by Richard O. Aichele

By 1863, the steamboats had become larger, more oppulent "floating palaces" and faster. The steamboat St. John, and her running mate the steamboat Drew were operated by the People's Evening Line and provided plush overnight service on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany, NY. The St. John was 385 feet long and powered by a massive Walking Beam steam engine with a 76 inch cylinder and 15 foot stroke. Shown above are the two steamboats, one northbound and one southbound, passing the halfway point near Poughkeepsie, New York.

The engine of a river steamboat using paddle wheels had to meet several points of marine engineering criteria including maximum power for steaming, a quick reversing mechanism and simple but reliable operation. The Walking Beam engine design met those requirements. Additionally, since riverboats required minimal draft the resulting in lack of a deep hull to hold the steam engine, the Walking Beam engine design used space upwards for its machinery and linkages. The prominent feature was the diamond shaped beam structure often above the top deck.

The Trojan, a 317 foot long sidewheeler night boat built in 1909 was operated between Troy, NY and New York City by the Hudson Navigation Company also known as the Citizens' Line. In 1939, it was the last night boat sailing between Troy and New York City and that also ended the era of night boats on the Hudson River.

Four years later, in 1811, after the success of the Clermont, Fulton built a new steamboat in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the intent to operate it as far south as New Orleans by sailing the Ohio River and the Mississippi RIver. According to the Enclyclopedia Britannica, "The trip was slow and perilous, river conditions being desperate because of America’s first recorded, and also largest, earthquake, which had destroyed New Madrid just below the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fulton’s low-powered vessel remained at New Orleans, for it could go no farther upstream than Natchez. He built three boats for Western rivers that were based at New Orleans, but none could conquer the passage to Pittsburgh." However, the number of steamboats larger and more powerful on the Mississippi, the Ohio and their tributaries steadily increased throughout the 1800s.

The Delta Queen sailed well into the 1970s and greeted the river towns with the happy music from her Steam Calliope.

The Delta Queen was one of America's remaining classic riverboats throughout the early 1980s. Her construction was done over a three year period between 1924 and 1927. Major portions were fabricated overseas such as the propulsion machinery from William Denny & Brothers Ltd., Dumbarton, Scotland and the paddlewheel shaft and the cranks that were forged at the Krupp Stahlwerke AG, Germany. Final construction was completed at the Banner Island Shipyard in Stockton, California.

Reminiscent of the great Misissippi River steamboats of the 1800s, the Delta Queen's gleaming brass, Tiffany style stained glass windows, ornate woodwork, its melodious steam caliope and, down below, surrounded by the aroma of steam and hot oil, the wonderful smoothly working machinery steadily turning the great stern paddle wheel were just some of the features of this grand boat.

The Delta Queen continued sailing into the 1980s on the inland waters of America's heartland calling at the river cities and smaller towns between New Orleans, Louisiana - St. Louis, Missouri -- St. Paul, Minnesota on the Mississippi River and up to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cincinnati, Ohio the Delta Queen's home port on the Ohio River.

It was a friendly boat for the passengers that enjoyed the leisurely crusing pace of the Delta Queen and the reassuring consistent sound of the big paddle wheel at the stern Unforgetable memories were created.

The Lake Steamers Evolution

Maritime traffic using sailing ships the early 1800s was primarily cargo ships from midwestern lake ports often to the eastern end inland lake ports such as Buffalo, NY where the cargo was transferred to railroads. The success of Fulton's passenger steamboat Clermont in 1807 led to construction of Lake Erie's first passenger carrying steamboat in 1819. By 1830, the increasing waves of immigrants from Europe heading for the open lands of the north western states created a opportunity for passenger vessels.

The 401 ton, 172 ft. long S.S. Milwaukie was built in 1837 at Grand Island, NY. The ship's operating career was short when she was wrecked in 1842 while sailing on Lake Michigan.

The railroads also benefitted from lake passenger vessels at times. When the New York Central Railroad from New York City still only went west to the eastern end of Lake Erie in Buffalo, NY and its associated Michigan Central Railroad going east ended at the western end of Lake Erie, the transportation void at Lake Erie was filled by lake steamers. One of the passenger steamers was the S.S. Western World built in 1854. The 337 ft. long, 2,002 ton was described as "the finest steamer the Lakes would have for decades to come" but the initial intended service lasted only three years. Once the New York Central Railroad finished its new tracks along Lake Erie's shoreline and connected with the Michigan Central Railroad, the S.S. Western World and her sister ships were laid up and later scrapped. The railroads also operated their own Great Lakes steamship companies to serve hotels and summer resorts in remote areas far from their neareast lakefront rail terminals.

The fast growing shipbuilding industry on the Great Lakes often creatively evolved ship designs for the unique challenges of the lakes. "The whaleback is a distinctive type which has been evolved by the lake ship builders and a large fleet of them has already been turned out of the Duluth yards. The S.S. Christopher Columbus a passenger whaleback was familiar to visitors to the World's Fair. The ship is a beautifully modeled vessel, 362 feet in length, with a beam of 42 feet and a high speed," according to a period maritime publication.

The two ships were equipped with three coal-fired Scotch marine boilers that powered the quadruple expansion engine producing 2,200 horsepower and turned the single propeller. They were later converted to oil-fired in the 1920s and a second funnel was added possibly to enhance and streamline the ships' appearance or for techical reasons including adding space to house additional ventilation equipment. That work and other periodic upgrades were done during winter lay ups and maintenance periods. After the 1924 upgrades to oil-fired from coal-fired, the company was able to advertise its two steamships were burning oil - No smoke - No soot - No dirt. By the 1960s, the Great Lakes cruise travel market had declined substantially. Both the S.S. South American and the S.S. North American advertising had promoted the ships and their operation as: The only exclusively passenger ship on the Great Lakes. As time went on, the lack of any supplemental income such as package express affected the operation's overall profitability.

S.S. North American

The S.S. North American was 259 feet long, had a beam of 47 feet, a draft of 17 feet 6 inches and was listed as 2,317 gross tons

The ship sailed for the original owners until 1963 when she was sold to a to a company that operated her for one year for cross lake sailing between Erie, Pennsylvania, USA and Port Dover, Ontario, Canada. The ship was retired in 1964. Several attempts to secure a new a operator failed. At auction, she was acquired by the Seafarers International Union for use as a training ship. While under tow from the Great Lakes to Maryland the ship suddenly sank in the Atlantic Ocean in the area of Nantucket ending her 54 year long career.

Great Ocean Liners