, would be hard to beat today. Too bad, the team of
Zenith electrical engineers and Bill Lyman didn't meet more often.
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Grant Turner,
P.O. Box 809
Manchester Center, Vermont 05255-0809
Ph. 802-362-7318
Fax 802-362-4956
EMail grantt@sover.net