Topic starter
27/08/2009 6:52 pm
Here is what I observed on the SPIRIT OF PEORIA trip:
1) The GOLDENROD is in sad, sad shape. She has been moved upriver from her previous mooring spot at Kampsville. She is now at mile 34 on the Illinois, north of town. She's not against a barge or anything, just tied off, and it looks very accessible from land, which is not good. There is a barge aground and full of dirt and grass just above her, along with dredging pipelines and other debris. She is just above a lane which goes straight to the river, with two houses next to it. If driving along the highway and you pass a large white house with a red roof and barn, you've gone too far. The GOLDENROD herself is warped and twisted more than last time I believe. I presume her ownership is still held up in court.
2) The 10,500 hp towboat AMERICA is still at the Kampsville site next to the ferry. It has never been opened as a restaurant, but its obvious that some work has been done on it. There is a screened patio on the stern, a plastic palm tree up behind the pilothouse, and a guy was hosing down the stern as we passed. Someone heard that the owners are living on it, which seems a possibility.
3) The GOLDEN EAGLE FERRY is no longer in Kampsville. No idea where she is.
4) The much-traveled restaurant barge LT. ROBERT E. LEE is at a wharf a couple of blocks upriver from Apex Oil and Mullanphy St. in St. Louis. She doesn't look bad. Her wheel has been reattached. Her stacks are lying across the deck on the bow.
5) The former East St. Louis gambling boat CASINO QUEEN is fleeted at Mike's at Wood River, the former site of both the PRESIDENT and AMERICAN QUEEN. Marquette Transportation towboats are the CQ's neighbors.
6) The Alton riverfront still includes the most garishly painted gambling complex, part of which is the old landing barge SPIRIT OF AMERICA that was in Covington. Sadly she is painted the same ugly colors as the boat. Upstream at the boneyard is the unknown Corps dredge, a 1950s looking Ohio River towboat and sundry other vessels.
7) Ferries - We passed 3: Kampsville, Brussels, and Grafton.
Pix will be posted tonight.
28/08/2009 8:55 pm
When I was in Kampsville a few weeks ago, I thought I saw the old Golden Eagle Ferry. It was near the landing for the ferry, but shoreside some other vessel. So, it may have been hidden from view as you went by, or gone altogether. Work has been accomplished on the America and it looks to be close to opening. However, no signage has been put up. Just the plastic palm tree. The Goldenrod is harder to access, as you have pointed out. And, yes the Admiral's saga continues. Maybe if the gaming license is at state, Pinnacle may be "forced" to keep the old gal.
Topic starter
29/08/2009 1:05 pm
GOLDEN EAGLE ferry
Yes, its possible the GE ferry is still there. There were a couple of ferries laid up there, but I didn't see the telltale paddlewheel of the GE, but the vessels were fleeted close together so it could have been blocked from our view.