10 o'clock from Arch Street Ferry, in order to take 

 passengers from Burlington, Bristol, Bordentown and 

 Trenton, and return the next day." It is probable 

 that the maintenance of Fitch's boats caused much 

 trouble and expense, for the steamboat packet service 

 appears to have lasted only three or four months and 

 then was not resumed. 



The model represents a double-ended open boat 

 having a straight keel, raking cvirved stem, raking 

 straight post with rudder hung on it, moderate sheer, 

 sharp entrance and run, midsection with some rise in 

 the floor, firm round bilge, and an upright topside. 

 There is no authority to be found for the hull form 

 of this model; the engine in it does not agree with 

 contemporary descriptions. 



The model scales 34 feet overall length, 8 feet beam, 



and 3 feet 6 inches depth; the oars six to a side, are 

 each 12 feet long. Scale of model 2 inches to the foot. 



The boat was driven by the oars, which were stroked 

 by a crank and rod arrangement, the crank being 

 driven by a gear and endless chain operated by the 

 engine. The many moving parts in this mode of 

 propulsion, as well as the crude workmanship com- 

 mon to machinery of the period, must have made 

 maintenance difficult, so that in a short time the 

 boats became unreliable. 



The model was made in the Museum. 



JAMES RUMSEY'S STEAMBOAT, 1787 

 Rigged Model, usnm 203711 



This model is a reconstruction of the steamboat 

 that James Rumsey of Berkeley Springs, Virginia, 



Rigged Model (USNM 20371 1) of reconstruction of 

 James Ramsey's steamboat. His vessel was built in 

 1787 and tested in 1788 on the upper Potomac River 

 near Berkeley Springs. {Smithsonian photo -14440.) 



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