Read into this what you will...........

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... river.html

Out of curiosity especially the more modern river boats, how many of them were steam powered? In the past I have tried googling the boats only to find that their promoters preferred to brag more about their plush lavish interiors rather than their engine rooms. (Personally I think they have their priorities backwards) None the less were most of them true steam boats or rather steam boat impersonators?

Adam

This is a parallel to the doors closing on the GradLuxe Rail/American Orient Express. Both were luxury travel options with a historic slant, both were not sustainable in this economy, and now gone.

Please note that the former railroad steamer SS Badger is still working with her reciprocating steam engines. She is high on my list of things to experience.

http://www.ssbadger.com/home.aspx

http://www.steamboats.org has much useful information and a lively discussion forum.

Alan Maples

With a little searching online I found that Belle of Louisville and Natchez are also real steamers. The wiki article on Natches is pretty interesting ad she was built from many parts taken from older vessels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_(boat)

It is a shame there is no single online database of existing steam ships. I seem to remember a wood-fired steam tug in Canada and a couple of other tugs under some form of restoration. Also the Liberty Ship John Brown is still steaming out of Baltimore.

I took a trip on the DELTA QUEEN a few years ago. Amazingly, they allowed passengers to go down into the engine room. I spent quite a bit of time down there. But, to show you the general public's lack of interest in historical propulsion methods, I never saw any or the other 160 or so passengers down there.

One day we docked alongside the AMERICAN QUEEN. Touring her engine room (engines were behind glass) it seems that yes, she has a steam-powered paddle wheel, but most of the propulsion was provided by diesel-powered thrusters.

Out here on the Pacific Coast, we have at least three active steam-powered ships. In San Francisco there is the Liberty Ship, SS JEREMIAH O'BRIAN; in LA is the Victory Ship, SS LANE VICTORY (steam turbine, not recip. engine), and here at the San Diego Maritime Museum is the 100+ year-old Steam Yacht, MEDEA. The Maritime Museum also has the ex-SP steam ferryboat BERKELEY. She isn't an active ship, but they have electric-hydraulic motors hooked up the the propeller shaft to rotate the triple-expansion engine. Docents are down in the engine room to explain how all this moving stuff worked.

There are dat time only excursions steam boats still in operation such as the Belle of Louisville and the Natchez in New Orleans.

There are no more over night steam boats as far as I know.

Both the Mississippi Queen and the American Queen had traditional Western River steam engines but they are both tied up and the owners are bankrupt. Who knows if they will ever operate again?

There are also some replicas such as the Julia Belle Swain which was built new from the keel up about 15 years ago.

There is an excellent article on the demise of the Delta Quee in the Summer 2009 issue of Steamboat Bill the magazine of the Steamship Historical Society, now headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

We used to have a replica steamer operating out of Old town Sacramento called the River Queen and is powered with an 1880s steam engine. But I have not seen her on my last couple of visits up there.

The ocean going steam tug boat HERCULES of the San Francisco Maritime National Park was steaming bu not in the last several years. And I doubt if the present management has the will will to get her going again.

However up in Puget sound the tug Master is still in steam I think and they also have the Virginia V a passenger carring wooden steam boat; operational as far as I know.

The JOB has been mentioned; she is a treat to travel aboard; and visit on a steam weekend if you want to see a large triple-expansion engine running without leaving the dock.

Ted Miles
San Francisco, CA

I took a short ride on a steam boat running in Ketchikan, Alaska two weeks ago. It is a modern hull with an 1880's steam engine turning a rear paddle wheel. The crew said the vessel was built for service in Sacramento. Likely it the steamer Ted is referrring to?

The Belle of Louisville (ex-Idlewild, ex-Avalon) built in 1914 operates seasonally each year here in Louisville offering daytime trips and evening cruises. With the exception of a diesel generator, she is still 100% original steam equipment (boilers replaced in the 1960's). The engine room is open for public viewing, and the crew are very hospitible and answer questions. Actually, there is a small traction engine show today and tomorrow where I have been running an engine, and some of the Belle's crew were at the show. Good folks.

So far, the ridership has been good, the publicity has been good, and the owner (City of Louisville) is proud of it's asset and plans to continue service in the future.

