A Queen of the Mississippi question

The short answer is no. Her wheel will be powered, but her primary propulsion will be her azimuthing drives. The wheel will be hydraulic, identical to the new wheel and azi-pod set up they put on the QUEEN OF THE WEST. As you can obviously see in this video, the wheel is not moving fast enough for the wake coming from the wheel...alas, the QUEEN OF THE MISSISSIPPI will be much the same. Queen Of The West passes beneath I-5 - YouTube

Why do people get upset over ACL giving their new boat the name Queen of the Mississippi.

Personally, it brings a bad name and discrace to the Mississippi Queen and also it will be trying to ride the coat tails of her success.

ed frazier;29037 wrote: Personally, it brings a bad name and discrace to the Mississippi Queen and also it will be trying to ride the coat tails of her success.

Is that because QOTM is not steam Dennis Trone didn't care naming another boat Julia Belle Swain after there all ready was a boat with the name Julia Belle Swain and i dont think anybody cared.

That is why I said personally.

Matthew,

I would caution you not to bring such a revered person as Capt. Dennis Trone up in this forum as a validation for your statement. Capt. Trone was a personal friend of many on this board (including myself) who knew him for several years and regard his friendship very strongly. I fear you will not be happy with the bees nest you will stir up because of your lack of knowledge on this issue.

Capt. Trone named the boat JULIA BELLE SWAIN because he was honoring a great steamboat family (Capts. Percy and Verne Swain) who ran one of the last successful steamboat operations on the Illinois River. It was not that he "did not care" where the name came from. This was a very intentional decision to honor specific people and keep their history current for generations to come. As a matter of fact, he had the actual person for whom the first Str. JULIA BELLE SWAIN (Mrs. Julia Belle Swain Shelton) come to Peoria, Il. and christen the boat which was her second namesake vessel.

I am sure the name QUEEN OF THE MISSISSIPPI is a market tested, corporate driven, decision to both advertise their boat and to create a sense of family with their existing vessel the M/V QUEEN OF THE WEST. However, I believe what Ed is trying to say here is the choice of name, so close to the untimely greed-driven loss of the Steamer MISSISSIPPI QUEEN is both unfortunate and inconsiderate to the legion of fans the Steamer MISSISSIPPI QUEEN had for several years.

Capt. Dennis Trone developed a beautiful swan of a steamboat to be named JULIA BELLE SWAIN back in 1971. A vessel that harkened back to days of yore with architecture which is simply amazing. He was able to create in cold, hard steel and aluminum phenomenal lines and authentic style not seen in a modern vessel for over 50 years.

Before you make allegations, I recommend you research them. Especially if you plan on posting them in a public forum to people who are researched, knowledgeable and very passionate about the subject matter at hand.

Nuff said?

Here here now, lets not attack the poor guy for having an honest question. He hasn't been around as long as many of you and doesn't know all the details and personalities like some of us do. I think Mr. Cooper is a curious person who only knows the boats in more modern times and has gleaned most of what he knows from books or online with sites such as this.

Those who are a little more weathered and were around when all this happened should feel honored and fortunate because not all of us have lived it. So when an innocent question is made, even though it may have a negative connotation because you knew the people personally, just remember not all of us did.

That being said, lets try to encourage new blood, because like so many great things of the past, if we don't interest will continue to wane. As interest dies off, so do what few boats we have left. Lord knows these old steamboats are expensive to maintain and will need support from future generations. Lets be careful to encourage them rather than discourage them because their "lack of knowledge."

I would only get upset if I had to paint the name on 2 bulkheads in 2 foot high lettering for free. Pay me to do it and I would be overjoyed.