MISSISSIPPI QUEEN enroute to scrapyard as I type

She is S/B at Alabo St. as this is being typed. Talked to the Capt. of the M/V/ Cory Michael and he confirmed all of the about in Judy's post.
Pictures once I get them downloaded.

The End

I took these pictures as the M.Q. was towed pass where my harbor tug is tied of. The Natchez had gone past several minuets before and I went out to wave. I looked back up river and saw the M.Q. coming down behind the Natchez.
So many mixed feelings and yet I'm glad I got to see her one more time. The bridge to bridge is alive with talk about lost history.

More photos coming

Thanks Fred for posting those. I just got 16 emailed to me taken by Capt. Steven Nicoulin the younger from the roof of the NATCHEZ as they caught up to the MQ. Of course I don't know how to transfer them to here, so I've sent them to Franz. Hopefully he'll be able to post them when he gets up in the morning. The end destination is Southern Scrap in the Harvey Canal - interesting sidelight, but when the DQ came up from the Panama Canal trip, she was taken back into the Harvey Canal to be put back together to go under her own power up to Cincinnati.... Both ends of life of Greene Line boats in the Harvey Canal....

Judy,

I am totally sick over this! One could blame many people for this....I won't. We all know who they are and what happened!

She was the steamboat that really got my attention to the river. Growing up in Louisville, KY across the river from the JeffBoat shipyard where she was built, well she was all over the news from conception to her fledgling years! I was constantly hearing about her and seeing her. Seems Betty Blake was on TV or in the paper talking about her almost weekly from 1973-1976.

I never thought I'd see her fade away and disappear in my lifetime.

Just remember the great old Vic Tooker number, "On The Mississippi Queen", and her memories will live on.

"Goodbye Little Girl, Goodbye"

Travis

Capt. Steven's pix

I think I've figured out how to transfer them from my email. Note the NATCHEZ passengers taking pictures. taken by Capt. Steven Nicoulin
I'll let Franz post the rest, I don't have a clue what I'm doing.

Too Sad

To see these pics is just to sad. I have never ridden on a riverboat or a steamboat yet. The first one I ever saw in person that I can remember was the Delta Queen. The Mississippi Queen quickly became my favorite. Something about her pulled me. To see her traveling the river she doesn't look that bad. I wish I lived in or around New Orleans so I could have experience her sooner. It goes to show you just how fragile these boats are. A piece of property to be mistreated by thier owners and eventually sold for scrap. Which one is next. Or will any of the overnighters ever make it back to the rivers. Are any of the boats safe? Between the economy and falling intrest in the riverboats will any of them survive? I salute all who ever got to work on and ride the Mississippi Queen, your stories will keep her alive. She may never run the rivers but in my heat as well as yours. she will always be cruising. If you listen you can hear her whistle and colliope. Sweet sounds. "A fond kiss and then we sever. A farewell and then forever."

Buy her from the scrappers??

I've kept quiet about all this, partially out of depression, partially out of despair.
How come she was sold so quietly? Is the value so low that she's worth more to scrap than to rebuild??
OR is this part of MAL's plan to make certain no one else can bring Steamboatin' back to the rivers?
Doesn't matter what any of us thought of her design, she was more "pure steam" powered than our beloved DQ and strides ahead of the AQ.
And no one has mentioned the purchase price.
What gives????
I ask too many questions.
Steamcerely,
David D.
PS For those of you who know my family, my father is in declining health, and my mom is having memory problems. It seems another passing of time is approaching.

Thanks Fred .. I know it is sad news , and none of us what to hear it .. But thanks for the pix ..:) <----

Thanks Judy for the pix .. And understand what we are all going though..

more pictures ...

here are some more pictures from Capt. Steve Nicoulin; thanks Judy for sending them.

What a sad moment.

Franz

and some more pictures

another three more pictures from the MQ's final departure from New Orleans.

Artifacts

This is all too tragic to comprehend. Does anyone know if there has been an effort to try to save at least one or two artifacts for hsitorical sake? Something like the name boards on the Pilot House at least. I was told last night that at least the bell was removed and left at the dock. It would be very appropriate for something to go to the Howard Museum since it was built at Jeffboat.

Artifacts and asbestos

I doubt if anybody is thinking that way now, Ted, considering how the whole layup has gone. But if the owner had an idea of the interest in buying small parts of the MQ, he'd take the effort to salvage them and sell them , heck he could do it on EBay....Another question came up in one of my many phone calls last night: How are they going to cut up the bulkheads with the asbestos in them in the highly populated area of the Harvey Canal? Are they going to have to encapsulate her in plastic or something to keep the asbestos from freeing into the air? Or does the new mystery owner even know about the asbestos? Another theory advanced last night: remove her machinery, wheel, and bow at Harvey and then load the remains on a submersible deck ship to head to India where asbestos isn't a problem....

Scrap value?

What was the scrap value anyway? I don't have a good understanding of how boats and ship this big work, but it seams that it is always more profitable to part it out. I used to restore old cars and it was nothing to buy a car just for the parts to rebuild another car. it was cheaper than build with all new parts. I may be wrong but aren' boats and ships the same? I can't help but see many very good parts in the pictures that could go to build other boats. From all that I have read she has at least 1 good boiler and the wheel and all mechanics surounding them, this could work on a new or even a current boat like her sister who is in need of a boiler. I just can't see the justification in just scraping her without reusing her good parts. Sounds like the new owners aren't looking for the most profit. Maybe I am just to stupid to understand this concept. I just have never been good at throwing things away, when there is still some use for it. Sorry I know this is all irrelevent now, whats done is done.

