Steamboat Susie

[Max Corey]

Uh oh, me again.

The Alaska History Gallery in the Alaska Museum of History and Art is a walk-through history of Alaska. It is an excellent exhibit featuring many great models by top model builders like Alice Abbott.  If you ever get to Anchorage, it is a must see.

One of my favorite modelling projects was the sternwheel steamboat Susie I built for the exhibit in 1987. I feel honored to have it in a good display case there. Susie is in HO 1/87 scale and is about 3 feet long including the gangway.  Scratchbuilt from mostly Styrene with various detail parts gathered from all over.

I messed up a couple of things about two of the displays I got the contracts for, Susie being one.  More on that later.

Not sure what is wanted on this forum but one of the things I like about model building is historical interest and accuracy to the subject, detail, etc.  So the history comes first.  I always like to "get into" the subject and read and visit and see as much as possible.  I think many of us are like that.  The real thing.  Photos.  Plans.  Site visits.  Books and articles.  Even imaginary Sci-fi or fantasy like FichtenFoo requires at least an implied history.

It is the history of the Alaska Gold Rush of 1896-1899.  It is steamboats on the Yukon, Tanana and Koyukuk rivers in Alaska. 100,000 crazy prospectors risking much to strike it rich in a couple of years.  Few did.

The ones who did make it supported the gold rush with businesses. The Alaska Commercial Company, originally the Russian-American Company, ran stores and was the major provider of river transportation. There were no roads and very harsh terrain. Gold rush inflation made everything very expensive.  We have all seen the $25 haircut or breakfast signs.

So Jeffersonville Indiana?  The Howard Boat Yards.  Where most of the big Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Red and other middle American river boats were built. Robert E. Lee. City of Louisville. Natchez. J.M. White. The classic Mark Twain boats were perfect for the lower Yukon.  When James Howard passed his shipyard to his son, Edmonds, in 1876, it had already struck a reputation for the finest steamboats, and Howard quality was in demand. At times, Edmonds had to turn down contracts or bid ludicrously high. Such was the case when the San Francisco-based Alaska Commercial Company wanted three packets and a towboat for the booming Klondike gold trade. Flooded with work in 1897, Edmonds made an outrageously high bid only to find it accepted.  They each cost over $120,000, a LOT back then, but they made a small fortune for the Company in just a few years.

Named for the wives of the Company owners, three boats were built at Unalaska, the Susie, the Sarah and the Hannah. 225 feet long, 40 feet wide and 6 feet deep hulls with standard sternwheel engines and boilers that ran on wood, later coverted to oil.  The molds of the sternwheeler Bluff City were used, the hulls framed in Jeffersonville and sent by train to San Francisco and then by boat to Portland and to Unalaska. Shipwrights from Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio put them together at Unalaska and then they steamed to St. Michael at the mouth of the Yukon and on up the river.

Susie became flagship of the Alaska Commercial Company fleet and reached Dawson and the gold fields, pushing a barge and carrying 400 tons of freight, on August 28, 1898.

Basically, they were just big kits.

Ok, something better, pictures.



Here is the Hannah, docked along the Yukon, by pushing her nose into the river bank.  Worked.  The derricks on the front moved and set-up the gangway (I think there is a more accurate term for it).  These boats had to land often for firewood, which would be stacked all along the main deck, and gave men jobs cutting firewood cordwood and having it available at stops along the river.



Good shot of Sarah steaming along the river.



Possibly Dawson City, Yukon Territory.  All three sister boats and a couple I am not sure of.  Note the cordwood stacked on the dock.



Paddlewheels of Sarah and a towboat in their rotting away years.  Good detail reference as these are a very common construction.  Note the hog chain system of hull trussrods for the sternwheel also uses chains. With very little wood, people would steal parts such as the paddles here, to build houses with.



The end of Hannah and one of the others.  Good side view for proportions.  Shows hog chains and king posts well.



A stop along the river not sure where.   I often think of modelling an imaginary town like this and maybe a bit of narrow gauge such as the Tanana Valley Railroad for fun. Log structures are tricky to model.



Sarah and a tow boat pushing a loaded barge.  These boats all pushed barges and there are photographs of everything from locomotives and horses to structures and men.   Lots of crates and wooden barrels, a Yukon River barge could make a great model by itself.



More wreckage.  Note the three rudder posts.  Another good shot for hog chain detail.



Ok, here we go.  The rest will come once I get them scanned, maybe tomorrow.  I did not model the actual engines/cylinders/valve gear nor the boilers on this one.  But have the plans and information.  Needed to get her done.  A good friend, Donna Lindsay, a photo journalist, just had to get her old Hasselblad camera and take these.  Wish we had picked a better backdrop but this was the best we could come up with at the time.

Note the three rudders connected by cables that ran to the wheelhouse wheel (Steamboat Willie).  There are two more in front of the paddle wheel. The pitman arms and rudders were fun, as was the stern wheel.  I added up 2,612 pieces in the stern wheel alone (lots and lots of nbws).  BUT TELL ME WHAT I DID WRONG!

I gave it passengers and crew.  Preiser figures, mostly, you can see a man sitting here on the boiler deck.

