Fulton’s Playground: Fun with Steamboats

Fulton’s Playground: Fun with Steamboats. . , Robert Fulton did not invent the steamboat, but he was the first person to make steamboats. Commercially viable: His first vessel, called just "The Steamboat," proved that steam travel could be safe and reliable. Steamboats took over passenger and high-value cargo transportation early on, but sailing. vessels called sloops remained important for transporting heavy bulk cargoes such as stone, bricks, and coal throughout the 19th century. , Steamboats on the Hudson River helped develop not only New York City, but the nation as well. , A walking beam steam engine was one of the most popular engine designs for steamships in the United States. Here is how the engine works. , 1. Walking beam - This part of the engine is the "walking beam," so called because it rocks back and forth as the pistons move up and down. , 2. Steam intake - This is where the steam comes into the engine. Steam engines run by boiling water until steam forms. The pressure from the steam moves a piston up and down inside a cylinder. The piston is attached to the walking beam. , 3. Piston - The piston is an arm with a top fitted tightly against the sides of a cylinder. The steam comes in the bottom of the cylinder and pushes the piston up, then the steam input switches to the top of the cylinder and pushes the piston down. This moves the walking beam up and down. 4. Eccentric - As the walking beam moves up and down, it drives the eccentric in a circular motion, much like the motion of a bicycle pedal, turning the axle. , 5. Wheel - When the axle turns it also turns a big flywheel, or on steamboats, a paddlewheel. Hudson River steamboats have two paddlewheels, one of either side. , Funding for this sign was provide by a grant from the Hudson River Estuary Program, part of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. For more information, visit www.dec.ny.gov , Text and images for this sign were provided by the Hudson River Maritime Museum of Kingston, New York. For more information, visit www.hmm.org , The City of Kingston supports the creation and use of these interpretive panels on public and private property for the public good. Visit www.kingston-ny.gov , ( photo captions ) , , "Clermont on the Hudson" by Charles Pense, c.1830, depicts Fulton's steamboat on the Hudson River. The North River Steamboat was later called the Clermont after Fulton's death. Image courtesy of the I. N. Phelps Stokes Collection of American Historical Prints at the New York Public Library. , , Robert Fulton. From The Model History by Edward Taylor. image Courtesy of the Florida Center for Instructional Technology , , Fig. 180 - Beam-Engine