any new news on the american.mississippi queen.

No news. The MQ is till at Perry St., West Bank N.O. and the AQ is in the MARAD Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX.

Is the MQ able to move on her own since she has been sitting idle for a couple of years?? Didn't know if she has been stripped of parts, etc, since there was talk of scrapping her? Does Ambassador still own her? Just curious...

Todd,

The last I saw her, she had all the engineering pieces in place (save for no refractory under her boilers) to operate. This was March of 2008. The Pilothouse was stripped and little of the electronics were there. Her pitman arms are removed as was her boarding stage. She has black mold all over her superstructure and her interior is literally coated with the stuff.

Estimates for her to return to operation range from up to $40,000,000.00 to as little as $15,000,000.00. From what I have seen, it would be cheaper to take her machinery and build a new boat.

The hull needs almost total replacement at this point. So I think the auction planned to liquidate her in November (no date is set...however Ambassadors Intl has advised the marine community in the NOLA area of their intent to auction her in November 2009) will result in parts being flung around the globe and the leftover carcass being sunk to make a reef out of her somewhere. Perhaps someone somewhere will see the opportunity and get the machinery and build a new boat out of the parts. If we are lucky, maybe one of the plans for the DELTA QUEEN replacement circa 1968 will become a reality. Some of those designs were spectacular!

What I would give to turn back the hands of time and worked a little harder to persuade one of the last two owners of what they had and how we could have saved it. There is truth to the old addage, "hindsight is 20-20".

Don't know if I would have been successful...but, at least I would have tried. It is a lonely river out there with out the DELTA QUEEN, MISSISSIPPI QUEEN, and AMERICAN QUEEN...not to mention the JULIA BELLE SWAIN (don't forget her, Capt. Dennis Trone's greatest marine achievement in steel and aluminum!). Steamboating took a direct hit from the recent economic disaster and I hope recovers soon and strong!

Which brings up a question I have been thinking about alot lately...Where is the JULIA BELLE SWAIN being kept and what is going on with her? Is anyone looking at her? Is she being tended to? Is she out of in the water up there in LaCrosse? Is she even still at LaCrosse? Of all of them, she would be the cheapest to get back into operation. Perhaps even capable of making it in these tough times. She could do overnight style cruises...just in a hotel every night. I can see a market on the Upper Mississippi and Ohio Rivers for her doing just that...in a AVALON-esque tramping style.

Enough for dreaming...back to reality and gettin ready for the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE's 95 birthday tomorrow.

Travis

Is it possible that she could be a floating entertainment complex or hotel similar to DK or DQ? Or is she going to become a victim like the President? I sure hope not!

I can see a market on the Upper Mississippi and Ohio Rivers for her doing just that...in a AVALON-esque tramping style.

How so? What are your ideas for your tramping A-style? As one of the few remaining veterans of tramp steamboat excursionists, I have mine own thoughts, but I reality is far removed from fantasy.

I could see the MQ on the banks of the Ohio in Cincy at the new "Banks" project as a floating hotel & entertainment complex...Of course it would be better to see her sister with her, but hopefully she will return to the rivers soon...As a kid growing up in Maysville, KY, you could always hear the whistles of passing steamboats, but the MQ was always louder...we use to rush to the riverbank and see her go by..

Shipyard,

I see 2 day cruises between ports with moonlights at the ports. One group of tourists would ride between the towns...and the town would get the moonlight. Then after a week or so...next town. So on and so forth till the end of the season.

You'd need a towboat and an office barge to go with you (for parts storage, kitchen facilities, crew quarters, etc). But, I really think it could work!

Travis

state of MQ, JBS

Todd, please reread Travis' description of the state of the MQ - she is in no shape for anything regarding human habitation at this point, be it cruising or dockside. Her last cruising season was 2006 and the humidity and other NOLA factors have done a number on her, after what initial damage her owner did of course. And add to that her hull deficiencies when she first was laid up. I guess you have to have seen her in person to believe how bad it is, but it is irreversible without divine intervention and $$$$$$$$.
As to Travis' comment about a market on the UMR for the JBS to do overnight trips, yes there is. The TWILIGHT and SPIRIT OF PEORIA are proving that, but they operate out of a single port. While tramping is a nice dream, it just isn't feasible anymore, for a multitude of reasons. Actually, the owner of the JBS really blew it by not operating her this year on her original LaCrosse schedule of 2 day trips to Winona and Prairie du Chien. With all the overnight boats shut down, he had the willing market, as our Rambling River Rat group showed. We got 31 signed up merely by a posting on here, and could have had more had the boat not been sold out. The SPIRIT ran 3 of those 3 day trips this year, and sold out each one. I don't know where the JBS is today, but I'll do a little research...

So do I take that she will be scrapped? If so, thats soooooo sad... It's just blows my mind that such a great ship that isn't that old, would be put to such an early grave??? It's disgusting.....

Todd,

What happened to the Delta Queen Steamboat Company is a travesty to the history of our nation. They may have not been the truest form of the history of steamboating that ever existed...but, they were steamboats and they were available to people wanting the experience only a true steamboat could give.

Shamefully, Americans would rather spit on their history and gain wealth instead. Those who sought wealth from the boats made it...and the boats are gone. I think you know who won there...and Americans didn't.

When I think of the jobs lost, the business small towns lost, the money the suppliers lost, the crew members (some of which are still on unemployment), and the loss of a steamboat round the bend for all but two towns in the Mississippi watershed...it disgusts me, too!

