Topic starter
03/01/2008 2:59 am
I am currently researching a steamboat in Alabama, and have found certain technical aspects that I need help with. This steamboat is a typical eastern coastal side-wheel steamboat built in the early 1870s. The three technical aspects are:
1. Instead of the smokestack coming straight out of the boiler there is a box-like structure or shroud on top of the boiler and the smoke stack comes out of that. I have been told that this is indicative of a wood-burning boiler. Any ideas?
2. There is a double-hull from the bow back to the paddle-wheel wells. The aft portion does not have a double-hull. I have seen this feature on a Lake Chaplain steamboat, but do not know what this is for. Is it for ice or to take the punch from river or lake snags?
3. Lastly, the rudder configuration is slightly different from what I have seen before. The rudder is attached normally to the rudder post, but is steered by cables and sheaves that are attached to the trailing edge of the rudder.
If anybody has any ideas on these aspects and can point me to a source (book, articles, plans), I would appreciate it. Thanks.