Route 3, Newport, Pennsylvania 17074
Back in January from the 18th to the 27th, Fort Pierce, Florida
held their Annual Sandy Shoes Festival. It has been in observance
since back in the late 1950s. It gets bigger every year. They have
now added a steam show too. This year the ‘Steam Meet’ was
held on Saturday, January 19, 1974.
There were models displayed and working on a table. There was a
steam boat there. I took several pictures of this handiwork of
Barney Powers. Also, I’m sending the specifications of the
steam launch ‘Firefly’.
The show was managed by Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Kane. Since last
year, Mr. Kane passed on, but Mrs. Kane managed to have the show by
herself. The Kanes have had several volumes published, series
entitled ‘Steam Power in the United States and the
World.’
I was to this celebration this year and I believe the energy
crisis kept the entire program somewhat smaller.
STEAM LAUNCH ‘FIREFLY’ Built and owned by: Barney
Powers, 909 38th St., West Palm Beach, Fla. 33407. Specifications:
Hull, Length – 16′ Beam – 5’7′, Prop – 14′ x
17′, Steering – Tiller, Est. displacement with boiler and tanks
full – 1170 lb. Draft – 23′ Condenser area – 2.5 sq. ft. Engine
2-1/2 x 3-3/4 x 2 compound double acting steam engine. Rated 5 H.P.
at 600 RPM. 120 lb. Stephenson reverse gear. Full gear cut-off 93
percent. Boiler, Old felt type water tube boiler. Drum – 10-3/4
O.D. x .365 wall. Water tubes – 12 coils 1′ pipe .113 wall.
21.9 sq. ft. heating area. Hydraulic checked at 350 PSI. Working
pressure – 120 lb. Safety valve 150 lb. Vaporizing type burner.
Fuel – kerosene. Approx. 6 ft. 1/2 O.D. pipe feed heater.
Miscellaneous features, Engine driven gear pump for boiler feed
water. Engine driven piston vacuum pump for condensate return.
3/4′ auxiliary hand pump. Portable air tank for fuel feed.
Displacement lubricator. Hot well with oil separator. Keel
condenser 20′ of 1′ copper tube. 9 gal. fuel tank operated
at 30 p.s.i. 1 cu. ft. air tank – cap. 150 p.s.i. Canvas top –
removable. Makeup water – 6 gal. ‘Firefly’s’ machinery
was built by the owner in 1970-71. The molded fiberglass hull was
then modified to accept the machinery and oversize prop. A low
slung trailer was designed and built by the owner to facilitate
ramp launching. Engine castings and boiler drum were supplied by
Reliable Industries, New Baltimore, Mich.
