Old BORDER STAR pix

I want to say she was here in Davenport with Art Bull for a while, but I have not proof of that memory...

Here's a photo, courtesy of Judy Patsch, of the LADY D, in winter quarters at the Sunset Marina, Rock Island, March 23, 1980. At the time she was serving as the wharfboat for the JULIE N. DUBUQUE.

In checking boxes of old slides, I found one of the wharfboat for the LA CROSSE QUEEN, taken in 1978, and it was not the LADY D., as earlier reported. Sorry for the mis-information!

I happen to find the LADY D in a 1985 Inland River Record. I reads:

"Sternwheel excursion boat, b. 1967 by Dubuque Boat & Boilerworks, 93' x 18'. GM 6-71 Diesel, 180 HP. Capacity 128 passengers. Owned by River Excursions, Inc, Davenport, Iowa."

I was hoping it would say something about the hydraulics, but it does not.

The mystery is solved, I think. The LADY D was at Davenport owned by Art Bulls River Excursions. Sold in 1986 to interests in Bradenton, Fl. Came back in 1995 and trucked to Des Moines to become the SPIRIT OF DES MOINES. Sank and was rebuilt as the
JON ANDERSON WHITE. The boat DOES HAVE PITMANS. Go their web site at
www.port-of-desmoines.com for about 30 nice photos and the real find is a historic ad by Dubuque Boat & Boiler describing the boat. After looking at the photos I would say it is an absolute dublicate to the STAR OF JAMESTOWN.

Hey, thanks to all for helping solve this one!

We now know there were at least six (6) of the Dubuque boats with pitman drive.
Are there more?? Interesting that the Shipbuilding History/Shipyards site which details boats built at all U.S. shipyards 1870 to current does not list under the Dubuque listings any of the pitman boats other than the BONNIE BELLE & PADDELFORD. That's what those of us who delve into this river history find frustrating.

Okay all...

I have suspiscion there may have been one more....only because of the fact she is a virtual twin of the BONNIE BELLE, the CITY OF FREDRICKSBURG.. Her stern looks identical and she is a Dubuque boat. But, she has hydraulic motors like the BELLE OF CINCINNATI.

I don't know what her name was, where she came from, her build date, or anything....perhaps she is the old COPY CAT? Anyone know?

~Travis~

Travis,

You may have just solved another mystery for me! In the past few issues of "Boats & Harbors" there has been a sternwheeler listed that is a dead-ringer for the Bonnie Belle. They don't give the boat's name, but they say it operates in Virginia during the summer and winters in Florida. In your photo I see the last part of the nameboard on the splashwall has "swooping" lettering that looks like the nameboard I can't read in the ad. And of course the name City of Fredricksburg makes sense for Virgina...

I'm trying to make a list of all these Dubuque hydraulic/pitman boats. It's not easy. Here is what I've got so far. Am I missing one? The one I'm least certain of is the Jonathon Padelford. Was it really hydraulic pitman?

================================================

Dubuque Boat & Boilerworks boats with pitman drives
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65' x 20' Hull Series:

* CITY OF FREDRICKSBURG
* BORDER STAR/BONNIE BELLE/ARAWANNA BELLE/COCOA BELLE/MAGNOLIA BELLE

60' x 18' Hull Series:

* LADY D/SPIRIT OF DES MOINES/JON ANDERSON WHITE
* STAR OF JAMESTOWN/CUMBERLAND QUEEN/JAMESTOWN QUEEN (ISLAND QUEEN/MAGNOLIA BLOSSOM)
* TALISMAN

Other:
* JONATHAN PADELFORD (125' x 24', single screw and paddlewheel)?

Steve,

She HAS been in Boats and Harbours lately....yes, that IS the same boat!

~Travis~

Steve,

The PADELFORD was originally smaller than she is now. The prop was on her from the get go, though. Seems to me the addition was 20 feet back in 1972 or so. She was cut in the mid-section and added to. Seems I heard somewhere about a problem between Capt. Trone (The designer/builder) and Capt Bowell (The owner) and for some reason the boat was taken to Lamont, IL on the Illinois River when the extention was added.

Most the pitman boats had ram shafts instead of formal pitmans. The BORDER STAR had hers changed out to a more formal pitman (like she has now) when Capt Trone owned her from 1975-1978. He also added the steam whistle to her (operated on compressed air).

That JONATHAN PADELFORD is a beautiful little boat. I would love to add formal pitman arms to her, a steam whistle (to replace that brassy/towboaty set of 5 Khalenbergs atop her pilothouse), and a calliope. She would be the perfect small tramping boat on the Upper Ohio/Kanawha in that guise!

~Travis~

Anyone know which old Dubuque Boat this one was?

1963 Passenger Boat Commercial Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

~Travis~

Saw that one a while back. Aaron thought it might be the TAYLOR FALLS PRINCESS, St. Croix River, WI. That was a real good guess, and they are very similar, but I don't think these boats are an exact match.

Steve,

That TAYLORS FALLS PRINCESS is definately a Skipperliner boat...those stack crowns tell the story better than I can! She also has their railings, raised pilothouse, and other difinative tell tale signs of being a Skipperliner boat.

She sure looks the part of a Dubuque built boat, the stack crowns and lack of sheer are the dead giveaways to me she is not from Dubuque.