Only the politicians won this time. Well, lets not forget some greedy businessmen and a Union boss.

Once again...someone got rich and America loses.

Travis

So where is Pete Eveland these days? When I was a kid back in Maysville, he on occasion played the organ at the Maysville Country Club. I still actually have an album with him doing DQ songs....Some scratches, but still plays!

Pete Eveland

Pete posted on here about a year ago. He was in Tallahassee Florida then. Is your record the calliope one with the blue cover featuring Pete, Dan Forman, and Vic Tooker? And as far as the MQ goes, yes, scrapping appears to be the ultimate end for her. Earlier in the year, someone from Madison had a pie in the sky idea about putting her there as a hotel. He said all she needed was a little bit of cleaning up - he obviously hadn't seen her. And that idea has never been heard of again. Sadly the MQ required a lot of money throughout her career to keep her afloat: from the beginning with her wheel problems, almost regular boiler problems including the 6 day layup here in 2006, and hull problems - not to mention 12/12/85 glug, glug, glug. So she was high maintenance and would be UR-high now.

I feel the same way Todd. She was the first boat I ever worked on and the third Steamboat I ever rode, the President being the first and Natchez the second. She was less than a year old when I got on her.

State of the JBS

I can say with certainty that the JBS seems to be doing just fine. She is tucked away on the Black River about 100 ft upriver of the RR bridge at Robers terminal. She appears to be well mothballed -- being somewhat boarded up, and all precious metals have been covered well, especially her calliope and whistle. I keep a watchful eye on her every day as I work right next door at JF BRENNAN CO. The only real threat to her, I think, would be vandals. There is not a fence line over there, so pretty much anyone could walk up to her. However, she is also somewhat "hidden" from view, so no one really knows she is there anyway. After Bob Kalhagen decided not to run her this season, there was talk of a hired watchman for her, but I cannot confirm that. I think, though, there are plenty of guys keeping an eye on her from the barge terminal where she is docked.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that she comes back to life soon. Hopefully in La Crosse, but anyone and anywhere who will love her would be fine. My heart cannot handle another lady being tossed to the heap....

Thanks for the report, Eric. I know the folks at Brennan, and they will keep a close eye on the boat. I assume they check her periodically for water, etc.

There is movement in regards to the AQ, encouraging,more to come.

The rumors of "movement" and "more to come" have been circulating for quite some time. I will believe it when I see proof.

It seems no one cares about history outside of this site.

I wonder that with the age difference between the Mississippi Queen And the Delta Queen, why is the Mississippi Queens hull in so bad of shape? Is it that they don't build them as good or was it the cheap steel from the 1970's? How long has it been since the Delta Queen was dry docked and had her hull inspected? The big question is why has there been no news of any new auctions for the Mississippi Queen to rid her of a sad and lingering death? Are they hoping she sinks at Perry Street? This way she can get be demolished like the Becky with no surviving peices. This must be one of the best tax write offs in maritime history. Oh wait, their is the SS United States still in that running. who will win? Will it be Mark Twain's vision of a Mississippi riverboat or the fastest ocean liner of it day? Only time will tell. My money will be on the Mississippi Queen. What is the current condition of the American Queen? The weather and himidity conditions are only marginally differant than New Orleans.

hulls

The MQ's hull is her original. The DQ had a new hull put over the original some 20 years ago - someone help with the exact year, don't have that down here. So the MQ's is much older and it has encountered many a hardened object over her career, which could lead to problems in the structure.

Don't forget, too, that the MQ sank once. In that incident, she was beached on a sandbar above Point Houmas. This may have caused some twisting of the hull, causing damage not apparent at the time. Alan Bates has said, more than once, that the MQ's design was faulted from the very beginning. Maybe he can shed some light on this as far as the hull goes.

While the MQ has her share of fans, many of us just never cared for that boat. I know there are many on this board who love the MQ, but the general design was just not what we felt a steamboat should be from many standpoints. Later attempts to make the boat look "Victorian" were obvious attempts at making the boat something she was not and never had been. The DELTA QUEEN also is not a typical 19th or early 20th century riverboat, but efforts to "gussy her up" were not nearly as extensive as those on the MQ, and to my mind at least, never really detracted from the inherent beauty of the vessel.

I never liked any of the changes they made on either boat. Especially when they ruined the Model Bow on the DQ and changed things under the Pilot house. And the way they added those rooms on the MQ on the upper deck and all that fancy painting and trim. And I guess if I had it to do over again I would have stayed permenant on the Delta Queen when I had the chance rather than staying on the MQ for a few more dollars a day.

oh and I liked the Delta Queens stack just fine back in the 70s.

Work on the new DQ hull started in December, 1990 and was completed in early 1991 at Gulf Coast Fabrication, Pearlington, Mississippi.

Thanks, Jo Ann. A lot of foggy memories on here!

For those that may not realize it, the DQ's hull is new, and really changed the looks of the boat. The new hull is more like a barge, in that is has straight sides, not a flare like it used to, with real guards. Also, there was not enough stern rake built into it, which adversely affected not only the handling of the boat (which was not fantastic even with the original hull), but also gave the stern a hogged appearance. The new hull was put over the original, creating a double-skinned boat. This was done to increase freeboard and get the boat floating higher out of the water to get the wheel dip back where it should be. An added benefit was that they were able to increase her fuel and water capacity.