Come Steamboatin'!

I was talking to one of the employees at the Belle of Louisville a few years ago and heard an interesting story. Yes it has a diesel generator; with all the added lights and ventilation (or even A/C?), they found that the ships service generators were using a huge amount of steam. I forget if it was 40% to the wheel and 60% to the gensets, or the other way around, but the diesel was the way to go for electricity.

Of course, with my luck they weren't running the day I was there, and there wasn't even anyone available to take me aboard for a quick look, but I'll get back there someday. I have been down below on the Baltimore Liberty ship, John W. Brown, and years before that the Mary Murray, the last traditional (non Skinner Uniflow) Staten Island boat. (And of course I've been in the engineroom of my son's USCG cutter, underway, with it's pair of 18-251Fs, but thats a bit OT here-)

Yes, for the first time since 1811 there are NO overnight riverboat accommodations on the American Inland Rivers. Steam or otherwise.
Of the three Delta Queen Steamboat Co. boats, The Delta Queen and the Mississippi Queen were true steamboats--the Mississippi actually with more steam than the fabled DQ (steam electric generators, the DQ has diesel gens with backup steam). The American Queen, as has been mentioned has a steam wheel, but is mostly propelled by dismal-powered Z-drives. At the end of 2008, Majestic America Lines ceased operating, let the American Queen go back to the Government (foreclosure!), the Mississippi Queen is still in New Orleans, where she has languished for three years now (partially through a canceled remodel), and the Legendary One, the DQ, is in Chattanooga; fully operational, but docked as a "Boutique Hotel." Although the present lessors seem to be caring well for the boat (the lease to them requires she be kept operational), I personally don't think it can be profitable long term, especially once the novelty of being on board the DQ fades (and without her running, it will fade quickly!).
Here's a pic of the DQ engine room last Oct. By that time, visits to the engine room were off-limits, but the chief over ruled that, and a few of us were allowed in.
Ted, if you'd been on my trip, you would have found me in the engine room! Your trip sounds awfully familiar, as we tied to the AQ too. March of 07, first trip under the new owners, and lots of kinks to be worked out!
The Natchez, although modern construction is very traditional, and has beautiful compound engines, well-worth a visit! The Belle of Louisville is the oldest operating Mississippi riverboat, and a real treasure.
For lots of info, http://www.steamboats.org has lots of information, and then there's http://www.save_the_delta_queen.org to see what we are doing to try to get the DQ back running again.
Steamcerely,
David Dewey

PS,
I forgot to answer Ted's and PJS' question:
Yes, the Alaskan Queen is the old River Queen, Hal Wilimunder's boat from Sacramento. It also has his calliope. I have not seen pics of her in her new surroundings. She does join company with the Delta King in having been towed from SF to Alaska. The DK stayed about 5 years, if memory serves me, before coming back to California and being shuttled around derelict and twice sunk before being finally rescued and set up in Sacramento. All her machinery went to the DQ in the mid '50s, so there was/is lots of space on her to put income producing areas like bars, meeting rooms, conference rooms, etc. Still, I hear she (boats are almost always "she" even if male-named!) is struggling to "stay afloat"-the motel/conference center biz is a tough one!
BTW, the DQ's wheel is the DK's, her shaft having suffered a terminal crack/separation some decades ago. The one on the DK is a remarkable replication. The stack is also a replica, the original is in Isleton being used as a storage shed! (The owner would NOT sell her to the DK restorers, RATS!)
OK, more Steamboatin' trivia than y'all wanted to know!
Steamcerely,
David Dewey

David: We were on the same trip on the DQ in March '07.

Jim Baker, Steam Foreman, PSRM

Jim,
Ah, YES!! I remember talking with you now! That was quite a trip. I thought we would never get to ride again, but other things happened and we rode her three times since then, including the last public trip.
Now we are in the poor house, but I don't regret it.
S'
David Dewey

Hal Wilmunder, a significant character in historic rail preservation in California, was found drowned in the Sacramento River. Apparently he fell off the River Queen, and though foul play was suspected as far as I know it was never proven. A number of the steam locomotives he collectected are still owned by his son and grandson, and located in Northern California.