~Travis~

I think this is the ex. TOLEDO STAR, built by Hansen. She operates now on the Rappahnnock River out of Fredericksburg. I was on her at Toledo years ago and thought her a clone of the Bonnie Belle

Bill,
You must be right. I checked with a couple vessel resources on the internet and found the following info:

Vessel Name: CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG
USCG Doc. No.: 665501
Vessel Service: PASSENGER (INSPECTED)
Trade Indicator: Coastwise Unrestricted
Call Sign: WCI2517
Hull Material: STEEL
Ship Builder: HANS HANSEN CO.
Year Built: 1984
Length (ft.): 59.5
Hull Breadth (ft.): 20.5
Hull Depth (ft.): 4.7
Hailing Port: REEDVILLE, VA
Owner: TANGIER & CHESAPEAKE CRUISES,INC
468 BUZZARD PT RD
REEDVILLE, VA 22539
Gross Tonnage: 50
Net Tonnage: 25
Documentation Issuance Date: March 20, 2008
Documentation Expiration Date: April 30, 2009
Previous Vessel Names: DETROITER, STAR OF TOLEDO

So this one comes off my Dubuque Boat list.
I presume this vessel is not hydraulic pitman (single or double acting). ?

Steve,

Well I am more than impressed with your finding. She had Dubuque written all over her. Even the gingerbread and fru fru stuff is straight off a Dubuque-built boat! Someone spent alot of time and money replicating a Dubuque built boat

I should have looked her up on the USCG CGMIX PSIX page before...it is all there.
There is mention of her props...so the wheel must be a faux. That said, she wouldn't have been a pitman-drive vessel after all. She sure fooled me, I thought she could have been the elusive COPY CAT.

USCG CGMIX PSIX Vessel Details Page

So we are back to 4 known pitman-drive boats.

Thanks for the research!

~Travis~

You're right, looks like they may have borrowed the BORDER STAR plans from Dubuque when building the CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG!

Here is another good link I use for boat info. Sometimes it reveals more info than the CG Documented Vessels page:
Documented Vessel Lookup

Gentlemen,

Fascinating, truly fascinating thread you have going here. I think I will start referring to you three as the super boat slueths of steamboats.org. There's a whole education on boats contained just in this thread.

One Trone boat that I still crave information, pics, etc. of are the Talisman. I think I've seen a total of 3 or 4 pictures of her. A while back Moon Trones daughter Julie posted information that the Talisman was in her back yard in Illinois and that there were hopes that someday the boat would run again. Seems like a real waste of one of very few hydraulic pitman/ram drive boats left. I'd sure like to see the boat in person and also hopefully see her in the water again at some point. Does anyone have any additional information on the Talisman, where she resides currently and what news of her fate?

Thanks fellows for this thread, it's reminded me of alot of memories and I've literally been glued to the monitor for more information on these Dubuque Boats.

I guess another of the Dubuque boats got a new lease on life recently. The Don Rob't got new owners in the Ripley, Ohio area. Wonder how hard Cap Trone tried to pursued the original owners (whose last name escapes me now) to make her hydraulic pitman too.

Was there ever a history of the Dubuque boat and boiler company written? Seems like a really good article idea for the reflector, perhaps with some of this new information included.

Guess I've been fortunate to have ridden on 3 of these boats, Bonnie Belle, Star of Jamestown, and the Jonathan Paddleford.

Aaron

Gentlemen: I saw the Copy Cat on the Potomac River in Washington, DC back in the 1970s, I think. She was there having something to do with Caterpillar engines - maybe a promotion or convention was happening at the time. Last I heard of her, she was in Bermuda and that was along time ago.

I only have 2 photos of the TALISMAN, and they aren't very good. The middle image is a postcard. The first photo was supposedly taken last September, where the TALISMAN sits, beached-out during low-water, on the Sangamon River. I have cropped the photo to make the boat more visible thru the trees. (the whole photo also shows the owner's home, amongst the trees). For the 3rd image I further cropped the photo to show that the starboard hydraulic pitman and crank arm are visible.

Also here is link that shows a model of the original Str. TALISMAN that Abraham Lincoln was involved with.
Talisman Steamboat Model in Lincoln's New Salem

Steve,

She sure was a great boat. Would love to see her over on the Ohio, Kanawha, or Kentucky somewhere running excursions!

Wonder how hard it would be to get her out of the Sangamon? I remember reading how hard it was to get her up there....something about the removal of the pilothouse, ripping off rudders, etc.

It is a shame a pretty boat like that is sitting on the bank.

Travis

AJ, the boat was accessible a few years ago when we were over there. This was before Moon died, but the boat was not running due to low water. Later that same week, Denny told us that there was never any water any more on the Sangamon.

Yes, they had a great deal of trouble taking the boat up to New Salem State Park, knocking off rudders, a stack, maybe something else. I always thought the way to get it out would be on a truck trailer; the boat is not that big. All one would have to do is remove the fake stacks and the pilothouse, possibly the second deck railings. If moving that boat a very long distance, this would make the most sense in my book. I took pictures of the boat, but who knows where they are.

Bob,

I knew she was rather small...what would you estimate her dimensions to be? I was guestimating about 50'x18' or somewhere in that range. Would love to see your pics of her if you happen to run upon them!

Travis

Travis, that's probably pretty close. Now that I think back on it, it has probably been 11 or 12 years since we checked her out...we've had a move since then so who knows where those pics are. I went to the boat and took the pics with the idea of buying the boat and taking her to a mountain lake in North Carolina to start an excursion boat business. Long story, and one that obviously did not pan out for a number of reasons. Nice boat, though.