Cayuga Lake Steamboat FRONTENAC -The Model, Rex Stewart

        Profile plan drawing of Cayuga Lake steamboat FRONTENAC as she appeared in 1878.
        Research and drawing by author Rex Stewart.

Simplicity and lines...Lines and simplicity. All the makings of research and design which finally conclude the making of a prolific steamboat model. FRONTENAC had become an inspirational project for research and build as I explored the sidewheel types that operated beyond the Hudson Valley.

As I investigated this vessel, it was apparent that she was a steamer of note. And yet, as such, I pondered my thoughts as to why no model existed. New York had its great fleet of steamboats beyond the Hudson River. To the north, in and around the Adirondacks, walking beam and inclined engined vessels operated on Lake George and Lake Champlain. To the west and northwest of the State, such graced the mighty Saint Lawrence River and the scenic Finger Lakes. They were beautiful, simple in design, and carried a legacy that became notable...even in tragedy. Such a vessel  of note was the steamer FRONTENAC.

     
               Scene depicts steamer FRONTENAC about to make a commuter run on Cayuga

               Lake late 19th century.

The Industrial Age was the beginning of many inventions large and small in the American culture. It was an era that helped grow and expand the Country toward the 20th century with machine innovation. Steamboats were part of the travel innovation, replacing horse and buggy before the advent of the train and automobile. In the summer of 1820, passengers scheduled to ride stagecoach from Ithaca to Geneva, opted to board a steamboat for the lake's first voyage on the paddlewheeler ENTERPRISE. Fifty years later FRONTENAC became the popular boat.

FRONTENAC was built in 1870 bt T.D. Wilcox of Ithaca, New York at a cost of $50,000. She was a walking-beam sidewheeler with dimensions of 135 feet on the keel and had a hull beam of 22 feet. Her commuter capacity was 350 passengers.

Four years after the passing of T.D. Wilcox, his family heirs sold the business interest to the Cayuga Lake Transportation Company. In 1902, the steamboat and company was sold to Captain Melvin T. Brown of Syracuse. He, inturn, rebuilt parts of the superstructure and replaced the engine with new boilers five years later. It was at that time FRONTENAC encountered her fate after successfully servicing the lake in her 30 year span.

            
              Model detail showing starboard midship view of FRONTENAC. Colorscheme based
              on the 19th century maritime paintings of Antonio Jacobsen and the Bard Brothers.

On the morning of July 27th, 1907 FRONTENAC raced south to meet the northbound MOHAWK to exchange passengers that would have originally went southbound on MOHAWK. After the exchange the sidewheeler returned back north with her 60 passengers, most being women and children. While heading toward Union Springs, rough waters and gale-like winds prevented the steamer to land at both docks in Aurora and Levanna which were located at the widest part of the lake.

Onboard the vessel certain family members noticed smoke coming from the Captain's pilot house and alerted others onboard. On shore many witnessed the steamer catching fire and men from the shore raced out to rescue the passengers and crew. Captain Brown's quick thinking brought the boat near Farley's Point to beach on a sandbar called Dill's Cove.

                                 

                                                Port stern profile of steamer Frontenac         

Heavy waves made it difficult for the men to rescue all. In the final event, seven were loss. The incident spread throughout New York and new laws and regulations were passed. As for steamboat travel on Cayuga Lake, the tragedy brought many to move away from it and the business declined with FRONTENAC never being rebuilt. But in the end, many had fond memories of this prolific steamboat and I'm fortunate to have researched and build the first accurate model of this legend.

                   Finger Lakes steamboat FRONTENAC the completed model, built at 1/8 scale.

This was a good build and a very attractive model of note. The time of this build was a month. This and other period steamboat models can be researched and commissioned by contacting Caseships@yahoo.com or calling 1-774-757-7137. More information can be obtained by visiting http://www.artfixdaily.com/blogs/index/Steamboat_Models_-The_Rare_Investment and https://www.linkedin.com/in/rexstewart

 













Researching HIGHLANDER c.1835 - The Model/ Rex Stewart

             
           Samuel Ward Stanton's drawing of the famed Newburgh, New York steamboat
           HIGHLANDER as she appeared on the Hudson River in 1835.


Newburgh, New York was a booming river town that developed into a monopolized commerce
center for the citizens of the Lower Hudson Valley. Much freight, especially produce and livestock was going south to New York City and steamboats were needed to get those goods to its destination. Furthermore, travelers who needed to commute to various towns found these vessels accommodating for the purpose. This was the era of the 19th century and river commuting was the beginning of a new form of travel.

             Early brothers Bard watercolor depicting HIGHLANDER's 1835 appearance.
           Both renditions had to be carefully studied for accuracy and proper re-configuration
           in order to build an accurate scale model.


While researching and building steamboat models in New York's Capital region during the '80s and '90s, I was fascinated with the discoveries I encountered concerning steamboat designs of the 1830 period. I had built models from the 1840s to the present, but never considered those vessels built past Robert Fulton's CLERMONT.

