Master Technical Schematic for Marine Firebox Boiler, Steamer 'Lurline' Columbia River Steamboat Boiler Schematic [Master India Ink Drafting Linen]

Item Details

Vancouver, WA / Portland, OR:, [Vancouver Transportation Company],, c. 1878–1899, Original Drafting Linen Sheet.

Unique Ephemera, Very Good - No flaws

AN ORIGINAL NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENGINEERING MASTER CREATED FOR THE STEAMER THAT HELPED DEFINE COLUMBIA RIVER TRAVEL.

DESCRIPTION:
An original master technical schematic executed in India ink on treated drafting linen, detailing the locomotive-style firebox boiler for the celebrated Columbia River passenger sternwheeler 'Lurline'.

Created under the direction of pioneer maritime engineer Jacob Kamm, this translucent master drawing served as the direct shop plate for Pacific Northwest ironworks during the golden age of riverboat steam navigation.

A scarce primary engineering artifact from an intact 19th-century Columbia and Willamette River maritime collection.

KEY FEATURES
+++ Visuals: Hand-drawn technical schematic in India ink, featuring a dual elevation and cross-sectional layout of a marine firebox boiler. Detail highlights a 230-tube firebox sheet, crown sheet radius, stay-bolt grid, furnace access doors, and a 6-inch steam pipe nozzle flange profile.
+++ Binding: Single unbacked drafting sheet; executed on semi-translucent, starched architectural drafting linen (tracing cloth).
+++ Content: Marine steam engineering design for a Western-river style sternwheeler boiler assembly, including precise scale dimensions, rivet placement, handhole access points, and pressure vessel specifications.
+++ Imprint: Unrecorded shop master; associated with the Vancouver Transportation Company and the steamship 'Lurline', c. 1878–1899.
+++ Specs: Sheet size: 19.5 x 32.5 inches. Drawing area: approximately 12.5 x 22 inches.
+++ Provenance: Acquired directly as part of an intact 19th-century Pacific Northwest steamship archive containing certified inspection documents, rudder schematics, and line drawings explicitly referencing Jacob Kamm and the passenger steamer 'Lurline'.

CONDITION: The drafting linen remains structurally sound, flexible, and intact, retaining its original translucent, water-resistant starch coating. Minor marginal creasing and light age-toning consistent with late-19th-century maritime ironworks use. Ink drafting lines, cross-hatching, and handwritten engineering annotations remain crisp, dark, and entirely legible. Free of major tears or material loss. Excellent institutional preservation state.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: BUILDING THE COLUMBIA FLEET.
 Jacob Kamm was among the most influential maritime engineers in Pacific Northwest history. Arriving in Oregon in 1850, he served as chief engineer for early river transport, co-founded the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, and later established the Vancouver Transportation Company. Kamm's sternwheelers were critical to regional economic expansion, providing vital transport for passengers and freight along the Columbia and Willamette rivers.

THE HEART OF LURLINE.
The passenger sternwheeler 'Lurline', built by Kamm in 1878, was famous for her speed and service on the Portland-to-Astoria run. Because marine boilers required precise custom fabrication to withstand extreme working steam pressures, master linen drawings like this were provided directly to boilerworks foundries as the source template for construction and repair.

A SURVIVING WORKSHOP RECORD.
As an original manuscript drafting plate rather than a secondary photographic or printed reproduction, this sheet represents a primary, unrecorded document of 19th-century American steamship technology and Northwest regional transportation history.

SCHOLARLY FEATURES
+++ Engineering History: Represents an authentic master drafting linen plate—the durable, moisture-resistant translucent medium required in late-19th-century foundries to produce contact blue-prints (cyanotypes) without tearing or distortion.
+++ Maritime Design: Documents the specialized low-headroom, high-capacity locomotive firebox boiler design essential for shallow-draft Columbia River sternwheelers operating between Portland, Vancouver, and Astoria.
+++ Regional Significance: Directly tied to the career of Jacob Kamm (1823–1912), chief engineer of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, founder of the Vancouver Transportation Company, and designer of the 'Lurline' (built 1878).