SAMSON V MARITIME MUSEUM
Owned by the City of New Westminster and Operated by The Royal Agricultural & Industrial Society of BC
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SAMSON V MARITIME MUSEUM Owned by the City of New Westminster and Operated by The Royal Agricultural & Industrial Society of BC |
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Boat's
Specifications
The most
significant structural members are two massive keelsons built-up out of stacked
6x16's drifted together, which run the length of the hull. The butt-ends of these
timbers are joined with finely cut scarf joints, locked together with wooden,
wedge-shaped keys. The A-frame rests on these keelsons, as do the hog posts.
The whole structure is tensioned by the hog rods running up and over the hog posts and fastened to steel strapping through-bolted, and let into each side of the keelsons. Inboard of these, are a pair of skeleton keelsons built around 6x16-inch timbers held together with 3x5-inch cross-bracing, and on the centreline of the vessel is a partial keelson of two stacked 6x16's drifted together. Top of Page The Engines While Samson V operated on the river right up to 1980, her engines were a throwback to the earliest days of steam transportation on the river. Technically, they are referred to as single-expansion, double-acting horizontal reciprocating engines. This means the steam is applied to both sides of the piston in turn, and is exhausted afterwards. While this was not as efficient as the compound engine (which used the energy remaining in the steam again before exhausting), these extremely simple engines had the advantage of being very quick to reverse. Many components of these engines were originally installed on Samson II of 1905 and served on all subsequent Samsons. The Cross-head The cross-head holds the bearings that transfer the back-and-forth movement of the engine to the circular movement of the paddle via the pitman arm and the crank. It travels on sliders, which run on the guide-rods. Like all the moving parts of the engine, it has to be kept well oiled. Top of Page Stephenson Linkage When a Samson was retired and dismantled, much of her hardware found its way into her successor. The reversing gear, or Stephenson linkage, on Samson V was built in 1905 as part of the machinery for Samson II. Valves and Eccentrics The key to the reciprocating steam engine lies in the valves. When the exhaust port is opened on one side of the piston, the steam port on the other side must also be open; this is achieved by eccentric bands on the crankshaft. There are two eccentric bands: one to work the valves in the forward direction, and the other one 180 degrees opposite to work the valves when the engine is reversed. The reversing lever works the Stephenson linkage, which allows the action of the valve to be controlled by one or the other eccentric band. Top of Page Lister Diesel Generator. Earlier steamers on the river (if they were fitted with electrical power at all) would use a steam-driven dynamo. But Samson V was fitted with a 1950's vintage British-made Lister two cylinder diesel to drive the generator. The Lister produces 24 horsepower at 1200 RPM. Domestic Water Pump The domestic water pump provided water for the galley, the showers, sinks, and toilets. General Service Pump The General Service Pump was used to provide water to the fire hydrants throughout Samson V. It also functioned as the main bilge pump. Water could also be drawn out of the out of the bilges with one of four steam siphons. Boiler Feed Water Pump Samson V's boiler turned about 3500 gallons (14,000 liters) of water a day into steam. The Boiler Feed Water Pump pumped fresh water stored in tanks under the deck into the boiler. The tanks were filled from the city water supply. Water from the Fraser River was never used, because its water along the delta had a lot of silt and salt, which would have ruined the boiler. Top of Page The Boiler Samson V's boiler is an oil-fired, triple-pass fire-tube boiler. The boiler is essentially a drum of water with a firebox and fire-tubes inside the drum. Oil burns in the firebox, and the water is heated by the smoke and hot gases which travel through the fire-tubes. To heat the water efficiently, many fire-tubes are used. Samson V's boiler is called a "triple-pass" boiler because the smoke and hot gases are directed back and forth three times before they can escape up the funnel. Pre-heaters The heavy Bunker C fuel oil that feeds the boiler has to be heated up so it can burn efficiently. The fuel runs in a coil inside a chamber heated by the hot water from the boiler. Oil Injectors Two oil injectors can be swung into the opening on the boiler's firebox. The Night Burner is run by an electric motor and used to keep steam up when the vessel was tied up for the night on standby. With steam, pressure could be kept at about 100 lbs per square inch (kilopascals) burning only 1.5 gallons (6 litres) of Bunker C Oil per hour. The Main Burner fired the boiler when Samson V was underway. This burner is driven by a simple steam turbine and burns about 35 gallons (140 litres) of fuel per hour to keep the steam at its normal working pressure of 150 lbs per square inch (kilopascals). Top of Page Induced Draft fan. On Samson V, as on most steam-powered sternwheelers, the exhaust steam is directed up the funnel to draw air through the firebox and help the fuel burn more efficiently. Samson V is also equipped with an induced draft fan to help draw even more air through the boiler fires. |
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