Topic starter
16/07/2008 11:48 pm
Today marks the 794th day (just as arbitrary as any other anniversary) that the new message boards have been available and in wide use, so here's one for Franz and/or Carmen: What's the story behind steamboats.org?
Specifically, when did it begin, and what was the motivation behind it? Clearly, steamboats.org is the definitive site for riverboat buffs to gather together to share knowledge, information, and stories, but also offers an incredible amount of resources beyond just discussion topics. How many people have "www.steamboats.org/forum/" bookmarked, and never take the time to look through the wealth of entries, navigated by the main page's left-hand menu? Check it out and be amazed!
Franz, thank you. These past few years have shown how close-knit this community is. Friendships have been made, events have taken place, and wonderfully interesting stories have been shared, all because of your efforts. Where would we be without steamboats.org?
17/07/2008 6:38 am
Jon,
My version of the story is the following but Franz may correct me: Somewhen around 1993/1994 Franz had some free time and wanted to build a model. He decided to build a steamboat. Then back in the early years of the internet there wasn´t much information around. We found out about a specialty book shop here in Munich. There we found Alan´s Cyclopedium and his plans of the Cape Girardeau.
We also found out about S&D and became members then.
Then we thought there must be some steamboats still around in the US operating as cruise ships. I remembered reading an article in a German women´s magazine about a trip on the Delta Queen and found it. Franz had worked on a book basicly listing up PR and TA contacts. There he found the then German agency for the DQSC. So we booked our first trip on the Delta Queen in 1995 from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati (of course we wanted to visit the museum in Marietta).
Franz wrote an article about this trip which was published in a couple of German newspapers. Based on this article and the numerous photos we made on this cruise he started his first trials on the internet in 1996 - back then with private websites hosted by aol / t-online and such.
I don´t remember when it became steamboats.org. The message board started right after DQSC filing for Chapter 11 in 2001.
Carmen
17/07/2008 6:44 am
Jon,
I'll be posting the full story in a few days, maybe in my blog. At the moment I'm fighting a tenosynovitis / repetitive motion syndromein my right arm and the doctor asked me to stay away from any computer mouses and keyboards for a while 😉 So I'm trying to reduce typing to an absolute minimum at this time.
Franz
17/07/2008 10:11 pm
I had heard about the Sons & Daughters of Pioneer River People from a good friend of mine, he even belonged for a short spell.
Are they still in operation? They used to have their meetings in Ohio or West Virginia somewhere and not anymore now?
Sadly sometimes (and I'm not suggesting this about Sons & Daughters) these fan groups tend to die out as they don't want or desire new ideas.
Sorry for the topic sway.
JC
18/07/2008 6:06 am
JC,
Yep, still "alive". Here´s the website
The Official Website of Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen
Carmen