A few weeks ago I stumbled across a short description and general plan layout drawing of the fireboat New Yorker in Howell's "Steam Vessels and Marine Engines". The drawing showsthat there are two props on a single shaft with a universal joint between the front and rear props with the rear prop steerable. I have Googled the boat, the builder and the designer with minimal results. I found a couple of paragraphs on the Marine 1 FDNY website and a couple of videos made from 1903 Edison film clips.
I'm making drawings from the drawing in the Howell book but it is fairly low resolution and leaves a lot to the imagination. It fascinates me that this boat was built in the 1890's and has a steerable prop. I want to build a steam powered model of this fireboat but I need to find more information to be accurate. I've emailed Marine 1 FDNY but I haven't received any reply yet. Anybody out there have any information on this boat that they'd like to share?
Thanks,
Don
Long time lurker