AQ questions

Dan,

Last I heard, she was in Beaumont, TX tied up in the Government Reserve Fleet there. I bet if a person could get an address for that location you'd find her on Google Earth. The River Barge Explorer barges are supposedly tied up to her port side.

I haven't seen any pictures of her. If I do, I'll pass them on.

Travis

AQ in Beaumont

Yes, one of her neighbors is the River Explorer. Two others are the MARAD reserve ships DIAMOND STATE and KEYSTONE STATE. Capt. Joy Manthey has seen the AQ on her Kirby towboat trips. I don't know how recently she last saw it however.

What if ...

Ran into an old friend, a couple of days ago, and he asked about the AQ and I told him what little I knew from reading on here. He surprised me that he, and others, were interested in forming an investment group to liberate the boat. He mentioned that he, personally, was willing to commit a million bucks, and I told him whom his group should contact to manage the AQ if their fantasy became a reality. My friend is a retired businessman, and spent many years owning a very successful Cincinnati area B&B. The one I recommended to ramrod the operation is a riverman of great respect and talent.

Who knows what could happen if "real" people finally got a hold of running the overnight passengerboat business on the river? We just might see a return to steamboating. Sorry, but reservations are not being taken, yet.

Too bad they didn't liberate the MQ for under a million.
S
David D.

MQ

David, apparently it hasn't sunk in to you what we have been posting on here - you could get the MQ for under a million, but for what? To scrap or to become a reef - that's all she is good for in her current state. She is beyond repair, unless you wanted to spend 50-60 million to decontaminate and rebuild.

NOT possible

David, the Mississippi Queen cannot be placed back into service. Period. The amount of money it would take to remove the toxic mold and mildew, refit the vessel, and bring her back into service could NEVER be recovered through passenger operations.

Sad.

Unfortunately, this can probably be said for the DQ too.
If we were in better times, maybe one could have purchased all the machinery for a new sternwheeler.
Mind you I said "IF." And "Better times" means more than the economy, it also means having a public that appreciates history and wants to be a part of it.
As my friend Bruno has said, "We were the Lucky Ones." And I totally agree. It doesn't mean that thinking about "our" boats still doesn't bring tears to my eyes.
I'm a museum curator and I keep watching the statistics at our museums (5 of them) and the visitation numbers just keep falling off. . . .
S'
David D.

If any of the overnight boats has the slightest chance of recovery, it is the AQ. What irks me is that I leaked some possibly positive information concerning a group of investors who just might bring overnight steamboating back, but the only feedback posted was a comment better left unsaid and the rebuffing of the poster, but not one word of inquiry, suprise, or delight, or a single expression of hope that the resurrection of the American Queen might be in the making.

No response to AQ posting

Can't speak for the others, but I made no response because we've heard rumors of potential bidders for years, back to the first bankruptcy days, and I personally don't get excited at this first unconfirmed stage. Like you, I figure if any of the 3 Queens runs again, it will be the AQ, but until there is more progress on her purchase, I'll contain my enthusiasm. I just had lunch today at the Boathouse on Oneida St. Landing, where the Queens docked in Davenport, and to look out at the beautiful river and to see nothing, nothing of any type, moving, was melancholy.

Shipyard Sam;21772 wrote: If any of the overnight boats has the slightest chance of recovery, it is the AQ. What irks me is that I leaked some possibly positive information concerning a group of investors who just might bring overnight steamboating back, but the only feedback posted was a comment better left unsaid and the rebuffing of the poster, but not one word of inquiry, suprise, or delight, or a single expression of hope that the resurrection of the American Queen might be in the making.

Well, if the gentleman of whom you speak is who I think it is, I am delighted. I'm also suprised, and a bit in awe by the news, but that is nothing new! ;-}

It'd be great to have the AQ back, there is no doubt to that. We need something out there...it is a strange place with no overnight boats left.

I'm still down in the dumps about the DQ, as it means more to me than the AQ ever will, but if anyone can get any boat running again, I'm all for it. As Churchill said, "Never, Never, Never Give Up". I keep thinking about seeing the Delta King in ruins many years ago. By comparison, the MQ, in its present state, would be a simple clean up job. About the only good thing you could say about it was that it was floating. Never-the-less....

