Lytton (sternwheeler) - Design and Construction

Design and Construction

Lytton was built at Revelstoke, British Columbia. She was the first vessel constructed for the newly-formed Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company. Construction began in December 1889, but winter ice conditions forced a suspension of work until April 1890. Alexander Watson, a veteran shipbuilder, supervised the construction, for which he had recruited a crew of carpenters from Victoria, BC. The engines for Lytton were second-hand, coming from the steamer Gertrude which ran on the Stikine and lower Fraser rivers from 1875 to 1887.

Lytton was a typical Columbia River steamer. She had three decks, the first one being reserved for freight, machinery and crew quarters, the second for passengers, including cabins and an observation saloon. Down the center of the passenger deck was a dining room with raised clerestory windows At the front of the top deck was placed the pilot house. Just behind the pilot house was a small structure called the "texas", which contained cabins for the officers. Behind the texas was the vessel's single funnel, and on the front of the funnel was the steamer's whistle. In the case of Lytton, the funnel flared out in cone near the top, and may have been fitted with a spark arrestor. This detail was somewhat unique and allows Lytton to be more readily identified in photographs of the period. The foredeck was open, and was often heavily loaded with cordwood fuel or cargo.

Lytton was designed to be a shallow draft vessel to allow her to negotiate rapids and other areas of low water. With no cargo on board, Lytton drew only 19 inches (480 mm) of water. When fully loaded with approximately 60 tons of cargo, the draft increased to 2 feet 6 inches (0.76 m) The flat shallow draft hull was kept in shape by "hog chains" carried on large posts which, tuned by turnbuckles, supported the hull much like a bridge truss.