Just plain dumb if they throw valuable stuff in a dumpster. Steel prices must be pretty good. Other things that would have value, which would be almost anything, would be separated out and resold. There are people in the business of scavenging recyclable items from just about anything that is being disassembled. They all want to keep that dumpster as empty as possible.

Not to change the subject, but am I missing something? This is not the first time that Ed has spoken of the DQ needing a boiler. It was my previous understanding that one of her boilers had a few leaky tubes. If that's correct, all she needs is some tube work and not a boiler. Nothing to make light of, but a relatively minor, if not dirty procedure for a competent crew of boilermakers, and one thats been performed several times in the past.

MQ passing Todd Shipyard

I don't remember if these have been posted already, but I wanted to point out another poignant happenstance: in the background are a couple of ships at the dock of what used to be Todd Shipyards. Its gone through several names: Avondale, Northrup-Grumman, but that is the Todd's dock from where the MQ embarked on one of her shakedown/maiden voyages - she had three I believe, more than any boat that I can recollect. It was largely due to having to reconfigure her wheel so they could make more than a couple miles an hour and without shaking. Anyway, there is a great story in the Reflector about Fred Way getting dropped off onto the MQ at Todds for this trip. His ferry was the NATCHEZ. I don't have my Reflectors handy, but it would have been in late '76/early '77... Fred referred to her as the MISS-Q, which infuriated Betty, but sadly this pretty well summarizes her career - the middle child syndrome too.

claification

As to the DQ boiler. I have been informed by the hotel people that when they brought her to Chattanooga she only was running 1 boiler and the one needing work would be cheaper to replace than repair.

I'm no engineer, but I do believe the boilers on the MQ and DQ are as different as night and day. One could not replace the other. Also, to "simply" replace a boiler on the DQ would require the removal of huge sections of cabin to get the old one out and the new one in. The old would need to be dismantled and removed piece by piece, and the new would have to be taken in piece by piece and assembled in the fireroom.

With the tiny bit of knowledge I have about boilers, I would think even with the MQ boiler being okay, it would still be cheaper to buy entirely new boilers for the DQ and assemble them in the boat. The other option would be package boilers that they'd have to cut out large sections of the boat to place. No easy way as far as this deckhand can see.

I stand fully ready to be corrected on any of this.

NATCHEZ new boilers

They had to cut out large sections of the main deck and stairwell when installing new boilers on the NATCHEZ several years ago, no way to get them on otherwise.

This is indeed sad. She was the first and only Steamboat I worked on. I had a chance to meet many good people on our journeys, and also went to many places I would have never thought of going in my life.

What a shame

While I've only been on the MQ once, I don't imagine it would be so easy to fit her boilers onto the DQ. They would be like apples and oranges. Anyway, it is a shame to see all that boat go to scrap when there is much to be salvaged. It is a shame to see that steam plant go to scrap when I recall Chief Howe's recollections of bringing her out-no easy feat! I also remember Chief McCoy's recollections of her inauguration at the Louisville wharf. While those engines may not be historical in age, they certainly have their significance in the unique design they exemplify. I am sorry to say I never saw them in operation! She may have not been the most aesthetically pleasing to my eye, but she had her place in our history.

Interesting information....

The Ambassadors Q1 meeting was today and there is a audio link to the phone meeting for investors.

Here is the link... Ambassadors International, Inc. - Investor Relations Home

Mr. Mark Detillion mentions the sale of the MISSISSIPPI QUEEN as "for salvage value". Later in the conversation he refers to the price as "less than a million".

When questioned about the other MAL vessels he mentions 4 in their posession still (After the MQ sale I thought there were two...did they not already sell the CONTESSA and QUEEN Of THE WEST?). Specifically he mentions the Ambassadors being interested in a fair amount of interest in the sale of the DELTA QUEEN and possibly the COLUMBIA QUEEN.

Have a listen...it is interesting to hear their take on the possible futures of these vessels.

Travis

Just to clarify the DQ's boiler situation. On the trip up from NOLA she was running on BOTH boilers, I saw it with my own eyes as we came up. The #1, which is the one the hotel uses today was in decent working order. The #2 boiler had some leaky tubes, and one crew member even commented..."worst he has seen in years."

However, with the current setup and how the boilers are being run, I wouldn't be confident to say the #1 boiler is still ready to go. It would be wise to thoroughly inspect and hydrotest both before attempting to run on them. As to repair and replace....it would definately be much cheaper to retube both boilers than to replace them. Question is, how long would it last and would it be worth the cost, afterall even after repaired you have two ancient boilers from 1919 that are inefficient and will need further repair in the future. Any long term plan should include newer modern boilers designed to meet her specific steam demands in her current role. She could be made much more efficient now with modern technology and the fact her electricity no longer depends on steam.

Bob's right too, putting the MQ boilers in the DQ would be such a monumental task, you might as well put brand new ones in for all the trouble it would take to disassemble the boat so much.

Just my 2 cents!