Topic starter
02/04/2007 3:25 pm
The Howard Steamboat Museum now has a dispaly you can literally get your hands on.....a pilot wheel and working engine room bells. Last Saturday a crew of volunteers worked all day getting the display up and running; and what a crew it was...Capt. Alan Bates, Capt. Pete O'Connell, Capt. Billy Ray, Chief Engineer Kenny Howe, Machinist and Steam Engine Hobbiest Bruce Babcock, and myself, Chief Flunky. We started at 8:00 first by carting the 7ft. pilot wheel from the STR. CHICKAMAUGA (towboat built at Muscle Shoals, Al. in 1915, 115 x 22"5", after sinking in 1926 it was bought by Capt.Jim Howard who rebuilt her into a pool style towboat named ED.J HOWARD which lasted until 1934) from the second floor of the museum to the back porch.
A slot was cut in the floor of the porch and the wheel was placed in the slot typical pilothouse style with about three feet of the wheel extending below the floor. The wheel is mounted on stands which Alan Bates made. The stands are exact steamboat pilot wheel stands and the bearings for the wheel shaft to rotate in are made from Lignum Vitae wood. Lignum Vitae is an oily wood used for bearings; in fact, even up to and past WWII most propeller shaft bearings were made from Lignum Vitae.
After the wheel was installed, another slot was cut in the floor in front of the wheel into which the bell pull stand was placed. Bruce Babcock built the bell pull stand patterned after the one on display in the museum. Bruce had the cranks and quadrants cast at an Amish foundry in Ohio using patterns which he had made from wood.
Bells were installed under the floor and attached to the bell pulls. Only two bells arrived in time for the work Saturday. The gong is supposed to be shipped from the manufacturer this week. Also a wheel break was installed under the floor, the break is to keep school kids and over zealous adults from spinning the wheel too quickly.
Now when you visit the museum you will be able to turn a real steamboat pilot wheel and ring authentic engineroom bells.
Remember the museums' CHAUTAUQUA weekend is coming up on May 19th & 20th. It's well worth attending.
02/04/2007 4:21 pm
Thanks, Jim, for announcing the new pilothouse exhibit! I'm sorry I couldn't be "on deck" Saturday, but duty called elsewhere. Capt. Bill came into my office this morning and gave me a full report, plus handed me a couple of "souvenir" pilotwheel pieces. The back porch project which includes a ramped entrance to the new reception area/gift shop) has had a number of setbacks, but there's finally light at the end of the tunnel. Funding for the pilothouse exhibit was generously provided by the J. Mack Gamble Fund of The Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen. And a BIG thanks to all who have provided the planning and labor to make it happen!
Indeed, the spring festival is fast approaching and this year the theme is "The 1937 Flood Remembered". Admission is only $3 per person (children free with an adult) and includes the mansion as well as the antique show in the carriage house, all the vendors on the lawn, entertainment and, hopefully, organ grinder Ted Guillaum! The festival is open on Saturday May 19th from 10 AM until 6 PM and on Sunday from 10 AM until 4 PM. Visit the museum's website at www.steamboatmuseum.org for further information. Y'all come!
02/04/2007 5:05 pm
Thanks, Jim for the update on the pilot house project and thanks Keith for the Chautauqua Fest plug. I am planning on being there to crank out a few tunes. I will also look forward to seeing all the new additions to the Howard Museum.
03/04/2007 4:33 pm
Hi, Jim & steamboating colleagues:
Thanks for the insights on the 'Interactive display' at the Howard Museum. Sounds like you were part of a pretty knowledgeable and skilled team on the project. The May 19th/20th Howard CHAUTAUQUA should be a stellar event to showcase the recent refurbishments and display. The Howard certainly can't be accused of being 'static' or not moving ahead with programs and on-going refurbishment.
'Lignum vitae' ['Wood of life'] caught my eye from earlier Steamboats.org postings. 'Guaiacum offcinale' and 'sanctum' are slow growing trees found, among other places, Jamaica and Bahamas. Some early exploration ships were ribbed with Lignum vitae in addition to bearings in hydroelectric plants. Legend has it that Merlin's staff was made of this wood. One interesting link to the posting.
Okay, were there any skinned knuckles or thumbs hit with hammers during all of that demanding work? Any pictures taken for posting on this web?
Cheers,
R. Dale Flick
04/04/2007 4:53 am
No, Dale,
no one was hurt and no tools were lost. No one swore, as far as I know. There was a lot of in-trade humor going on all day. A few things went as planned, but much was decided on the spot. Don't confuse this project with a pilothouse that I understand will be built in the back yard at another time. The display is on the (and in) back porch
04/04/2007 11:52 am
The backyard pilothouse project has had more ups and downs than the river itself. Some ten years ago or so, Capt. Mike Fitzgerald and others developed detailed plans to build a replica of the pilothouse of the sidewheel steamer INDIANA, in the yard just "aft" of the big house, where the DQ wheel shaft formerly was displayed before being moved back near the carriage house. After numerous "snags", the new ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) law put the quietus on things due to the rulings about wheelchair accessible ramps, etc. The pilothouse, after complying with these stringent regulations, would have been almost as tall as the Howard mansion and looked rather UNlike an authentic pilothouse, so the project was scrapped. Now there's talk of building a lighter version, sort of a "gazebo" style pilothouse that can also function as the "altar" for garden weddings that often take place on the museum grounds, currently near the fountain on the front lawn.
For a time we had high hopes of obtaining the pilothouse (replete with wheel and lazy bench) from the Str. MAMIE S. BARRETT (see attached photo) a Howard built towboat currently disintegrating in a bayou at Deer Park, Louisiana, near Natchez. But that is now an impossible dream. The Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis dismantled and stored the pilothouse of the Str. GOLDEN EAGLE (also Howard built as the WM. GARIG in 1904) but getting that is yet another impossible dream. It's a wonder that Ruth Ferris hasn't come up out of her grave and snatched those people bald headed for their non-caring attitude towards her beloved pilothouse, many years on the campus of the Community School (1948-1961) and later the crown jewel centerpiece (1962-1983) of the Jefferson Memorial building's elegant River Room, now dismantled, stored and largely forgotten. The attached photo of the pilothouse was taken in 1978.
Don't hold your breath about a back yard pilothouse. Meanwhile, we are delighted with the back porch pilothouse exhibit and appreciate the good work of Alan, Bruce, Bill and ALL who have brought the interactive display to fruition. THANKS!
16/04/2007 2:26 pm
Some terrific photos, taken by docent Janice Molnar, are now available on the museum website (www.steamboatmuseum.org) of the "crew" that installed the new hands on pilotwheel exhibit. Click on HOWARD NEWS and go from there! THANKS!