Eureka

 

The ferryboat EUREKA, built in 1890.

NPS Photo

 

Eureka Quick Facts

• Overall Length: 299.5 ft

• Extreme Width: 78 ft

• Gross Tonnage: 2,420

• Horsepower: 1500

• Passengers: 2300 souls

• Automobiles: 120

 

Ukiah Beginnings

Eureka was built in 1890, at Tiburon, California, for the San Francisco and North Pacific Railway. The ship was originally named Ukiah to commemorate San Francisco and North Pacific Railway’s recent rail extension into the city of Ukiah. A freight-car ferry, Ukiah was SF&NPR's "tracks across the Bay," ferrying trains from Sausalito to San Francisco.After WWI, Ukiah needed extensive repair, and shipwrights at the Southern Pacific yard labored for two years - eventually replacing all of her structure above the waterline. This kind of reconstruction was called "jacking up the whistle and sliding a new boat underneath."Re-christened Eureka, the vessel was launched from the Southern Pacific yard as a passenger and automobile ferry (her present form) in 1923.

 

Steam Ferryboats on San Francisco Bay

The Bay's first steam ferry (the tiny Sitka) arrived in 1847, stowed aboard a Russian cargo ship. But the ferry, Kangaroo, made the first regularly scheduled crossings in 1850.

After Mexico ceded California to the United States in 1848 (and John Marshall discovered gold in the American River) the Bay Area's population exploded. It is said that San Francisco's Ferry Building was once second only to London's Charing Cross Railway Station as the busiest passenger terminal in the world.

At one time, Southern Pacific Railroad operated forty-two ferryboats on the Bay (they transported 50,000,000 passengers per year). Construction of the Bay and Golden Gate bridges (mid 1930s) signaled the end of the ferryboat era, however.

In 1941, Eureka had the dubious distinction of making the last Marin County run, and by the 1950s regular ferry service was limited to railroad connections. Eureka kept working, but in 1957, when her crankpin snapped in mid-crossing, she was removed from service. Just one year later, the San Leandro made the last transbay ferryboat run.

 

The Walking Beam Engine

Eureka's tall "walking beam" is the last working example of an engine-type once common on America's waterways. Manufactured by Fulton Iron Works of San Francisco, this engine remains unaltered to this day.Oil was burned in boilers to produce the steam, which drove a huge, vertical piston. Perched atop the engine, the walking beam changed this up-and-down motion into rotary motion via a connecting rod linked directly to the paddlewheel shaft. The twin paddlewheels (each twenty-seven feet in diameter) made twenty-four revolutions per minute.

 

Restoration

In February of 1994, Eureka exited San Francisco Drydock after a $2.7 million restoration project. The steamship had been in the shipyard since October, where a crew of 45 skilled craftsmen caulked 2.5 miles of planking seams, and hammered in over 9000 eight-inch spikes. They applied stockholm tar, laid Irish Felt, and then plated the hull with 12,000 square feet of shining copper (cut down from modern dimensions to traditional-sized pieces to maintain the historical facade).

The vessel had suffered from rot in the edges of her main deck, and the caulking between her four-inch thick hull planks had softened. The immense beams holding up her paddle wheels and paddle boxes had deteriorated, and were replaced with steel. The overhanging ends and sides of the ferry were also repaired. To prevent the recurrence of rot, borate rods have been installed in all the new timbers. This is cutting edge preservation technology, pioneered by the park to treat its other ships. Over time, rainwater intrusion (a primary cause of dry rot) causes the rods to dissolve, and the borate leaches out into the wood, preventing rot from taking hold.

October of 1999, Eureka entered San Francisco Drydock for a $1 million restoration project focusing on the vessel’s superstructure – the above-water portions of the vessel. A significant portion of that drydock was the replacement of the boat’s "kingposts" – four large wooden structures which support the paddlewheels and upper decks.

 

Audio Presentation and Photo Gallery

 

• #9 The Only Way Across the Bay

  
  

  Learn the history and significance of the ferryboat, Eureka.
  Audio Transcript

  You’re listening to “Maritime Voices” from San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. I’m ranger Carol. In this episode we’ll consider the history and significance of the ferryboat Eureka.

  Today, the trans-bay commuter has many options for travel. Be it by subway beneath the water, by bridge over the water, or modern ferryboats on the water, choices literally abound. However, during her time, ferryboats like the paddle wheeled Eureka were the only way to cross. Without them, San Francisco would have been cut off from its surroundings and paralyzed for lack of its work force. Eureka is a rare link to this long-ended era.

