The steamer Chautauqua Belle is an authentic Mississippi River -style sternwheel steamboat owned and operated by U.S. Steam Lines Ltd, operating on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York .
5-615: Originally financed and built by Captain James Webster, the vessel was constructed on site in Mayville, New York , between 1974 and 1976. The Chautauqua Belle was launched in 1976 as part of Chautauqua County's celebration of the United States Bicentennial . The Chautauqua Belle is one of only five operating authentic passenger sternwheel steamboats left in all of North America. The other four vessels are
10-516: A 30 kilowatt generator to provide her electricity needs. Her top speed is 7 miles per hour (11 km/h). The engines were built for the Chautauqua Belle by Harry McBride in 1975. She has a mechanical steering system with cable operation of two rudders mounted on the stern ahead of her paddlewheel . Her design features many of the architectural details lost to the modern boat builder, like cambered decks to shed water from her roof and
15-507: A sheer line to evenly distribute the weight of the boilers, engines and paddlewheel. Features such as her gingerbread trim and wedding cake stacked superstructure are indigenous to the Mississippi River-styled steamboat. This style of deck layout, which became the pinnacle of all steamboat architecture, was pioneered by Henry Shreve and his steamboat Washington of 1824. The vessel featured a barge-like hull which allowed
20-412: Is 98 feet (30 m) long and 22 feet (6.7 m) wide, and weighs 70 tons fully loaded. She has a 100-horsepower Scotch steam boiler aboard which supplies steam at 210 pounds per square inch (1,400 kPa) to the two 20 horsepower steam engines which turn her paddlewheel. She has a 60-horsepower Uniflow marine steam engine manufactured by Skinner Engine Company which is attached via a belt drive to
25-950: The Virginia V , in Seattle, Washington ; Minne-Ha-Ha at Lake George, New York , operating on Lake George; the Belle of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky , operating on the Ohio River; and the Natchez in New Orleans , Louisiana, operating on the Mississippi River. The Chautauqua Belle and the Natchez were designed by the naval architect Captain Alan Bates of Louisville, Kentucky. The Chautauqua Belle
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