All;

The following probably should have been submitted as a brief to RYPN. But due to the time-sensitive nature of the subject; I am placing it here on the Interchange.

Some background on the Elizabeth, taken from a copy of "The Boats We Rode – A Quarter Century of New York's Excursion Boats and Ferries"; graciously given to me by Ted Miles:

She was built as the LAKEWOOD by Harlan & Hollingsworth Co. of Wilmington, Delaware in 1901 for the Central Railway of New Jersey (CNJ). Her gross tonnage is 1115; she is 194.4 feet long, 43.5 feet wide, and had a displacement of 16'. She was built as a double ended car ferry; and was powered by the 1500HP four cylinder triple expansion engine on 170lb steam.

After a disastrous fire, she was rebuilt with an all steel fireproof structure, and renamed ELIZABETH. She was capable of carrying 20 automobiles and 1950 passengers, and ran between the Jersey Central's Communipaw Avenue rail terminal in Jersey City and Liberty Street, downtown Manhattan. In February 1965, the ELIZABETH was the only steam ferry serving this route, when the diesel electric ferries THE TIDES and THE NARROWS were chartered to replace her unrebuilt sisters.

The ELIZABETH last operated to the Jersey City terminal on April 28, 1967. But while sister ferries were scrapped or sent to die a slow death in the Witte Marine Equipment Co. yard on Staten Island; she was sold to the Public Service Electric and Gas Company of New Jersey. Renamed THE SECOND SUN, she was then used as a floating exhibition ship describing the use of atomic energy, and was based at Salem, New Jersey.

The books I have end there in regards to her history; she may have changed hands several times before she ended up as a HOOTERS restaurant in Philadelphia. But that was her last role; when the restaurant went out of the business three and half years ago; the pumps that probably kept her afloat were turned off, and she sank at her pier.



Here is where my message picks up. Last August, the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia attempted to raise the Elizabeth. Their first effort failed; there were too many large open spaces, and a split under the top deck foiled their efforts.

They tried again a few days ago and succeeded; you can see the first pictures in my Surviving World Steam Lizard Photo Gallery:

http://www.survivingworldsteam.com/gallery/album55

These pictures were taken by Harry Burkhardt. Since they were taken, Harry has learned that the museum has run into some longistical problems with obtaining the steam machinery, and there is now some question about whether the machinery will be retreived or not.

Harry feels that e-mails from interested persons may help in gaining finincial support on this project. Please direct your e-mails to:

TANIA KARPINICH- PUBLIC RELATIONS
tkarpinich@phillyseaport.org

DAVID BEARD- curator
dbeard@indsm.org

general e-mail for museum
seaport@phillyseaport.org

Your e-mails must be submitted in the next few days. Apparently, the museum was given a window in which to remove the steam machinery; after which the remainer of the ferry will be scrapped. Also, anyone wishing to help by making a tax deductable donation to this project should contact the museum.

Why should it be saved in the first place? The Elizabeth is one of the last remaining examples of a steam ferry. To date, I have documented 32 team ferries still in existence in North America. Of these, five (Berkeley, Eureka, Bigwin, Norisle, and Yankee) have been preserved intact (the last is a diesel conversion); four (City of Keansburg, Chief Wawatam, Sierra Nevada, and unknown name in Chilliwack, BC, Canada) have had their engines preserved; and seven (Sausalito, Vallejo, Klamath, Newport, Binghamton, Jamestown, and River Queen) have been adaptively reused as eating establishments or other venues.

The others are derelict and/or facing an uncertain future. As an example of both a CNJ and a Staten Island ferry, the Elizabeth is even more rare.

Her four cylinder triple expansion engine is even rarer still. (It is the same type of powerplant as found aboard the Battleship Texas and mentioned in my brief; only much smaller.) While the U.S.S. Olympia already in the Seaport museum also has a similiar engine; the Elizabeth's steam plant provides an opportunity to interpret such a steam plant outside the cramped space of an engine room. What's more, it may be possible to make it operational; making it even more of a value-added item in terms of the museum's collection.

With today's high scrap metal prices, it is becoming increaseingly difficult to preserve the world's remaining steam engines. I was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to preserve intact the steam powered compressor house at the Solvay Coke Plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We failed in our efforts; and the compressor house was torn down in August of last year; and most of the machinery was or will be scrapped. Since I started this project, over 350 steam engines (including over 70 vessels; most but not all powered by steam turbines) have been scrapped; with an equal number facing the same fate.

Yet, many of the remaining examples are the last opportunity for such a preservation to take place. While it will be difficult to retrieve the Elizabeth's steam plant; I don't see where such an example will ever be available for preservation again. Once it's gone, it's gone.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project