Specifications
Drawing of a side view of the Mary Powell showing hull supports, hogframe, walking beam & paddlewheel. Donald C. Ringwald Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum.
1861 Dimensions:
Length: 267 feet
Beam: 34 feet 6 inches
Depth: 9.2 feet
1862 Dimensions:
Length: 288 feet
Beam: 34 feet 6 inches
Depth: 9.2 feet
Tonnage: 983 gross tons, 877 net tons
1896 Dimensions:
In reference to length, steamboat dimensions are usually calculated at the water line. In 1896, the Mary Powell Steamboat Company gave the following dimensions:
Length on waterline: 288 feet 9 inches
Length overall: 300 feet
Breadth of beam, molded: 34 feet 4 inches
Breadth of beam over guards: 64 feet
Depth: 10 feet 3 inches
Draft of water: 6 feet
Schematic of the Mary Powell’s engines, 1861, by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Donald C. Ringwald Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum.
Engines
The Mary Powell had a vertical walking beam steam engine that moved pistons up and down to rotate an axel that spun her paddlewheels.
Specifications:
Cylinder (original): 62" diameter, 12 foot length of stroke.
Cylinder (enlarged, 1874-75): 72" diameter, 12 foot length of stroke.
Boilers, two on guards:
- Original - Iron, made by Fletcher, Harrison & Co, New York, NY
- 1866-67 - Iron, made by John Dillon, Rondout, NY
- 1872-73 - steel, made by Alexander Cauldwell, Newburgh, NY
- 1880-81 - steel, made by McEntee & Dillon, Rondout, NY
- 1890-91 - steel, made by McEntee & Rodie, Rondout, NY
- 1903-04 - steel, made by Townsend-Downey Shipbuilding Co., Shooters Island, NY.
Drawing of a side view of the Mary Powell showing hull supports, hogframe, walking beam & paddlewheel. Donald C. Ringwald Collection, Hudson River Maritime Museum.