Topic starter
01/09/2012 12:17 am
The QOM was tied off at the lower end of the St Louis Riverfront this afternoon-Friday 31 August--an interesting Blue Moon appearance. Don't know what time she arrived, however I know she was NOT there at 0830 today. Neither do I know when she is scheduled to leave.
Due to the $4.00 entry fee to the wharf I did my observations from the street. First observation was not seeing a readable stern Name Board. She does have a board across the stern just above the wheel. The board is painted in dark colors which I could not read in the light rain.
Stern wheel had no visible connection for any type of Pittman or fluid lines from inside to connect with wheel shaft on Port side.
I did not see any furniture visible on any private veranda. No screen on the Port Running light but even more curious was a lack ofaa Nameboard affixed to Pilothouse. Not on front or Port side. Not on railing around pilothouse. If it was there I couldn't see it.
I did see name on hull, partially covered by swinging stage which was lowered to the granite block wharf. Name being so long it is visible,but curious again appears not to be painted with a bright white paint but a sort of grey paint.
Even though it was approximately 1615 or so the dark sky and low river (.2R @ 0600) & light rain made for less than optimum observation.
01/09/2012 2:04 am
St. Louis levee
Where do they nail you for the $4? Do they have the levee blocked off?
I wonder if they don't intend to showcase the name at all, or if it just hasn't been done yet.
The longer they go without the wheel connected, the harder it will be to pass it off as a real paddlewheeler. Then again, maybe not, or maybe no one cares anyway.
01/09/2012 6:18 am
The QOM arrived around 1:00 PM. I happened upon it as it was arriving. It wasn't very exciting. If they were playing the calliope, I couldn't hear it. The two people out on deck seemed interested in watching the boat attempt to maneuver into place. Apparently, no one else did, though. And, it didn't draw much of a crowd from the tourists on shore, either.
Jim, your observations are correct. You have to strain pretty hard to find the name on the boat. Judy, the $4 fee is for levee parking. There is one entry point to the levee (all others are chained) and you encounter the parking attendant at that entrance. If you are visiting town for the entire day, the $4 flat fee is a good deal. It's better than the $6 flat fee at the Arch garage and better than the by the hour/half hour lots. But, paying $4 for a short visit to see the boat is overpriced.
I am not sure of their arrival and departure times. I saw that they arrived at 1:00 PM on Friday. They'll end the cruise on Saturday after an overnight in St. Louis. But, I do not know what time the next cruise departs.
01/09/2012 11:28 am
Ballyhoo
I guess the art of product promotion is lost. While we all know things do change, it seems the art of promotion, or "ballyhoo" as Capt. Wagner called it, has all but disappeared. E. J. Quinby and Betty Blake were the masterminds behind it and between them and Capt. Wagner, it was executed beautifully in the 1970's to the point of being an art form. Thing is, it paid off -- it got thousands upon thousands to write their congressmen, and brought hundreds of new customers to ride the boat again and again. It may still be paying dividends today.
Who knows what the owners of the QoM could do if they tried a little "ballyhoo"....
Topic starter
01/09/2012 1:39 pm
No mention in the Saturday STL P-D print edition of the boat being in town. Nothing in the first part of the Sunday P-D either.
There is a new development on the STL Riverfront. A rudimentary set of gates have been installed at the South end near the Floodwall entrance and at the Washington Ave. entrance to Wharf Street. An educated guess is this is something the Police Department has worked out with the Street Department.
01/09/2012 8:23 pm
Capt. Blum, I passed by the QOM on my way home from work the same day you did. I was excited to see a boat because the levee is somewhat bland ( except for the small riverboats ) lately. I approached from the south heading towards the Eads bridge. I also couldn't read the stern nameplate and had to stop towards the bow to read the hull nameplate. They were loading supplies from a big food company semi. I was glad that there was no traffic at the time and it allowed me to get a good look. I also was surprised that there was no account of her arrival on the news or in the paper.
02/09/2012 12:37 am
Very strange. Sounds like they could use a good sign painter. Sounds like they could use a Betty Blake, even more. Maybe they are already booked up for the season!?
03/09/2012 2:08 am
The Aug 27 WJ arrived here today and theres a nice broadside photo of the Q of M on P.11 taken at Paducah by Jeff Yates. Nice clean looking boat. Looks top heavy and boxy. The two little bitty stacks on top look like an afterthought, as does the sternwheel. If the boxy structure sticking up from the midships area is an elevator, they could have disguised it as one "big ole" stack like a Columbia R. boat. A couple of angled braces from the wheel up to the boiler deck would have visually tied the wheel to the superstructure. A closer look reveals that there are indeed angled braces there - paint 'em white. Paint the stage derrick and boom white too. The stern flagpole would have looked better mounted at the stern on the boiler deck. Oh well, just daydreamin'.
03/09/2012 1:15 pm
Richard Simington does not get the credit he deserves for making the DELTA QUEEN a household name back in the 1960's. With his Hollywood connections he was able to make winning a trip on the DQ the grand prize on national TV game shows like Queen for a Day, the Dating Game, etc. That was wonderful, "free" national publicity. Combine that with Quimby's natural showmanship and it was a winning combination which kept the DQ in the public eye and made every housewife who watched daytime TV want to sail into New Orleans on a big beautiful steamboat.