MISSISSIPPI QUEEN pix 3/23/11

More MQ pictures

From a distance, the MQ looks like she's wearing the DQ's Navy gray - she gets darker with every visit.

More MQ pictures

Amazingly all the running/navigation lights and searchlights are still there. The NATCHEZ crew has made repeated attempts to purchase a searchlight and several other items, but are turned down. Seems like the owner could make more selling piecemeal rather than dumping it all in a scrapyard. I'm sure if those running lights were EBayed, there would be several bidders!

More MQ pictures

A few more before I head over to see if she's left yet.
Perhaps my last photos of the MQ? I'll see in a half hour or so....

SHE'S GONE.....

The Steamer MISSISSIPPI QUEEN was towed away from the Ingram dock at 3800 Peters Rd in Harvey La., today at approximately 8:30AM. She is headed for Morgan City, where she will be dismantled and the pieces shipped to China to be melted down...

Thanks to Judy for those sad photos. I filmed her launch on a cold, dreary day at Jeffboat, in spite of suffering with a case of stomach flu. Perhaps that was a bad omen. I also saw her christened at Louisville the following spring. I never did get to set foot on her, so I can't share any of the stories and reminisces of those who worked and travelled aboard her. I did see her on more than several occasions and I always thought that she was a less than handsome boat. However, she was every inch a steamboat, no denying that. Too bad she couldn't have been rebuilt to look a bit more handsome and then put back in service. Perhaps the engines could still be saved? I'm hoping so.
She also had an unlucky name, as it began with the thirteenth letter of the alphabet. Thats an old river superstition, but it held true in her case. So heres to you Miss Q., cut down in middle age, before your time. "The biggest steam boat, that ever was afloat, on the Mississippi River back home." (John Hartford")

These are very sad but amazing pics Ms. Pastch, and, I have to agree with several of your earlier posts, We have to frequent all of our remaning steamboats. The "Belle of Louisville" and "Natchez", are currently cruising, lets not see what has happened with the Mississippi Queen become a common thing. My hats off....Mississippi Queen

Patronize the ones left

Thanks, Kevin. Yes, we too often take things for granted. Who would have thought just 5 years ago that we would have NO overnight steamboats running, and the JULIA BELLE SWAIN laid up? I will be posting a much happier thread, about my NOLA visit with the NATCHEZ and her crew when I get home. I can't get pix posted here at the airport with their slow internet. But while this visit saw a sad historical act, it also included a very optimistic time aboard the NATCHEZ. More from the 32 degrees of Rock Island later, if my sunburn doesn't hinder me!

Missed chance to steamboat?

I never did get to board MQ, or even see her in person for that matter, but I became a huge fan of the riverboats after seeing Delta Queen and Natchez in New Orleans when I was 10 years old. It's such a shame to me what happened to her and I certainly hope the American Queen will be spared a similar fate.

I live in Chattanooga, TN, the new home of Delta Queen and I'm quite excited about the possibility of this becoming her home port. I certainly hope the Delta Queen Preservation Foundation is awarded ownership. The Ingrams and the Foundation are dedicated to preserving her history, and returning her to limited river service to be sure her engines stay in proper running condition. I would love nothing better than to be able to board the Delta Queen one day for an actual river tour. Delta Queen is a historical icon and deserves to be cared for by people who honor her history.

She's all gone....

Here was the scene at 3800 Peters Road Thursday a few hours after the MQ was towed toward Morgan City. She was at this Ingram dock from May 2010 until March 24, 2011.

Thanks for the pix. Did they just cut the lines when they cast off? Is that a bucket board left behind? Sigh.

Remnants

Yes, that's a bucket board, there were several there, and partials. That was the only line left, which was probably cut. But they had used new line from the spools to secure her lately and those are obviously still on board. I wasn't there to witness the procedure, only the aftermath. I think it worth noting that a gentleman whose name I didn't get who worked at the coal facility there was most helpful and informative whenever we visited. While he had no prior connection to the MQ, you could see his interest develop by just having her tied up by his business, and by witnessing many of us making the pilgrimage there to look, ponder, and photograph these past 10 months.