New Orleans steamboat model

Jack Custer once mentioned that the 1911 replica of the NEW ORLEANS (by the way, Sandy Custer says the name was definietly ORLEANS) was sponsored, built and paid for by the Combine. I had never heard this before although I often wondered who put up the money. Anyone have any information about this????????

New Orleans photos

I have found 4 photos of the replica and some rather sketchy info about the size of the boat. This is what i based the models size after. Its built at 1/48 scale. One pic is a very good side shot as the boat sits at Wheeling W. Va. I did find one report that the 1811 boat looked more like the Clermont with no superstructure and open sidewheels.

Mike Woodyard;21651 wrote: I have found 4 photos of the replica and some rather sketchy info about the size of the boat. This is what i based the models size after. Its built at 1/48 scale. One pic is a very good side shot as the boat sits at Wheeling W. Va. I did find one report that the 1811 boat looked more like the Clermont with no superstructure and open sidewheels.

Good Morning Mike,

The actual designs of Robert Fulton's boats are very sketchy (no pun intended). I've been researching his North River for a few years now. Its description is in bits and pieces from various sources, most of which are in conflict with each other. To compound the matter the 1807 version was completely dismantled and rebuilt to larger dimensions and with more amenities. What we suspect is that he had a general drawing that was the basis for the boat. Modifcations were made as it was being built. These modifications went undocumented. The engine itself is pretty well documented in papers in the Birmingham England Library.

In my research i came across information on the New Orleans, also designed by Fulton for Nicholas Roosevelt. There are conflicting descriptions as you have also found. I read somewhere that it was thought to have been a sternwheeler. The concensus seems to lean toward the design of the 1911 replica, the one that you modeled. Artist Gary Lucy painted a wonderful rendition of the New Orleans that looks remarkably like the North River (Clermont). The New Orleans. I have tried to contact him about his research on several occasions but have yet to get a reply.

http://www.steamboats.org/forum/steamboats-history/3439-will-we-ever-know-sure.html

I have several posts on Fulton and my research. Most elicit very little comments as the contributor focus seems to be on the Ohio. Mississippi & Missouri Rivers. I'd like to stay in touch with you as I am interested in you New Orleans model and what you are doing.

Thanks for your post. Please contact me through personal E-mail if you would like.

best regards,

Pete

DESCRIPTION OF 1911 BOAT

We have the original program from the 1911 new orleans in our Life on the ohio River museum in Vevay indiana.

DESCRIPTION OF NEW BOAT'
The New Orleans is, as nearly as possible, an exact replica of her prototype of one hundred years ago. She is 138 feet long, by 26 1\2 feet wide and 7 feet deep. She draws 2 feet of water; she is a side-wheeler propelled by two 12x24 separate reversible engines of 160 combined horse power; she has two flue boilers each 22 feet long by 36 inches in diameter; she has also two masts for sails which the projectors of the original New Orleans felt might be required in an emergency. Her construction was rapid. Her plans were approved on August 1, 1911, and keel laid August 5th, the launching taking place on August 31st. She was christened by Mrs. Alice Roosevelt Longworth on October 31st, in the presence of President William H. Taft and other distinguished men. Mrs. Longworth is a great grand niece of Nicholas J. Roosevelt, one of the owners of the original New Orleans. Among the guests of the occasion were Mrs. Alice Crary Sutcliffe, a descendant of Robert. Fulton, and Rev C. S. Bullock, a relative of Robert Livingston.

Courtsey of the Life on the Ohio river museum Vevay Indiana

constructed by the Elizabeth Marine Ways Company

SHOULD AID WATERWAY IMPROVEMENT.
The New Orleans was constructed by the Elizabeth Marine Ways Company at Elizabeth on the Monongahela River. The work was under the supervision of Captain James A. Henderson, Chairman of the Marine Committee of the Celebration Committee, who is in command of the boat, and was assisted by George M. Lehman, Vice chairman of the Marine Committee, and chief engineer of the Lake Erie and Ohio River Ship Canal.
It is hoped that the voyage of the New Orleans will not only stimulate much interest in the great historical event which was replete with vast industrial and commercial consequences, but that it will serve to promote the cause of the speedy and proper improvement of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and the early construction of a ship canal to connect the waters of the Ohio River with Lake Erie, thereby making a continuous and permanent internal waterway navigable for large vessels from New York to New Orleans by way of Pittsburgh.

Courtsey of the Life on the Ohio river museum Vevay Indiana

More info if interested.

The booklet contains the names of all individuals and corporations involved in 1911 boat. If interested I will post more.

Dan Back;21715 wrote: More info if interested.

The booklet contains the names of all individuals and corporations involved in 1911 boat. If interested I will post more.

Hi Dan,

Do you have access to any more photos than what has already been posted on the Web? Is there research info that was used to build the 1911 replica?