Many contemporary builders had no knowledge of these early sidewheel types, so no models were available to work from -let alone, plans. Only one such work existed on an early steamboat of this period and that was produced by noted modelmaker Forrest Van Loon Ryder out of Coxsackie, New York during the 1950s. This model was HIGHLANDER, one of several Hudson River steamboats he built for collectors, museums and those interested in these prolific boats.

             A vintage model of HIGHLANDER built by the late Forrest Van Loon Ryder
             which is now on display at the Captain David Crawford House Museum in
             Newburgh, New York. There, five other Ryder models are exhibited; all at
             1/8" = 1' Scale.


In 1980 I was commissioned to copy Mr. Ryder's MARY POWELL for a corporation which  the model later became a topic of conversation with business executives at the time. I then decided to venture out and research MARY POWELL to design my own plan set relative to having an accurate model enter the Hudson Valley. These soon became highend collectibles of note. However, Ryder was my inspiration from which I drew the ability to explore, research and study the American steamboat -beginning with those that operated on the Hudson River.

                HIGHLANDER c.1835 - profile plan at 3/32" = 1' scale. Research for this
                work was based on the brothers Bard watercolor and Samuel Ward Stanton's
                drawing which included supportive dimensional data of the vessel at the time
                of her construction.


In the Fall of 2011 a colector from the Newburgh Region proposed a line of steamboat models which included HIGHLANDER. This proposition became the anticipated opportunity to finally research and build a true 1830 replica of a Hudson River sidewheeler. With the experience and credentials established over a thirty year period, it wasn't difficult to configure this vessel's appearance.

The client was very specific about his collection. He wanted all three sidewheelers to be constructed at 3/32" = 1' scale which made little room for error regarding hull dimensions, beam width and deck layout.

HIGHLANDER was a walking beam type steamer that carried her stacks and boilers on the guards away from the hull. Knowing this fact made plan drawings easier to develop...and within two weeks I was able to produce some prolific plans (for the first time) concerning an early steamboat. I now had the formula for designing these vintage gems.

               Work-in-progress showing the underside features of HIGHLANDER. Notice
               the early design pattern of the Northeast sidewheeler. Most steamboats of
               this period  omitted bottom rims which secured and protected the paddles. It
               is possible that the paddles, including the wheel system, was made of oak -giving
               way to these buckets being bolted to the stems of the wheels so to allow this
               feature to last several years without rotting.

               Port bow view showing HIGHLANDER's auxiliary flagstaff. upon viewing
               several Bard paintings and Stanton drawings, I discovered that this odd
               apparatus was carried and used to attach company house flags and pendants.

              
                 Early steamboat models I built during the '80s and  '90s featured handpainted
               flags made of soft metal. These were treated with acrylic base to prevent
               chipping. In recent times I now apply treated paper flags using the same
               applications. However, the paper flags are more life-like, especially when these
               are folded to give a breeze effect.

                  Maritime artist and shipmodel specialist Rex Stewart carefully applies the
                walking beam engine to the HIGHLANDER model. Nearly 140 seperate
                wood pieces make up this detail.

              
                   Starboard overview illustrates the strengthening process of a steamboat
                 of this period. The blue-colored kingposts, spars and hogframes, reinforced
                 with steel tie rods, were placed in strategic points on the vessel to secure
                 areas where the most strain existed -primarily at the stern and amidship
                 around the paddlewheels. So that this odd structure didn't take away from
                 the steamer's design, the kingposts and spars were adorned with gilded
                 balls and, occasionally woodsculpted eagles.

 

                
                  Port profile of Newburgh, New York steamboat HIGHLANDER c.1835.
                Scratch-built solely in wood at a scale of 3/32" = 1'. 


History:

HIGHLANDER was built for the company of Thomas, Johnson and Wardrop in 1935. Her length on the keel was 160 feet with a beam of 24 feet. Her depth of hold was 8 feet and her overall length was complete at 175 feet.

Made of wood, her hull was built at the shipyard of Lawrence and Sneden in New York. The vertical beam engine was constructed at West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, New York. She carried two boilers on the guards; both of iron. Her paddlewheels were 24 feet in diameter with 10 foot length buckets that dipped 29 inches.

This unique steamboat carried a 'cookie-jar' pilothouse on the skydeck with a fancy bell attachment on the roof behind the gilded eagle ornament which sat center. When she entered service on the Hudson River she was one of the best and fastest boats to run. She operated on the Newburgh-New York Line until the steamer THOMAS POWELL appeared in 1846. HIGHLANDER was then used as an excursion boat and later ran for the Freight and Passage Line between Rondout and New York City until 1852. The following year she was taken south to the Delaware River and used as a towboat before being dismantled in 1866. Her engine was erected in the new towboat replacing her which was named WILLIAM H. ASPINWALL.

Commission work can be honored for any and all Hudson River steamboats. These are fine one of a kind models that accurately define the vessel as it appeared at any given time of its career. For information about my line of work kindly email: Caseships@yahoo.com or call 1-774-757-7137.

To view my work and credentials, visit https://youtube.com/c/RexStewartoriginals and https://www.linkedin.com/in/rexstewart.

Thanks for viewing.