Lexie,
And I remember seeing the DK when she wasn't floating. Yes, the DK was brought back from a watery grave. Both boats are made from great materials-stuff you can't even buy today. That was the DKs saving grace, and it may be the DQ's too. To me a boat is only alive when it's steamed up, and doing what it was built to do--travel the waters.
Yes, it will be good to see the AQ running again, but to me, it's a cruise ship built in the shape of a riverboat. Very nicely done, but not the "real" thing. Still, I hope it can be returned to service, and I encourage that effort. Maybe its return to service will help the DQ return. . . .
I just noticed a grocery store mag. touting a wedding of $40 MILLION dollars. Egads, half that would probably get both boats out and running! What a waste (and here I am trying to raise $100,000 to restore a theatre organ! Chump change to those guys, I"ll bet!)
S'
David D.

Yea, guess you're right Judy. If it happens we'll all jump for joy. And Frank, I was as shocked as you. Let's keep our finders and toes crossed.

MQ needs

Besides the mold, the MQ was totally gutted, she needed serious hull work, and lots of decking needed to be replaced. And in today's safety-conscious world, I suspect the asbestos in the bulkheads would cause problems if they tried to reconfigure rooms. And of course, there's the fact that throughout her career she had major problems with serious financial solutions. She wasn't a cheap date, by any means. She could have been salvageable when she was laid up at the end of the '06 season, but even then at a huge cost. I wonder if the AQ hadn't existed, if the owners would have made the effort to redo the MQ?

Several weeks ago a letter was sent from Ambassador to the Howard Museum offering to sell a 7 ft. long model of the AMERICAN QUEEN which is in their office. In the letter the VP who wrote the letter stated they no longer own the boat. To me this means that MARAD has complete ownership of the vessel. I would think that like a mortgage company with a foreclosed home, the federal government has no desire to own a sternwheel steamboat.
If I were an investor and had a desire to acquire the boat, the first thing I would do is to get ahold of my state Senators and Congressmen and explain to them that I would like to buy the boat and home port it in the state. I would explain to them the economic benefit a boat would have on the local economy and employment. I would seek their help in dealing with MARAD in purchasing the boat at a price I could afford, I really believe with political help someone could buy the boat from MARAD at pennies on the dollar.
I can't help but to believe, no matter what been said elsewhere on this board, that there are a enough people within driving distance of say Northern Kentucky who would like to take a river trip that the boat would be successful.

Just curious. Where is said theatre organ? And who are the twits that are spending $40 mil on a wedding? How is that even possible?

Just a quick note--I've met many people on the Columbia in two weeks who were looking for a Mississippi cruise--are in shock when I tell them why there are none at the moment (the REAL story, not the public one). THEY WANT CRUISES ON THE MISSISSIPPI/OH. There is a market out there! They know the steamboats, and that is what they are looking for!!! I bite my tongue, and try not to say, Where were you when we were fighting so hard? I have to be careful about my present position, after all. Are you listening, investors?? I am asked questions about the steamboats, every day!!!

Lexie,
The theatre organ will be going into the Oroville, CA State Theatre. It's being donated, but we have to dismantle, move, reassemble--and repair the organ chambers, as well as uncover the grillwork, covered over in a 1954 remodel--so we're raising money to cover all that. And maybe we'll get to put the console in the pit on the lift!
The wedding? I dunno, I was in the supermarket checkout line when I saw the headline--I think it's Prince Charles--but I don't keep up on that stuff!
S'
David D.
PS, it's a 3/14 with some extended ranks, 8 percussions and toy counter.

Our failure to get any real national publicity of our cause was/is one of our major downfalls. Wish I had an answer--or many millions of $$$. . . .
Hope you are having a good time working again!
S'
David D.

Two questions: 1)Any pictures of the AQ model? 2) Has the Howard Museum purchased it?

Just curious. The least the company could do is donate the model. Even after the collapse they are still scouring for money!

AQ model

I think its safe to say the Howard won't purchase the AQ model - too little space and money, and it doesn't have a connection with Howard/Jeffboat as the MQ does. Now if its donated, that is a different story...

Interesting! A couple of weeks ago two large models of the DQ were delivered to the Hotel - don't know if they were donated or purchased, or who paid the shipping to get them there. One is the model that was on the AQ - the other one is said to have been in the Robin Street offices at one time. No idea who made the first one, but the smaller one (about 6 feet) has a plaque that says "Jack Berger - 1987 - Sky, Land & Sea, Covington KY". They came in huge plexiglass cases - anyone know anything about the origins of these models?

Also, the AQ has been owned by MARAD at least since 2008, when AMIE quit paying the interest on the loan. They have had a couple of offers, that I know of, but MARAD does not seem very anxious to get rid of her.

Good luck with the organ. Don't imagine we'll get anything from the royal family anyway, unless it (the organ) was built in Great Britain. Now the DQ is another matter since it has historic origins in the UK.