Grand Victoria II

Thanks Dana for posting those.

So Shipyard what's OLE ABE doing in the first photo?

Wish I could be there every morning for the whistle blow!

Aaron

Dana: Here's more views and one of Whitlock Landing. (pictures din't make it, donno why!) Cap'n Walnut

Dana: here's some more pix of GV II and Whitlock Landing

Almost any view of the GVII is a good view! Thanks for sharing! Whitlock Landing is about three blocks from my house. Oh, and Boone County is where I work! Small world, eh?

Dana: The photos shown were taken Sept 4, during Old Timer's Day at Rabbit Hash. That is John Fryant in front of the boiler; my brother John as pilot. Whitlock Landing ramp is a VERY nice place to put-in...rest-room facilities, good ramp, good floats, well maintained etc in a very nice reach of the river. Now, if they'd just put in a wood yard for me to repentish my fuel... Cap'n Walnut.

Tom,

If I'd have known you were gonna be up there again this year, I'd have come up again!

Travis

Travis: It is very hard to invite for a boat that has only three or four vacant seats. Over booking is all too easily done. We have not had brother John's pontoon boat to take on any overflow up here this year. But, we haven't done the fall cruise yet. I could use an effective one-whistle caliope player! Cap'n Walnut.

Tom,

Did you happen to notice the 60 foot wall directly across from Whitlock Landing? My Mother and I painted that several years ago. The Port Authority (paid for the mural) liked our work, but I think they liked that we were the Granddaughter and Great Granddaughter of JW Whitlock almost as well. *smile*

Dana: WoW~! What kind of paint do you use that will hold up so long and not fade? Cap'n Walnut

If you need an old engineer's son, I'd love to go along. I can't play a calliope, but I do know how many whistle toots to give when passing on the port or starb'rd side. I can do a fair job at watchin' the water guage. I also have been known to give an opinion or two, be it right or wrong.

Dana: WoW~! What kind of paint do you use that will hold up so long and not fade? Cap'n Walnut

We did that in Latex Enamel. It is nearly as durable as enamel, but washes up with water. Awesome stuff.

First pic is taken from the river (obviously) and the second is in 2008, when we had to move the Hoosier Boy out of the museum's garage for renovation.

Awesome pix. When were the paintings done? On another head, what were the GREYHOUNDS powered with? The look like steam. Cap'n Walnut

I've been past the Grand Vic many times on the river and every time I see her I like her looks more. Yeah, shes big and square without much sheer, but she's definately got "that look." Wanna built a new overnight boat? Just re-design her interior with staterooms, dining room and the other tourist amenities and in my opinion you'd have a winner, steam power or not.

even better, she'd be an overnight boat powered by real sternwheels

Looks Dated...

She's been re-designed in the guise of the EMPRESS 0F THE NORTH; both designed by George Karantsavelos of Guido Perla & Associates of Seattle, Washington, who also signed-off on the designs of the CAPE MAY and CAPE COD LIGHTS. The GV2 does not photograph well from dead-on the beam, but should be seen from either ahead or astern for the best affect that's most pleasing to the eye. She's VERY tall, and over 330 feet long with a 93 foot beam-- not a little boat by anyone's river standards. From the pilothouse deck to the river is over 60 feet, and the roof over the pilot is 73 feet above where the fish play. The feathers atop the chimneys loom 103 feet above the water. The interior looks almost as authentic post-Civil War cotton packet as the cabin of John Tobin's big boat. Some wag once said it looked "dated".... Duhhhhhh!??... like, perhaps, 1870?

The GV2 has only one very large paddlewheel... a double staggered sternwheel driven by 1500 horses through two electric motors that blast her 10 million pounds through the water at 12 mph... maybe 15 with the dual Schottle z-drives engaged. The wheel is so wide (52 feet) that a center support is needed for the great weight. There is nearly a nine-foot gap between the dual sections of the sternwheel.

Learned something new

Didn't know about the z drives and always thought it was 2 seperate wheels not one staggered one. Only seen it from the side a couple of times, but can always see it showing up over the casino hotel when coming into town. Always looked impressive to me, especially when compared to Belterra's little boat