Topic starter
14/07/2012 2:02 am
Since I live so close to the Illinois River, and since photos, information, and stories are relatively hard to come by, I thought it might be in order to start a thread about this great waterway! Just for general discussion, photos, and stories like I said. Maybe even the history of some of the steamers. I have a great book that was published a few years back that talks relatively briefly about steamboating and the I&M Canal. From it, i learned a bit about some of the popular steamers: Columbia, David Swain, Fred Swain, Borealis Rex, Watkins, and City of Peoria. It was not very in depth, however, and also mentioned the LaSalle steamboat basin that backs up to the I&M. Again, this is for all general discussion about the Illinois River Packets!
Liam
Topic starter
17/07/2012 10:51 pm
Wasn't the Julia Belle Swain originally operated out of Peoria?
17/07/2012 11:34 pm
Yes, the present JULIA BELLE SWAIN was originally operated at Peoria. Capt. Dennis Trone built her when he was at Dubuque Boat and Boiler Co., using engines from the steam ferry boat CITY OF BATON ROUGE, which had operated at Baton Rouge, LA. Trone was from central Illinois, and set up his base of excursion boat operations at Peoria. The JBS was the second boat of that name, the first being (I believe) an Illinois River packet.
18/07/2012 1:48 am
Photos, etc.
I'll be glad to post some pictures of Illinois river boats, but I'm in Pittsburgh prior to my AMERICAN QUEEN trip. After I get home next week...