Locating a part of history

Couldn't find anything about it either. So, you could try the Graceful Ghost, near Caddo Lake, a real steamboat, the Captain at Galveston, or the Southern Empress on Lake Conroe. There was another one on Lake Bob Sandlin, but I don't believe it is operation and can't remember the name.

Barazos Queen

Thanks for the info.
I just made contact with one of the sons of the president of L & M Packet. The company I was working with during construction of the Barazos Queen. We are meeting tomorrow.
He knows the location of the City of West Bend the original prototype we built in where else West Bend, WI
Looking forward to reliving some of the events of years gone by.

I'm pretty sure it was called Brazos Queen, after the river. Let me know if you find it.

I have this photo of the BRAZOS QUEEN. Unknown date or location. I presume this might be your boat(?). I have no other information for it..

-Steve

This "piqued" my interest, so I did some searching and found these photos of the TEXAS QUEEN. I also found postings from people stating that it was formerly the BRAZOS QUEEN. See attached photos. The smaller photo shows it still operation in September 2012. The photo caption read: "The original Brazos Queen still lives as the "Texas Queen" on Lake Sam Rayburn near Rockwall, Texas". This is a nice looking boat!

Barazos Queen

Good info and pics Thanks!
I spent yesterday morning with my old employers son. We toured the warehouse where we built the City of West Bend. Great Memories! We will be digging through some old files and seeing what was kept. Did find out she was bought down south as a derelict, moved to New Jersey, renovated and put back into operation. Saw some pics but hope to get more details

As for the Barazos Queen. Yes, it was named after the river. She was a beauty. Sure hope I can find her. I have construction photos some place I'll try and find and post, if I can figure out how.
JR

I have one September 1975 photo of the City of West Bend. The photo caption indicates it was at Port Washington, WI, on Lake Michigan, preparing for a trip to St. Louis to be sold. It says the boat was built by Carl Mies and his son David, of West Bend, WI.

You can also find a nice photo of this boat in the LaCrosse Collection:
Collection Home | UW-La Crosse Historic Steamboat Photographs | University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Search for City of West Bend, and its on the 3rd page of search results.

I don't know what the boat's current disposition is..

-Steve

City of West Bend

Great picture!
We found a clipping of same Saturday. The picture showers her after we put the stacks etc. back on after transport, by truck, from West Bend. My wife and I were staying in a motor home behind her during this refit. Can't see it in this shot.

A couple days later we started the trip to the Mississippi via Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. A very interesting shake down cruise. She was not designed for 3 foot + waves.
JR

James,

I found this website. But there´s no year noted so I can´t say whether it´s sort of up to date or not. As address it says "Bayview Marina, 600 Cook Drive, Rowlett, TX" (15 min from Dallas). When you enter the address in google maps you can see the boat on the satelite picture.

Carmen

Yeah, and the satellite image data is from 2013, so it's probably still there. Looks to me like the boat is floating, but is now locked into the docks as part of the cafe/restaurant/dance/party complex, and may not be operational for excursions (?)...

Steve,

Even when it says 2013 at the bottom of the picture it can be "anytime". I remember seeing satelite photos of New Orleans which I could date by the boats seen and it still said the current year.

Carmen

The CITY OF WEST BEND was built in 1974 by John Louck in West Bend, WI. She was originally operated by Meis Filter Products and operated in West Bend, WI until sold in 1977 to Jewel City Excursions who renamed her CAMDEN QUEEN and ran her at Huntington, WV for many years. Her main route was between downtown Huntington and the old Camden Park about 10 miles down river. She was replaced in the mid 1990s by the JEWEL CITY and sold to Bob and Marie Foster. They moved her to Schuylerville, NY and she being operated on the Champlain Canal as the CALDWELL BELLE where she runs today. According to her website she was sold again in the last year to a couple who are planning on keeping her on Champlain Canal.

Here is a link to the operators site.
Mohawk MaidenCruises - Home

Travis Vasconcelos;32824 wrote: The CITY OF WEST BEND was built in 1974 by John Louck in West Bend, WI. She was originally operated by Meis Filter Products and operated in West Bend, WI until sold in 1977 to Jewel City Excursions who renamed her CAMDEN QUEEN and ran her at Huntington, WV for many years. Her main route was between downtown Huntington and the old Camden Park about 10 miles down river. She was replaced in the mid 1990s by the JEWEL CITY and sold to Bob and Marie Foster. They moved her to Schuylerville, NY and she being operated on the Champlain Canal as the CALDWELL BELLE where she runs today. According to her website she was sold again in the last year to a couple who are planning on keeping her on Champlain Canal.

Here is a link to the operators site.
Mohawk MaidenCruises - Home

I can't tell you which REFLECTOR the photo of the CITY OF WEST BEND was in, but I do remember a photo and caption gracing the REFLECTOR. It was probably during the early eighties sometime while Fred Way was editor.