I will yakk more about building the Susie next time.  Give some resources and plans, etc.  Was fun and a recommended subject to model.  In fact there are quite a many paddlewheel steamboats on layouts and dioramas.  There are several kits of varying quality.  I will be building the Susie or one of her sisters in 1/48 scale with all the detail inside pretty soon and will take a lot of pictures for ya.

Max trying to bend the thinnest darn wire for a 1/48 lantern in MI

[darrylhuffman]

The history of Alaska is closely tied to sternwheelers and other steam boats.

Before the airplane came along, it was the only practical way to deliver equipment and goods to the majority of the town in the state.

Max's model is very impressive.

Equally as nice is his reconstruction of the railroad yards in Anchorage immediately after the equipment was brought to Alaska from the constuction of the Panama Canal.

Of course his work on modeling the Gold Cord mine and the Independence Mine for the Wasilla museum is great as well.

When not building mines, ship, train yards and such, Max built countless airplanes for the Aviation Museum.

And the gift shops of Anchorage always had many custom models built by Max.

What I really like about the work Max does is we all use the same tools, the same paints, the same brushes- - but some of us produce nice models but Max produces true works of art.

Of course, I taught him all he knows but that is a story for another day.

[Ray Dunakin]

Great post, very interesting stuff! I enjoyed the history of the boat and the history of the model. But I haven't a clue what you did wrong.

[Malachi Constant]

That stern wheel alone is an impressive assembly!  Keep it coming!  -- Dallas

[Chuck Doan]

I really enjoy the historical side to modelling. That is an impressive first picture!

[Rail and Tie]

Fantastic work!! After just prototyping our CR LAMB kit, I can tell you that your detail bats it out of the field!! That wheel is most excellent!  What scale is this in?  I am guessing it must be 1/50 or so?

Also, can not figure out what you mean by "What did I do wrong?"  I certainly can not see it.

More pictures!!!

[Max Corey]

Some odds and ends.

This type of steamboat is called a packet.  The model is in 1/87 HO.

Howard Shipyard was established in 1834, in Jeffersonville, Indiana. During its three-generation, 107-year history, the Howard Shipyard built more than 3,000 vessels, and was the largest inland shipyard in America. It built the J. M. White (1878), the most luxurious boat on inland waters and the City of Louisville (1894) that holds the speed record for the Ohio River. Howard's control of the shipyard ended in 1941, when it was purchased by the US Navy for construction of LSTs, sub chasers and other ocean-going vessels during WW II. Today, shipbuilding continues on the site, which is now occupied by Jeffboat, Inc., which has built such riverboats as the Mississippi Queen (1973) and the General Jackson (1985).

If you decide to build a steamboat, either stern or side wheel type, packet, towboat or ferry, this book is indispensable:  The Western Rivers Steamboat Cyclopedium by Alan L Bates.  It was written FOR model builders.

For Yukon River boats: Yukon River Steamboats, a Pictorial History, by Stan Cohen.

Much great info on the engines and types of paddlewheelers, with lots of drawings and photographs: Paddle Wheel Steamers and Their Giant Engines, by Bob Whittier.

Good resources for info and photos. Some addresses may have changed:

The Ohio River Museum, Marietta, Ohio 47650.
Ohio Historical Society, 1985 Velma Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43211.
The Campus Martius Museum, Marietta, Ohio 45750.
The Public Library of Cincinnati, of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, 800 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
Municipality of Anchorage, Anchorage Museum of History and Art, 121 West Seventh Avenue, P.O. Box6650, Anchorage, Alaska 99502-0650.
Howard Steamboat Museum, Inc., 1101 East Market Street, P.O. Box606, Jeffersonville, IN 47130.
The Alaska Journal, Winter 1985 "Floating Palaces on the Yukon, Mississippi-Style Riverboats in Alaska, by William S Hanable.
Challenge Publications, Inc.,7950b Deering Avenue, Canoga Park, CA 91304 - Scale Ship Modeller, Loren Perry Editor.  (Loren Perry is an expert model ship builder and friend who runs "Gold Medal Models", a great supplier of model ship details and etched railings, etc.).
Model Shipways (parts).
Bluejacket Ship Crafters (parts).
University of Alaska, Fairbanks (Photographs).

I was never able to find specific plans of Susie, Sarah or Hannah, but have found many plans of very similar boats.  Taubman Plans Service, 11 College Drive, Box 4G, Jersey City, New Jersey 07305, is a good source.





On the day I finished the boat and took it to the Museum for delivery, I realized there were no photos of her, and I had no film. So called a professional photographer friend and we did a quick photo session.  In bright sunlight on a bench in the back yard with an old bed spread for the background. Best we could do at the time.  Now I realize that was not good because the white and black is hard to photograph in sun light.  So the photos are either too dark or the white parts are washed out and too white showing little to no detail, and the dark parts also lost detail. Also, I only have slides to scan, which makes it even worse. FineScale Modeller Magazine needed a slide to put the model in the magazine so I had slides made.

Nowadays I use a digital camera.  Not nearly as many problems.


Max learning, hopefully.

[chester]

Poor photos or not, an magnificent build.

[Chuck Doan]

Yes it is!

[marc_reusser]

I completely agree with Chester.

Also really appreciate all the historical information, very informative and interesting.

[Gordon Enquist]

Did not realize the shallow draft of these boats, thanks for the info.