Topic starter
30/05/2008 11:52 pm
Update on the calliope research, courtesy of UST Grants Department.
Here's my first call for any info. You can email me directly at [email protected] if you like.
1. Any information on the authentic Str. Alaska Queen, renovated 2007 which carries 1880s-vintage engines and recently had installed a steam calliope that appeared at Sacramento's Railfair 1999
2. Chin-du-Wan, which ran on the Sacramento from ca. 1850 to at least 1916
3. Any calliope manufacturers (steam only!) other than Stoddard/American Steam Music Co., Kratz, Wilde, Nichol, Frisbie, Davis Call. Works, Morecraft Mfg. (this can include Kirkup Co. and Van Dusen (sp?) Bellworks, which I have only a passing mention of)
4. Str. Gracie Mower, probably a towboat or rafter, referenced in Frank Fugina's "Lore and Lure"
5. Strs. Armenia, Glen Cove, Amazon, Unicorn, James Raymond, Denmark, Melnotte, Glendale, that variously claim to have been the first boats to carry a calliope (my current evidence suggests that it was NOT the Armenia, but the Glen Cove)
6. Any info on Julia Belle Swain calliope's origins, in addition to the fact that it came from the Circus World Museum
As an aside, a full week of searching through the archives at the Capt. Bill Bowell River Library has left me with more questions than answers. Welcome to the world of research.
MYSTERY OF THE WEEK: While searching through the "Merchant Vessels of the United States," we found that the Idlewild's beam is listed in 1915 as 36 feet, and beginning in 1916 and for the rest of her documentation, it is listed at 46 feet. Is this a typo, or was there a completely undocumented, major renovation?
FIND OF THE WEEK: Showboat names ran the gamut from completely uninspired to completely over-the-top. The winners so far are Bart's Big Fun Show and Buhoup's Great Floating Hindoo [sic] Pagoda, respectively.
Also an interesting "fact:" the Tall Stacks website misquotes Way's Directory and claims that there were over 9000 calliopes in use on the rivers! Just think if they had all played at once... the racket heard 'round the world.
MUCH OBLIGED for any assistance provided!
By the bye, anyone think I orta turn this weekly update into a blog, possibly hosted on (with Franz' blessing) steamboats.org??
31/05/2008 12:24 am
Of course, the New York contingent votes AYE for a blog...a lot more work on your part Jon...We love calliopes, even only hearing four of 'em...And I love them more than Deb, raises the hair on my arm, incredible stuff...Louie, Louie on the MQ monster, Peg and Anchors Away on the AQ shrillmaster, and Kingdom Coming, Dixie, Phantom of the Opera, or Eleanor Rigby on the DQ's harmonious masterpiece, love it all, the louder the better. Then there is the DQ Waltz...Calliope history? I'm here to take notes.
Kingdom Coming, my absolute favorite, between Bobby Horton strummin' and a singin' to Tony Schwartz playing on the DQ's calliope a song that everybody knows the melody but knows little about the words or the reason they were written: "...Did Massah run ha ha, the Darky stay ho ho..." not politically correct but an incredible song about Sherman's march, correct?...and it just sounds so right on the DQ's calliope...
31/05/2008 1:49 am
Jon,
Email me for ALOT of info on the ALASKA QUEEN calliope, for I am discussing this in an email debate with one of the entertainers aboard the vessel and have information for you on it.
CHIN DU WAN....never heard of her. What may I ask is the relevance...did she carry a calliope?
Kirkup and Van Duzen are both mentioned as builders in Phillip Grahams book Showboats. Those are the only references I have seen to either name. Kirkup was the last name of a employee of Van Duzen if memory serves me correctly.
First vessel to carry a calliope...most of the names you mention here are names I have heard before. Of course, the instrument didn't have the name "calliope" when the first instrument showed up on the scene....so this may help. I have heard on the Ohio River the UNICORN was the first. ARMENIA and GLEN COVE are the other firsts I have heard. The ARMENIA was said to be the first on the Sacramento River and the GLEN COVE I have never heard a route for.
As for Showboat names....they really ran the gamut. But no one has ever heard of the LULU BELLE. Wonder where EJ Quinby got that one from? There was a towboat with this name. Perhaps there was a calliope on her and she pushed a showboat? Perhaps it is ficticious? Maybe I should look this up in the Ways Directory.
Keep up the good work, though and like Judy mentioned...a book would be the best fruition of this project I can imagine!
~Travis~
31/05/2008 3:31 am
Jon,
Finally, something I can help you with--The Str. Alaska Queen, AKA Elizabeth Louise. I first heard her Calliope back in 1970 in Mt. Shasta city, when it was on the tender of the McCloud River Railway's 25.
A LITTLE background on the steamboat from an old article when the boat was still in Sacramento: Hal Wilmunder's 149-foot Elizabeth Louise. The vessel was built in Wilmunder's back yard by he and his welder pals, a labor of love over which a zillion cases of beer were consumed during production. This is a true paddlewheeler steamer, powered by vintage steam engines Wilumnder found back east. It runs occasional charters in the Sacramento area, and most years leads the Sacramento Yacht Club's Opening Day Parade the first Sunday in May.
Hal died mysteriously falling off the deck of the boat, at least that's what the sheriff thinks.
I can get you in touch with Hal's son, who lives not far from me, he can tell you a lot about the calliope, and some about the boat too.
S'
David D.
31/05/2008 5:52 pm
Jon,
give me a few more days (probably only hours) - I'm working on updating the forum software to a new version and will also install a completely integrated blogging system (replacing the old blog on steamboats.org that are barely being used, supposedly because it's separate from the message board and complicated to use).
As soon as the new blog system is running, everyone here will be able to write his/her own blog easily. It'll have the same look and feel as the forum, no separate login, no new stuff to learn. It'll be very easy and will still, for the one you really want a full-featured blog, have what ever you expect from a good blogging tool. Stay tuned, I'll make an announcement here as soon as it's working.
Franz
Topic starter
02/06/2008 2:37 am
Thank you Franz! The blog, "Notes" From the Road, is now available here.