I recall being in the pilot house of the DELTA QUEEN with Cappy Louden as pilot and C.W. Stoll helping to keep the lazy bench warm. We were abreast of Twelve Pole Creek heading towards Huntington, and not due in till the next morning. The CAMDEN QUEEN came out from her landing a bit up the creek and her captain challenged us to a race. I'm sure those onboard the CQ were more excited than we were, but the CQ about bailed her wheel dry trying to keep up with us.

Excellent info Travis, thanks!

Yes, I have noticed this possible difference in actual satellite photo date and copyright date. But try Google Earth instead. It will tell you the actual year the image was taken (same images used by Google Maps). In this case for the Texas Queen it is 2013...

Google recently updated a number of old satellite images from 2005 to 2013. My former boats were still visible here at my landing in the old 2005 images, but Google has new images that were taken in 2013, and boats are gone. Also I can tell the images were taken in late August 2013 by the amount of remodeling completed on the exterior of my house by contractors.

Now that I know this is the CALDWELL BELLE, I had this extra info in my files on it:

DIMENSIONS
LOA ................. 74.5' x 15.5' Beam
Draft ................. 2'
Engine: 6 cyl Ford Lehman, Model 2714E, yr 1966, 120 hp

For sale in 2012: $173,250
For sale in 2013: $140,000

Along with photo of her as the CAMDEN QUEEN from 1991.

Barazos Queen

You guys are great!! Thanks for the help.
I left a message on the phone number from the web site. Had a hard time hearing the greeting. Guess we will see.

Trying to attach a photo of City of West Bend.

Looks like it's still there, hooray

I checked the Google Earth as well. Looks like it has become a permanent entertainment venue, and goes nowhere. When it was running, and I last saw it, many years ago, it was operating out of a landing on the other side of the lake, right next to the freeway. An enormous amount of development has occured on Lake Ray Hubbard since then, due to its close proximity to Dallas. I have seen the boat in both of its Texas locations, but never rode it.

Barazos Queen

I just found a couple old blue prints. Not the best but original.

I took some measurements as we were building her. They are a little different. Not a big surprise. I've been a builder over the years and 9 out of ten prints including "as built's" are wrong some where.

Alan Bates is reported to have said, "There's many a slip between the pen and the ship!"

Caldwell Belle aka Camden Queen aka City of West Bend

Just wanted to give a shout out to everyone about the Caldwell Belle. She is doing well (although not happy about being in the water in what is now the coldest winter on record in upstate New York).
This will be our third season owning her and absolutely LOVE HER!!! I want to thank JR for making the trip to Schuylerville with his wife to visit her. I also recognized several names that are on our Facebook page - we appreciate your support!
If anyone has any questions about her or what she does, feel free to send them our way. 🙂
Maria

James Rintelman;32791 wrote: Hi all,
I'm trying to find out what ever happened to a stern wheeler. I helped build her in Waco Texas back in the early 70's. It was christened the Barazos Queen and was used as a dinner cruise boat for a few years before being sold and moved to Rockwell Texas.
The last info I can find states it was used as a cruise boat there on lake Ray Hubbard under the new name Texas Queen. That's where the trail ends. There are rumors that it went into disrepair and sunk.
My wife and I are planing a trip to Texas in March and I sure would love to see her again, the Queen that is not my w--- oh you know what I mean!
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
JR

This is what I have collected about her so far: Star of Saugatuck II aka Spirit of the River aka Brazo Bear (Waco, TX) - The Steampunk Empire

Locating a part of history

iHi Karl Texas Queen Riverboat in Rockwell Texas at Lake Ray Hubbard. Had a phone but was told I could not give out phone numbers on this site. Owner owes Dallas large amount in bills going back 5 yrs. Was told I cannot state the amount on this site. Did 2 hour dinner cruises. Nice picture of the boat on FLICKER other listing says currently closed. Hope this helps.Carole Matthews Pompano Beach Fla 33064 Did not say who currently owns it which is probably just as well as could not give out name.

Texas Queen

carole matthews;34271 wrote: iHi Karl Texas Queen Riverboat in Rockwell Texas at Lake Ray Hubbard. Had a phone but was told I could not give out phone numbers on this site. Owner owes Dallas large amount in bills going back 5 yrs. Was told I cannot state the amount on this site. Did 2 hour dinner cruises. Nice picture of the boat on FLICKER other listing says currently closed. Hope this helps.Carole Matthews Pompano Beach Fla 33064 Did not say who currently owns it which is probably just as well as could not give out name.

Did I criss-cross my boats between name changes?

It looks like the Texas Queen was up for sale(?)

Vintage Custom 50 039 Side Wheeler Paddlewheeler Once Owned by Baylor Houseboat | eBay