  Although originally built to carry railroad cars, for most of her career Eureka’s staple job was carrying commuters across the bay. On other occasions, she carried automobiles and every once in a while, even carried cattle on their way to market. This last job could provide a lively crossing. One story recounts, “In the early twenties, a cattleman brought his stock to town on the steamer Eureka from Sausalito…  [However,] the rope pen was inadequate… One thing led to another, and soon the cattle were trying the stairs, demanding -and getting- attention in the restaurant, and herding a flock of frightened passengers hither and yon in wild disorder.”

  After a peak year in 1930, however, the diversity and quantity of Eureka’s passengers and cargo steadily declined. When construction started on the Bay Bridge in 1933 even ferryboat diehards were given a tangible sign that the end was not far off. One story stated “… the towers and girders that seemed to rise out of the Bay were recognized… as a gallows for the ferryboats.”

  For Eureka the end finally came in 1957 when she suffered a minor engine break down. Although an easy fix, it was the final and ever-so-gentle nudge that pushed her off the precipice of commercial feasibility. Eureka would steam no more. If you look and listen carefully, however, you can still picture the white-water tracks of paddle wheels across the bay, the two thousand odd commuters during rush hour, and hear the cacophony of footsteps, and perhaps a hoof step or two, echoing off the wooden decks.

 

• #10 The Passenger Experience: A Culture of Its Own

  
  

  Imagine taking a ride on the ferryboat, Eureka.
  Audio Transcript

  You’re listening to “Maritime Voices” from San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. I’m ranger Carol. In this episode we’ll imagine taking a ride on the ferryboat Eureka.

  If you could have looked upon the ferryboat Eureka in 1930, you would have witnessed the peak of ferry travel across San Francisco Bay. Imagine being a newcomer to this scene.

  After buying a ticket in the Ferry Building in San Francisco, you make your way to the waiting area and then down a creosote-scented corridor. Suddenly you are in the open and confronted by the huge white mass of the Eureka. You step onto her wooden lower deck, make your way up a large stairway, and then inside. You see row upon row of pew-like seats facing both directions. After settling yourself in one of them you are suddenly confronted by a man with a perturbed expression.

  Man: “Excuse me, but you’re sitting in my seat.”

  Narrator: “I’m sorry, I didn’t know this seat was reserved.”

  Man: “Well, these seats aren’t technically reserved, but this is where I always sit. All of us here play cards. That’s why we’re sitting together. If you look around, you’ll see other groups involved with checkers, book discussions, or whatever. But this here is my seat.” As you rise and look around you see that the whole deck is filled with these groups.

  Looking for a new seat, you walk past the bustling restaurant with the aroma of roast beef and vegetable soup. Then you step out onto the open deck where you smell the salt-air and you notice the Eureka is underway. You see the receding skyline of the city and the white paddle wheel tracks left astern in the waters of the bay. You feel the magic of the Eureka and no longer feel like a newcomer. Now you understand how this boat has become a floating home to its passengers.

  Finally, as Eureka docks at the end of her trip in Sausalito, you find yourself thinking about next time. No other ferryboat will do. You will want to ride only on your boat, the Eureka.

 

• #11 Steam Juggernaut

  
  

  Explore the engine room of the ferryboat, Eureka.
  Audio Transcript

  You’re listening to “Maritime Voices” from San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. In this episode we’ll explore the ferryboat Eureka, a steam juggernaut.

  When you step into in the engine room of the ferryboat Eureka you’re taking a step back in time. Imagine Eureka’s engine during its heyday of operation in the 1930s.

  Stepping inside, it’s hard not to feel insignificant. The engine is of a type referred to as a walking beam steam engine. It gets the name from the diamond shaped beam mounted at the top that rocks back and forth like a seesaw. This titan of an engine is five stories tall, it has only one cylinder of 65 inch bore and 12 foot stroke, and this mammoth engine is then connected to two 27 foot diameter paddle wheels.

  However, despite these dinosaur-like proportions, without its crew the engine would remain silent and Eureka immobile. Upon climbing down to the deepest parts of the engine room, you see two crewmen toil at Eureka’s boilers. You notice that they keep a wary watch on the steam and water gauges and every so often they jump to some seemingly offending valve and nudge it one way or another. Elsewhere, you notice other crew scampering back and forth and up and down the five story engine. Wherever an extra bit of lubricating oil is required they are on hand to administer it.

  Overseeing the crewmen are the chief and first engineers. They’re standing watch on a perch-like platform which gives them access to all of the important engine controls. You see one of them slaving away with a long metal bar, pushing it up and down, to manually open and close a series of valves to start the engine. It looks easy, but only a practiced hand with the right amount of finesse can get the engine started correctly.

  Finally, you notice the swishing white noise of the paddle wheels churning through the water and you hear the breath-like whoosh as steam exerts itself within this juggernaut of an engine.

  Stepping back onto the main deck, this world slowly fades to silence as the present day reasserts itself. Even today, this juggernaut of an engine reminds us of an era when steam ruled the waterways.