MISSISSIPPI QUEEN August 2, 2011

MQ2

more from across Belle River.............

MQ3

from the Argosy Boat Co. yard. I've drawn a rough layout of the area - Morgan City is about 15 miles to the south (top of my drawing)

MQ4

more in the boatyard.................

MQ5

cutup sections, including stairways, in yard.......

MQ6 calliope and mermaids

The calliope manifold is there, and I even saw a blue light bulb which helped create the 'aurora effect'. The mermaids have their backs to the destruction going on...

MQ

Thanks for posting the latest pictures, so sad to see she is almost non-existent.

Thanks for the MQ pictures, Judy. It's sickening to see what's being done to her. It must be much worse to actually be there. Glad Doc was able to go with you - tell him 'hi' and a belated 'Happy Birthday'.

MQ7 the finale, potpourri

If you look back at the first pix from across the river, you'll see one section of the Cabin Deck was left midship. I think it was the service room that had an ice machine and maybe a washer and dryer and linen storage. While we were there, they used the cutting torches and lifted it up by crane and dumped it into the waiting hopper barge. Now the only thing left above the main deck is a section of the Paddlewheel Bar bulkhead. We saw several workers aboard, some wearing hazmat suits, others in tshirts and jeans. One guy came out of the Engine Room and hosed himself off on the barge. The guard with whom we spoke was proud that he was able to get a couple of nonmetal parts as souvenirs and when I told him that Doc had been Captain on the MQ, that really got him talking. He even went and got a postcard of the MQ and had Doc autograph it... I took pix with 2 cameras and it appears that all of the images didn't load. Hopefully though this is enough for now to understand the 'progress' of the act. If anyone wants to see her remains, I'd suggest hustling down to Belle River very soon... I know these will be my final images of the Magnificent, but Misfortunate, MISSISSIPPI QUEEN... R.I.P.

Increasingly, it seems like .org needs a Dislike button... *sigh*

Thank You

Many thanks for the pictures you've shared with all of us. Sad, sad day indeed. Hoping the mermaids and calliope manifold are saved but I doubt very seriously that they will be. Last picture ever taken of me on the MQ was in front of those two ladies with my grandparents in July 2006 in Marietta, OH. Never dreamed that would be the last time I would ever set foot or see her again. *sigh* Why this country trashes its history instead of saving it, I'll never know!

More calliope pix

I found the 'lost' photos. Here are closeups of the calliope remains.
Sorry, but I got a Fehler 500 notice. I know, Franz, you'll tell me these are too large. I don't have Picasa and I don't know why these are bigger than all the others. So... maybe later, anyway the valves are still there.

Judy Patsch;26798 wrote: If you look back at the first pix from across the river, you'll see one section of the Cabin Deck was left midship. I think it was the service room that had an ice machine and maybe a washer and dryer and linen storage..

Knew that room well. An acquired survival skill on the MQ was timing your use of the washer/dryer so you could get your wash done without getting in a passenger's way. The dryers below in the crew mess didn't really "dry".

Paul

Judy, Did anyone imply if they were scrapping the entire boat or if her hull would be saved as a barge or something? In the winter of 2006 she had a considerable amount of hull work done while in drydock at Mobile before being dumped off at Perry St. I have pictures of some of it. What a shame to lose this boat.

Taylor: THe Inland Waterways Festival will be held at Marietta starting Aug 4. Steam launch MISS BLUE will be headed that way at 9 am tomorrow. I think that Aaron Richardson and John Fryant will be there and I, first mate Miss Carol and brother John will be there and look forward to seeing some more of .orgers. Cap'n Walnut.

MQ hull and machinery

Philip: the guard told us they were going to cut up the machinery and the hull right there too. I'm wondering if there are filled barges fleeted downriver awaiting transport to Morgan City to be loaded into a ship. I also wonder why there was so much debris on the land, why it wasn't immediately dumped into the hopper barge as was the section we saw Tuesday. My guess is they have to remove nonmetal stuff like insulation, maybe. Doc thinks they will cut the hull off as close to the waterline as possible and then cut the rest up. She is almost out of the water on the bow and is drawing 6 ft. at the stern right now. I would think the weight of the hull steel would be worth the scrap value....

Paul,

I never used the crew mess laundry cause "the ghetto laundry" was so much better. That is if you could sit there and babysit it. Cause, if you didn't someone would take your clothes out and throw them on the floor every time! Of course, the trip into "the ghetto" could be half the fun of laundry in and of itself!

Travis

Judy,

These pictures are a little disturbing...to see her in parts, like a puzzle. The calliope just sitting on the dirt...words can't express! Seeing the dining room bulkheads upside down in piles on the ground. Its like she has gone to Alang, in India where they break up ships...only closer.

All I can say is these pictures are proof of what you have been saying all summer. Support the boats we have left as much as you can. Because we can't afford any more pictures like this folks!

Too many boats have gone this way recently. PRESIDENT, ADMIRAL, BECKY THATCHER, MARY WOODS #2....enough already...lets get out there and keep the rest alive!

Travis

Speaking of the PRESIDENT vs the MQ, am I the only one who thought that the pictures of teh MQ parts lying around looked a lot like the PRESIDENT in St. Elmo, IL?

Judy, thank you for these pictures, difficult though it is to view them. What really gets to me are the ones with Doc in them - long time river captain surveying the demise of one of the great vessels that was once under his command. One can only imagine the thoughts going through this captain's mind, and how deeply they represent those of so many whose lives were affected in big and small ways by the Magnificent Mississippi Queen...

viewing the MQ at Argosy

We were both shocked when we first spotted it, as we were expecting so much more superstructure to be left. I can't speak for Doc, but to me looking at the floating remains seemed to be looking at a wharfboat, and wasn't particularly emotional. But when we started walking along the yard outside the fence, and spotted sections of dining room bulkheads, stairwells, the observation area forward of the pilothouse, the calliope... that was gutwrenching. And then to see the final piece of the cabin deck pulied up and dumped into the hopper barge, well that was reality that our MQ is no more - physically. But she'll remain in our souls and in the written history of the river. I count myself lucky to have known her and her heart and soul, the crew.

SO sad indeed, lots of good times there

Bob Reynolds;26823 wrote: Speaking of the PRESIDENT vs the MQ, am I the only one who thought that the pictures of teh MQ parts lying around looked a lot like the PRESIDENT in St. Elmo, IL?

I talked with Ken Buel yesterday afternoon, and he told me that the PRESIDENT's parts have been moved to a field behind a printing business that the owner has in Effingham, Illinois. I understand that Ken's photos will be fodder for a certain highly regarded river history quarterly editor's mill.