Str. Mississippi Queen - SOLD !

Capt. Ted,

Just last week I heard another rumor that indicated the cost to remove the asbestos was cost prohibitive in her scrapping. Which is why she was still sitting at Perry Street. I remember all the interior panels were maronite asbestos. But, I thought they were all sealed up. I guess when they started the "refit" in 2007 someone noticed what they were cutting in to.

If the hull and engines are being salvaged, is there hope to think a new vessel could be built on that hull?

If there is a chance we will get a new steamboat out of this. I am all for it! I doubt that is the case and it is a pipe dream, I know! One can always dream, can't they? Imagine what Capt. Alan Bates could put atop that hull? What about the late Capt. Dennis Trone?

Travis

Sad indeed. I meant to post pictures of the MQ, much like the ones Captain Ted just posted, from the ride-along I did with him in NOLA two weeks ago. But a slow modem while I was in Seattle foiled my attempts. What you can't see in the photos is how the black mold is so bad on the outside that it looks like smoke damage, and the boat continues to list badly. It nearly brought me to tears, and I had to turn away. Unbelievable that a vessel could be reduced so quickly to this, and we were powerless to do anything about it.
But let me add this: did anyone read Captain Ted's post about the open flame being used on the DQ? Why no outcry? It's just a matter of time until we lose her, too--and I am astonished no one picked up on this!

Mary, do we really need to feed Oberstar's concern about the DQ? No! She's safe, and if there is open flames on the DQ, them there are also fire extinguishers, sprinklers etc. in place. No reason to worry and certainly no reason to stir things up again. We need to save her, not to feed the concerns of her enemies! Please.

Franz

Mary, Franz is spot on. While not the best case scenario, a grill on the texas bow doesn't worry me too much. Until relatively recently, open flame was to be found everywhere on Her Majesty. Sterno in the Orleans Room, and in the Texas Lounge, birthday candles, and smoking everywhere. I well remember leaving St. Louis and Chef Jackson discovering that he was completely out of sterno, no other means available to keep the "Sailing Night Buffet" warm! His solution was to keep replacing the water in the hotel pans with HOT water. It worked, sort of.

Indeed. EVERYBODY used to smoke. While it was officially verboten, you know people smoked in bed. Sterno was used all the time. Prior to about 1971, the galley used open flames to cook.

Though I now live in a brick home, for years we lived in a frame house with a big wooden deck on the back. I never thought twice about firing up the BBQ grill, 10 feet from the back door, even in the fall with leaves blowing around. There's careful, and there's ridiculous.

I looked on Bridge Cam on New Orleans, LA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NOLA.com and she was still at Perry Street, where I left her 2years ago. I so hope this is not it. If it is....I have to remember a wise statement I heard just Wednesday night. It is so true here as well. "We had a good run, didn't we"?

If her time has come, we had a good run.

Through the tireless work of several hundred good steamboaters, the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN beat many odds and came out as a great steamboat, in the truest steamboat sense. We had a good run!

Don't forget, she was the last true steamboat. When she tied up at the Perry Street Wharf on the 5th of December 2007 to cool down for the last time she ended a run as the last totally authentic steamboat. She was the last to use her steam for everything aboard. The only diesel engines aboard her were for her bow thruster and emergancy generators. Her main generators and all other operations were entirely steam operated.

Today, historically speaking, I should be driving down Indiana 111 to meet up with the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN and follow her up to the Mc Alpine Lock and Dam. She would have already stopped in Brandenburg, KY today to let off the passengers who wanted to go to the Kentucky Oaks races at Churchill Downs. About 2 or 3pm she would amble into the lock and be raised into the upper pool. Then slowly she would proceed up Louisville and Portland Canal. She would come up into the Louisville harbour with her calliope playing and then a long, two shorts, a long and two shorts on the whistle later she woud tie up at the Louisville landing till Sunday evening, when her post Derby passnegers would board for the first spring trip to St. Louis. This always signaled the return to spring in the Ohio River valley....for several decades. We had a good run!

