Topic starter
25/01/2008 12:38 pm
I dug into my files on the Str. SPRAGUE last night and thought these images, taken a decade apart, would be of interest. The first photo shows her in the lock here at Louisville in 1959 as she was upbound for Pittsburgh to be an "on loan" attraction during their bicentennial celebration. Union Barge Line handled the towing arrangements and I think the towboats used were the WESTERN, LEHIGH and RELIANCE for the round trip journey. These locks are now gone, replaced with two 1200' chambers. In the background is the K&I Railroad bridge, looking downstream toward New Albany, Indiana, my hometown!
The other two views of the "BIG MAMA" were taken at Vicksburg on May 29, 1969. This gives a good comparison as to the size of the sternwheels of the DQ and SPRAGUE. Look closely at picture #2 and you'll see the pilothouse of the Civil War ironclad USS CAIRO resting next to the floodwall -- straight at the top of the steps that went down to the gangplank to board the SPRAGUE.
25/01/2008 8:50 pm
Fascinating photos Keith- thanks
25/01/2008 11:29 pm
Check out the size of that pilothouse on the SPRAGUE...looks like you could hold a square dance in there! I read somewhere that when the Big Mama was retired and Capt. Gene Hampton went to the diesel towboat that replaced her in th Baton Rouge-Memphis run, he saw the boat and said, "THAT'S the boat?!? She looks so small!".
Tangible evidence of what was the demise of the steamboat.
Topic starter
29/01/2008 6:02 pm
Yes! The pilothouse on the SPRAGUE was HUGE! Here are several photos which give an idea as to its size. An interior stairway from the cabin came up into the pilothouse behind the lazy bench. The pilotwheel was 13.5 feet in diameter. In photo #3 look closely through the windows and you'll see a wooden wheel with spokes. This was rigged up so the pilots knew that the engineers had understood their signals and the sternwheel was turning in the direction they desired.
Another awesome pilothouse is that of the M/V MISSISSIPPI V. One of the pilots told me they once had over 50 people in there during an inspection trip for the Mississippi River Commission! Everything on that enormous vessel is state-of-the-art. Our tax dollars at work!
29/01/2008 6:52 pm
Keith,
When I see the interior of the SPRAGUE pilothouse all I can think is....We could fit the Texas Lounge in there WITH a bandstand! Now I wonder, is the SPRAGUE's pilothouse the largest ever on a steam-powered inland rivers vessel?
~Travis~
Topic starter
29/01/2008 7:39 pm
Good question Travis! When you look at photos of pilothouses on big packets like the J.M. WHITE they also appear HUGE, but I don't really know about the actual size. This is a good question to pose to Capt. Alan Bates -- who actually measured the SPRAGUE in order to draw the plans that many a grateful model builder has used. Alan?????