A STERNWHEELER OF THE 1860s

ANATOMY OF THE WESTERN RIVERS STEAMBOAT
A STERNWHEELER OF THE 1860s
Key features of a typical, mid-sized sternwheel packet in the years after the Civil War.
1. Landing stages. 2. Jackstaff and nighthawk. 3. Chimneys. 4. Bell. 5. Pilothouse.
6. Hurricane deck. 7. Sternwheel. 8. Boiler deck and passenger cabins. 9. Main deck, for
freight and deck passengers. 10. Cordwood fuel and boilers on the main deck.
Illustration by the author. Copyright © Andrew W. Hall 2012. All rights reserved.
The Galveston-Houston Packet: Steamboats on Buffalo Bayou, tells
the story of one of the vital early transportation routes that shaped
the development of Texas. Most people imagine the settlement of
the American West as signaled by the dust of the wagon train, or
the whistle of a locomotive, but during the middle decades of the
19th century, though, the growth of Texas and points west
centered around the 70-mile water route between Galveston and
Houston. This single, vital link stood between the agricultural
riches of the interior and the mercantile enterprises of the coast,
with a round of operations that was as sophisticated and efficient
as that of any large transport network today. At the same time, the
packets on the overnight Houston-Galveston run earned a
reputation as colorful as their Mississippi counterparts, complete
with impromptu steamboat races, makeshift naval gunboats
d
during
the
h C
Civill W
War, professional
f
l gamblers
bl and
dh
horrific
f
accidents.
The Galveston-Houston Packet runs to 143 pages, and includes
endnotes, bibliography, rare photos, two original maps, and an
appendix listing dozens of boats that ran on Buffalo Bayou.
ANATOMY OF THE WESTERN RIVERS STEAMBOAT
STRUCTURAL BRACING
Basic elements in the bracing of typical Western Rivers steamboat in the 19th century. On
a sternwheeler (top), the heavy weights are concentrated forward, where the boilers are, and
especially aft, with the engines, their mounting timbers, and the big paddlewheel
suspended off the stern of the boat. Iron rods called “chains” are stretched over stout posts,
called “braces,” to spread the stress of these weights evenly throughout the structure of the
vessel. Sidewheelers like the one shown had very little deck overhang on either side, so
little additional bracing was needed.
Sidewheelers (bottom) tended to have weight and stresses more concentrated near the
center of the vessel, so less fore-and-aft bracing was needed. Sternwheelers did, however,
have a lot of weight placed outboard of the hull on the sides, including their enormous
wheels. For this reason, sidewheelers usually had extensive cross-bracing built into their
structure.
1 Braces.
1.
Braces 2.
2 Hog chains.
chains 3.
3 Cross-braces
Cross braces and chains.
chains
Illustration by the author. Copyright © Andrew W. Hall 2012. All rights reserved.
ANATOMY OF THE WESTERN RIVERS STEAMBOAT
STEAMBOAT MACHINERY
Basic elements in the propulsion machnery of typical Western Rivers steamboat in the
mid-19th century. Sternwheelers (top) and sidewheelers (bottom) use essentially the same
technology, with the exception that in a sternwheeler, both engines are used to power the
same paddlewheel.
1. Chimneys (smokestacks). 2. Boilers, typically in a “battery”
battery of 2 to 4. 3. The “doctor,”
doctor, a
feedwater pump to maintain water level in the boilers. 4. Engines and ‘scape (spent steam
exhaust) pipe. 5. Pitmans. 6. Paddlewheel.
Illustration by the author. Copyright © Andrew W. Hall 2012. All rights reserved.
ANATOMY OF THE WESTERN RIVERS STEAMBOAT
TYPICAL STEAMBOAT BOILER
Key features of a typical Western Rivers steamboat boiler arrangement, from about the
1840s on. Unlike
U l k seagoing marine b
boilers
l off this
h period,
d b
boilers
l off this
h type commonly
l
operated at very high pressures of 125 psi or more.
1. Firebox. 2. Return flue. 3. Mud drum, for collecting sediment. 4. Steam drum, receiving
steam from all boilers. 5. Steam line aft to engines. 6. Steam head inside boiler. 7. Safety
valves, venting into the steamboat’s chimneys. 8. Ash pan.
Illustration by the author. Copyright © Andrew W. Hall 2012. All rights reserved.
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