Its now all gone...there is no excitement on the river front today. No DELTA QUEEN will appear out of the fog tomorrow morning with her Derby passengers. The DELTA QUEEN and MISSISSIPPI QUEEN won't depart on dinner cruises after the Derby (a desperate attempt to get all their passengers back on board and accounted for)..followed by the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE as they ascend the Ohio River and come back to the landing round midnight. Those were beautiful times....I would spend the day on the landing visiting frends, fellow crew....We had a good run!

No "In The Good Old Summertime", no "Big Band Cruises", no "Civil War" cruises coming up this season. We had a good run!

Thanks to all of you who worked on her, worked for her, and made hers a life of creating magic for her passengers...."we had a good run"!

Travis

OK, folks, I'll go with you on this one. I don't like it, though--we were so much more strict those last few seasons! It just made me wonder if their lease allowed it.
I'm glad I got to see the MQ one more time, even if it did make me sad. She was never my favorite--the DQ will always hold that place--but it should never have come to this place for her.

A sad day.

They say New Orleans is the best place to die and jave a funeral. It would be a nice send off if she could have a happy and classic New Orleans funeral, jazz band accompanied by the colliopes of the Natchz and Creole Queen. It would also be nice if her siaters could attend her funeral. Reminds you of relatives who are imcarcerated when their family membera pass on. MAY HER SPIRIT LIVE FOREVER. Might we be able to get her good boiler for the DQ?

Mary: Propane can be wicked stuff but it is much better used out-doors where the wind can take any leakage away and dilute it below the threshold of ignition. Propane is heavier than air and can settle in low spots...especially indoors...and travel far in search of an ignition source. MISSIE was and is fueled by propane and only one fellow in nine seasons refused to get it based upon the propane issue. I asked if his boat was fueled by gasoline and he said it was. I said that gasoline fumes could also travel in search of an ignition source and he shut up and got in MISSIE at Rising Sun. All had a good safe time but it needs to be kept in mind what can happen. When you think about all the folks, some of them fools perhaps who pump their own gasoline EVERY DAY and the very few accidents that happen. I have SEEN a man pump gasoline into his van holding the nozzle open and stargazing while doing so. When I saw what he was doing he was standing in a twenty-foot diameter puddle of gasoline totally surrounding his van. When he saw he was pumping gasoline onto and all over the ground, he got in and calmly drove off. The gal inside the service (?) station said: "Well, what do you want ME to do about it?". She obviously did NOT work on the DELTA QUEEN! Cap'n Walnut

The ISLAND QUEEN's Chief was welding above an empty fuel tank. A wise person is cautious around fuel's fumes too.

It's the vapors that catch fire. I learned something in my firefighting class!

Sad Day

What an extremely sad day when it comes to the fate of the beloved Mississippi Queen. Yes, she wasn't the Delta Queen, but what a good little sister she was.

As a youngster growing up in Maysville, what a site she was when she stopped. It was always great to see the Delta Queen, but I can still remember the first time the MQ came to town. How massive she seemed, with her vibrant white paint and colors. She was the first steamboat I took a trip on, and although I will also be the first to admit, she didnt have the "true character" that the DQ had, but as a passenger, she was a joy to sail on.

A truly different sailing experience than that of the DQ, but her halls and her decks addicted me to the river just the same. I had the grand opportunity to sail on her 4 times, and those memories I will always cherish. I was in NOLA in February, and made the drive over to Perry to see her, for what now seems to be for the last time. Pictures are of no justice of the travesity she has become in the last 3 years. There was talk of some Maysville natives attempting to save her, but I agree that in her current condition, scrapping seems to be the only sane solution. Although I couldnt get very close,and was actually turned back by some sort of security, my heart sank as she surely looked like a ghost ship.

I have a large print of all 3 sisters docked together in my study...What a crying shame, they will most likely never be together again.

God Bless all 3 Queens and all of you who have served them!

Additional Info . !