The 1909 CLERMONT replica is a best guess from what I have been able to determine. It was constructed to look similar to the 1807 boat with some details from the 1808 version and updated to meet Coast Guard code. It was the best shot for a true replica.

New found image

Mike,

I found this image of a model of the New Orleans. It was in a book, Mr. Roosevelt's Steamboat By Mary Helen Dohan. It seems to point to the design of your model as well.

Pete

I have to go with the model of the 1811 New Orleans as posted by Pete Baker. as I recall She was built by ship carpenters brought to Pittsburgh from the east coast. As a result she would have a keel and ribs and planking of the Ocean and/or river boats of the east. And likely her boiler and parts of the engine were in the Hull, as were her Cabins. Our Ohio - Mississippi River boats followed this design until Henry Shreve built his Washington in 1815-16. Flat bottom, boilers and engines on main deck and a man's and women's cabin on the Boiler deck.

I just received an E-mail in which the writer asked if I knew what happened to the 1911 replica of the NEW ORLEANS.

Can anyone out there help?

Have a great Day,

Pete

Pete, I'm sure someone else will have more info on the New Orlean's demise, but I believe she was simply neglected in the New Orleans area after 1911, and eventually was lost (sank) and never salvaged. At least that's what I think I've heard/read somewhere (if I can trust my own memory!).

I too have heard the conflicting stories as to whether the New Orleans was a sidewheeler or sternwheeler. Although we will probably never know for sure, I think the notion that it was a sternwheeler is not as likely. If you look at the steam engine technology they had at that time, and the machinery used on the 1807 sidewheeler Clermont, it seems to me that the sidewheel design was the best way for what they had.

I don't believe the hull design for supporting heavy wheels aft of the boat had yet been devised in 1807 & 1811 (in my opinion!). But very soon afterward, the COMET (1813) and ENTERPRISE (1814) seem to be the first documented sternwheelers.

Made into a Barge??

There are pictures on the web that shows the 1911 replica was cut down and made into a deck barge before it was eventually wrecked or demolished. I had those pics, but erased them. Too bad. The deck barge scenario has my vote.

I may have been thinking of the fate of the 1811 New Orleans, which struck a snag and was lost on July 13, 1814 (at New Orleans?)...

Steve & SHipyard,

Thanks for you replies. Much appreciated.

Also another Clermont/New Orleans....

A new model of an old steamboat - Hannibal, MO - Hannibal Courier-Post . Robert Evans' model and Gary Lucy's New Orleans painting are of the same style and proportions. I'd like to get research info from either/or both of these gentlemen.

regards,

Pete

1911 New Orleans replica

Shipyard,

Is this one of the photos that you had?

"The duplicate ended up being converted to a gas powered twin prop work boat."

Jay W. Mohney

A link to Jay's Website: Steamer Vulcan

Wonder what the fate of the re-worked New Orleans replica was? I still could be right... It may have been neglected and sank in the New Orleans area, even though it had been reconfigured and used as a workboat/self-propelled barge for a while...

The One...

That's the one! A body could spend hours on that great website, and this one has. Still, my favorite picture is of the Steam Towboat TRANSPORTER. It has all the fire-breathin' thunder a steamboat nut could ever want, but if you study the picture closely --- the TRANSPORTER is dead in the water!

Thanks.

Thanks to everyone of you for supplying so much information about this. I am finding alot of conflicting info about what the boat actually looked like. Several sources tell me that it looked more like the Clermont because the days of superstructures and pilothouses had not been established. On the other hand, how could someone in 1911 replicate a boat not knowing what it looked like. So many questions, so little time. I would love to see a 200th anniversary boat and trip. I'll post pics of the model when i get her radio controlled. It might be a while.

Mike,

Here's a photo of an RC "CLERMONT" ( ) . This would be a model of the 1807/190 replica as there are no wheel covers or rub rails. I wish that I could find out more about this model.

Here's the Cincinnati Library's "NEW ORLEANS", (New Orleans - PLCHC Wiki)

prb

tub testing went well.

Its been a while since I posted anything about the progress of the model and with my work schedule and kids sports, its been slow going. I tested the motor and sidewheel drive in the bathtub with pleasing results. I'm in the middle of installing the electronics and getting it ready to run but things are going to start freezing up here in East Liverpool so I'll have to wait til spring. I am still looking for any photos of the boat to get an idea about all the details. Thanks to everyone who has given me info so far.

tub testing went well.

I have not posted anything about the model for a while. My work schedule and kids sports make progress very slow. I tested the motor and sidewheel drive in the bathtub with pleasing results. I'm in the middle of installing the electronics to run it by radio control but things are about to freeze up here in East Liverpool so I'll have to wait til spring. I'm still looking for any photos or info about the boat so I can complete the details. Thanks to everyone who has gathered info for me so far.