Charlotte Dundas and steamboat viability

The Charlotte Dundas demonstrates that a steam vessel could work yet still fail to become a system users wanted to repeat. Its central crankshaft drove a paddle wheel and successfully hauled loaded barges, but canal owners worried that the wash would damage their banks. They also faced questions of scale and whether enough people could be trained to operate a wider fleet. The North River steamboat then shows the next step by repeatedly completing the Hudson River route to Albany and back. Its ability to keep time against wind and other route friction turned steam from an isolated demonstration into a service that could support a timetable and a viable business.