Greetings From New Orleans !
I have just received some additional information on the fate of the Str. Mississippi Queen . My source tells me that three men have purchased the vessel and that she will be towed to an undisclosed location in the Reserve/LaPlace , river mile 134 to 135 , ahp , LMR , area where she will be dismantled ! My source also tells me that both her engines and boilers will be scraped as well ! More to come latter !
Sorry to have to report this tragic news !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson

Ted Davisson;21346 wrote: Greetings From New Orleans !
I have just received an e-mail from a close and reliable friend and some one whom has had his ear very close to the ground that the Str. Mississippi Queen has met her fate !
According to my friend , the Str. Mississippi Queen has been purchased and will be moved and sold for SCRAP ! Her engines and hull will be salvaged but her super structure will be SCRAPED ! The hull will be turned into a barged and no telling at this point will happen to the remains !
What an inglorious end to such a majestic vessed and what a shame that the " Powers That Be " failed miserably to take care of not only this vessel but the entire Delta Queen Steamboat Company has well !
I will report more details has they are sent me !
What A Crying Shame For All Of Us !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson

The aim is to have a plan of action if the fire goes where it shouldn't. Are the current employees familiar with the fire fighting equipment on the DQ? Is it usable? Do they keep the fire pump in operating condition. Are there still extinguishers all over the place? Is there constant vigilance?

Bob, you are probably aware that some of us sniffed out a mattress fire in the officer's quarters, cigarette caused, no doubt. It never got beyond the smoldering stage, was kept quiet, and the mattress disappeared in the dark of night. Fires happen. Keeping them small is the aim. And the DQ has just about everything one could think of to keep a fire small. I just wonder if the present crew knows that.

She is safe, don't worry.

There are plenty of fire equipment onboard. I am there on a weekly basis and they have a fire extingusher and fire hose right beside the grill. there is also a fire station near the boat within a mile.

boilers

Would the people who bought the MQ consider parting with her good boiler? It could be put to good use on the DQ. Think of it as organ donation, to help save a life.

Ed , its my understanding that.....................

Ed ,
It my understanding that the Str. Mississippi Queen is slowly but surely being dismantled as we speak ! My source tells me that workers are going on board now to remove all pieces of movable and valuable equipment such as pumps , motors and other miscelleaneous valuables . I also hear that even the copper tubing is being removed and I would guess that they will take off as much as possible before the boat is moved to the Reserve/LaPlace area for her eventual scraping .
To answer your question I would imagine that these individuals will look at all options to make money on any thing on the MQ that will make money .
Time will tell !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson

ed frazier;21390 wrote: Would the people who bought the MQ consider parting with her good boiler? It could be put to good use on the DQ. Think of it as organ donation, to help save a life.

Not that is matters much at this point, but I wonder if NOLA has a claim on any proceeds from that auction for past (WAY past) due docking fees at Perry St.

Paul

Mississippi Queen to scrap?

The passenger/cruise ship website Maritime Matters is reporting that the Mississippi Queen has been sold for scrap, and will be towed to a site 40 miles north of New Orleans for dismantling (see the last paragraph of the article "Breaking Blues").

I guess, given the economy, the boat's stripped and moldy condition, and the current trend of bad news in the steamboating world, the MQ's sale for scrap is probably no surprise, but sad nonetheless. I wonder if any effort will be made to save her engine room machinery at least.

It wasn't enough that the steamer Delta Queen was relegated to use as a floating hotel. I remember when the Mississippi Queen was built and premiered in Cincinnati during the 1976 Bicentennial. No one will be hearing her whistle or calliope anymore-at least not on her. Could the American Queen be next???

Does anyone know if the whistle and calliope were saved? If we don't ask this now it may be too late to ever locate them. Preserving the MQ's sound would be one way of preserving her memory for future generations. I moderate a group of around 850 members in which steam whistles are our main interest.

MQ Calliope

When the MQ's calliope was built it was the largest ever built up to that time. Does anyone know if there has ever been one built since then that is larger. That would be significance alone to have it saved. Never mind the questions of was it the best sounding or not. It was the LARGEST!

Ted,

To date, the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN calliope is the largest STEAM-operated calliope in existance to my knowledge. The original drawings for the AMERICAN QUEEN calliope called for it to be 49-notes. Budget constraints caused it to be reduced to the 37-notes it is now.

So the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN instrument, ad 44-notes is still the largest.

Here is the rub on this one...the whistles were stolen last November and no one seems to know where they went. Her whistle was stolen in April, too!

Travis

A friend of mine sent me the following quote by Seatrader Inside:

"Seatrade Insider understands the buyer may have an industrial use for the vessel and it likely will not be scrapped."

Anyone heard anything like that besides that they wanted to reuse the hull?

Carmen