Design and Construction
The steamer Wilson G. Hunt was built in New York in 1849 by the Collyer yard for the excursion trade to Coney Island. The vessel was185.5 ft (57 m), 25.8 ft (8 m) and 6.75 ft (2 m) depth of hold.
The Hunt had an old style "steeple engine" with an enormous single cylinder of 36" bore by 108" inch stroke. The Hunt had a low-pressure boiler, which at the time was advertised as being safer than high-pressure boats. The most unusual feature of the Wilson G. Hunt was the unusual steeple housing for her engine, which looked like an enormous slice of cheese:
| “ | Between the wheels and rising high above the cabin was a tall steeple-like frame in which the piston rod rose and fell in guides and moved a pair of connecting rods or pittmans that turned the wheel. Such engines had been common on the Hudson but were becoming rare when the Hunt was built. Normally left exposed, on Hunt the engine was housed, so that the boat appeared to be carrying a tall wooden wedge amidships, thereby not improving the appearance of an otherwise graceful steamer. | ” |
Wilson G. Hunt was powered by a single-cylinder, steam engine 36" bore by 108" stroke, steeple type, with a low pressure boiler., 250 horsepower nominal This power plant could drive the vessel at 15 knots.
The Hunt's steeple engine was the only recorded use of this type on the West Coast. With this type of engine, as well as the more common walking beam type, there were special mechanical dangers. If the engine, powered by a single piston, should ever hang at dead center, the only way to move the piston to discharge the steam was to lever the paddle wheel forward with a long bar. This was extremely dangerous, as should the piston start pumping again, the bar could be flung out of the control of the men pushing it, killing them or breaking bones.
Read more about this topic: Wilson G. Hunt (sidewheeler)
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