1886 Historical Information Needed

Another question:

How did passengers board these massive ships?

In the pictures I have seen of the boats the main middle deck appears to be relatively low so that, if the wharf had an elevation to it, the passenger could almost step from the wharf to the boat. Did people walk up stairs at the wharf, from the street, that brought them to an elevated platform that enabled them to step onto the boat? Or did they (the wharf) have a set of steps that were moved out for passengers to go up from the wharf to the ship?

Thanks!

The train pulled up alongside the steamer. Passengers just walked on board. I presume that there was some sort of board or platform you walked on so that you wouldn't get your feet wedged between the hull and the dock. The steamers were shallow draft vessels so there wasn't a gangway like you see in ocean liner photos. The mammoth, for their time, PROVIDENCE and BRISTOL only drew 12 feet (only 12 feet of the hull was immersed in calm waters) and when sailing out of Bristol, RI, before their tenure in Fall River, regularly scraped bottom in anything but the highest tide (and bumped into buildings and trees in Bristol's tiny harbor). There were probably more steps out of the railroad cars than into the steamer. Any of the books that have been referenced are heavy on photos of the vessels, although those in the McAdam books are small. Pictures of the boat trains beside a steamer don't show up well. For most of the year the transfers would have taken place during hours of limited light. At Fall River, the transfer was pretty much under cover. Some of the smaller ports may have had limited cover. At New London the Norwich Line steamer docked opposite the railroad station (still there). Maybe you could try some local historical societies to see if they have any photos. Suggestions: New London (city or county) HS, Stonington HS, Norwich HS, Bristol (town or county), RI HS or Newport, RI HS. Also try the Old Colony & Fall River HS in Fall River. Steamboat arrivals were big news in 1886 and the boats were one of the biggest things in town. The railroads were a very big business too.

I don't know where you live, but if you are on any of the coasts and there are excursion boats to islands, around the harbor, etc. go over and take a look at the boarding arrangemets. That's how uncomplicated boarding one of the big coastal steamboats would be.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and there are ferries that travel all over the bay to various locations. They are mainly commuter ferries, but they also have ferries for special events.

That is a good idea. I have not been on those ferries for several years, but it might be worth taking a current trip.

Thanks!

Look over any of those vessels that board from the side.

The current issue (Vol 34, Iss 3) of the New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association, Inc.'s NH Shoreliner has a nice two pages in which the Fall River Line steamboat operation is described with photo illustrations. Additionally, on the rear cover, there is an 8 x 10 color theatrical poster on glossy heavy stock of a couple relaxing on board the deck of one of the Fall River Line's steamships.

Great! Can that issue be ordered online somewhere? Thanks!

edbear wrote:Maybe you could try some local historical societies to see if they have any photos. Suggestions: New London (city or county) HS, Stonington HS, Norwich HS, Bristol (town or county), RI HS or Newport, RI HS. Also try the Old Colony & Fall River HS in Fall River. Steamboat arrivals were big news in 1886 and the boats were one of the biggest things in town. The railroads were a very big business too.

A few more to add to the list: the library at Connecticut College (in New London); the Mystic Seaport Museum, in Mystic, Conn.; the museum in Stonington, CT; and the archives of the New London Day, which has been the daily paper in SE Connecticut for probably 150 years.

Also, if you want a good overview of how travel on the Sound developed-- and a good book to boot-- get a copy of The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, by T.J. Stiles. It's a recent book- came out last year- and I see it's on Amazon for $14. Even though most people associate Vanderbilt with the NY Central Railroad, he made his money first in steamboats, including the Stonington Line. You can probably mine the bibliography there for some other good sources on L.I. Sound travel in the 19th Century.

thesocialpet wrote:Great! Can that issue be ordered online somewhere? Thanks!

The New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association has a website at http://nhrhta.org, which states that back issues of the Shoreliner are available. An excellent publication, btw.

I found the NHRHTA website, but they say their current issue is Issue 2 from September. The previous post says the current issue is Issue 3. Maybe they don't have Issue 3 posted yet for sale, if it is so brand new.

You can contact the NHRHTA's Shoreliner Production William G. Dulmaine directly at P.O.Box 1125, Sterling, MA 01564, Tel. (978) 422-9746, or [email protected].

Thanks! I just sent them an email.

A few things you ought to note:

The coastal vessels used on the Fall River Line and other Sound Lines were steamboats, not ships, even though the PROVIDENCE and BRISTOL were about the same length as ocean crossing ships launched about the same time.

Speed of the coastal steamboats (and river and Great Lakes too) were quoted in miles per hour, not knots.

The Fall River Boat Train of 1886 was equipped with the best rolling stock and engines, but the cars probably did not have steam heat. They probably had coal stoves at the end of the cars. There were a number of patented railroad car stoves, designed not to topple over or fly open in the event of derailment. There had been a number of wrecks where the death toll from burning to death was a lot greater than from the wreck itself.

Thank you!

The larger coastwise steam driven vessels could classify as a steamship, but the most common term for them was ‘Steamer’. Here pictured is the Steamer “Massachusetts” of the Providence Line. Companies such as this one were often referred as a steamship company or line. Can’t say what the Electro Bells referenced in this old engraving are, but they must have been novel at the time.