Building the towboat AMERICA c.1853 / A Maritime Collectible

                   Towboat AMERICA, New York c.1852 - James Bard. Collection of the
                 Albany Institute of History and Art c.1982


The Hudson River has been the subject of great admiration for many decades, both for its reminenscent beauty and prolific history. From Native-Americans to European Industrialists, the river has accumulated a notable wealth not matched. Historical accounts, especially from foreign dignitaries have attested of the river's beauty and pictureques towns along the shoreline.

With this stretch of water from New York City to Troy, New York, there came an invention of the steamboat monopoly. It was first tested in the southern tier of the United States , but its first successful run was on the Hudson River with the famed CLERMONT -built by Robert Fulton in 1807. From that day onward the river soon became a busy waterway for all types of
commercial craft, large and small.

One type of vessel entering this water highway was the sidewheel towboat. These magnificent machines would prove worthy in the annals of American maritime. The AMERICA was a steamboat that was built strictly for towing. Most steamboats of her time were passenger steamers converted into tow steamers , but AMERICA was one of several built exclusively for this type of service. She was a massive sidewheeler and ranked as the third largest tow to appear on the Hudson River in 1852.

       Profile plan of Hudson River towboat AMERICA c.1852, as researched and drawn by
      maritime artist, historian and craftsman Rex Stewart c.1987

I admired James Bard painting of AMERICA that hung in the East Wing of the Albany Institute of History and Art during my tenure as an art student. It was this painting which inspired my research, twenty years later, to develop a rare set of one-of-a-kind plans on the famous towboat.

What made AMERICA so special to research and build was that she was commissioned, built and owned by an American man of color in an age when the country was moving toward Civil War and racial division. It was unheard of in those times for any man of this background to own a commercial steamboat monopoly such as the one owned and operated by Samuel B. Schuyler out of Albany, New York. Even today, some 120 years later, it's unheard of in America's maritime that a contemporary man of color is designing and building unique one-of-a-kind steamboats of America's past. Yet, it's these events that has motivated my ability to grasp and comprehend the American steamboat in minute detail as never before.

Mr. Schuyler who captained steamboats, before opening his business which he called the Schuyler Line, remained pliant to the needs of the communities which he served. He was well respected among his peers and celebrated by steamboatmen up and down the Hudson Valley, especially when his successful towing business ran in unison with the two other companies in the area which was the Austin Line and the Betts Line.

 
             Samuel B. Schuyler's steamboat stock share c.1873 - Schuyler Towing Line

AMERICA was built in 1852 at Brooklyn, New York. At 212' feet she was one of the largest tows to service the Albany-New York City route. Not only was she a large vessel, but she was heralded for her Herculean power and beautiful lines.

Building this rare scale replica was a test of both skill and ingenuity. No such plans were existant in the Hudson Valley -or in the entire State of New York. Sixty years prior, a prolific modelbuilder named Forrest Van Loon Ryder made the same claim when his models appeared during the late '50s - early '60s. And though his steamboats were limited in detail, he became the respected forerunner of his day. Since then, with painstaking research and countless hours, bringing together details that have been overlooked for decades, I have been fortunate to develop a body of works that has not been rivalled. I felt it was important to
research and build (from my own plans) the steamboat as it actually appeared for the period; the towboat AMERICA being one of them.

        Maritime artist and craftsman/historian Rex Stewart working on one of his signature
       steamboat models, the Hudson River sidewheel towboat AMERICA c.1853. Here, he
       carefully rigs the American flag to the rail.

AMERICA's fanciful paddleboxes and prolific hogframe system made her the steamboat to model. Furthermore, in my arsenal of steamboats, she made for a handsome nautical accent for those owning or had desired to own river-related memorabilia.

Many hours went into designing her rare and distinctive plans, based on the James Bard painting of 1852 and a later photo which showed her 1875 appearance from an old glass negative of my late friend, Herman Boyle. Those references proved invaluable and priceless to my research -as well as her dimensional data from the publication Marine Engineering.

         Towboat AMERICA's walking beam marine engine. Made entirely of wood, approxi-
         mately 154 pieces make up this detailed miniature. These models are museum
         collector pieces and are well respected in the maritime steamboat community.

It took approximately a week to research, scale and finish the plans; and one month to complete the 1/8" = 1' build. This type model is the first ever to come on the circuit as a Hudson River steamboat collectible and has been a favorite among this genre of enthusiasts.
The supporting photos shows the beauty and size of this once famous 'work horse'. Her accurate appearance of 1853.  Her career ended in 1902 when she was broken up at Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

                        Port View -River Towsteamer AMERICA  c.1853, Rex Stewart

                                 Port Overview Detail -AMERICA c.1853 , Wood Model

                              Starboard View of Hudson River Towboat AMERICA c.1853

Commissioned work can be honored for any and all Hudson River steamboats. These are fine one of a kind models that accurately define the vessel as it appeared at any given time of its career. For information contact me at: Caseships@yahoo.com or call 1-774-757-7137 for details.

To view my work and credentials, please visit https://youtube.com/c/RexStewartoriginals and https://www.linkedin.com/in/rexstewart

Thank you for viewing!