Crystal Cruises will NOT exercise an option to purchase and renovate the "Big U" for cruise service.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/busin ... .html?_r=2

It's not really a blow. No one in their right mind thought this was a valid option. They did donate $350,000 to the cause and paid for docking for the last 6 months. And the conservancy now has a detailed structural survey of the ship for developers to see.

In the long run if a cruise line really wanted to honor SS United States it would be easier and more efficient to design a new ship with a retro style interior in public rooms.

It is long past time to call the question on preserving the current relic. And this from a fan of Big U.

Wesley

As sad as this news is. the point is that to save this ship would mean turning it into something that it never was nor intended to be. There is a huge difference between a luxury cruise ship and a greyhound like the 'Big U'.

I believe I read that the SOLAS modifications alone would be almost impossible to do, without major changes to the hull And the limited passenger capacity just would not allow any operator to make any money using her as a cruise ship. Unfortunately the 'nostalgia' crowd just isn't large enough, or rich enough, either, to support successful operation.

May be time for a Viking funeral for the old girl? This is just getting too painful to follow. I used to see it all of the time taking trains down to the S. Philly yard, looking under the Whitman Bridge at it. It's like a ghost.

It is a reminder that preserving and restoring trains, as difficult as it may be, is about 1000% easier than ships.

And restoring ships can be considerably easier if you can get them into fresh water, as the folks who manage the USS SLATER correctly observed early in their restoration project.

PC

PCook made an interesting comment with respect to the Slater and fresh water. I wonder if there is a city or group on the Great Lakes that could use the ship as a moored convention center and/or tourist attraction. There was something on Facebook about the carrier Kennedy going to Maine for similar use.

Just an idea-

The idea of bringing the Kennedy to Portland ME was nixed in 2011. At the time there was another possible group looking to acquire it but I don't know where that stands now.

Bob D.

the locks on the welland canal are only 740 feet long, 80 feet wide.

The United States being 990 feet long would never fit, though seeing her in a place like Chicago would be amazing. It sadly could never happen.

Boggles the mind. A dozen RR museums could feel fat and happy on what they spend to just keep that thing at a dock. Rich people sure do like boats....

I've been a fan of this ship for a long long time and it's been sad to see her sit all these years with no real chance of ever being able to return to the sea under her own power. Perhaps it is time to let her go with a Viking funeral.

What boggles my mind is how no one seems willing to accept the possibility of turning her into a waterfront attraction. Everyone seems to be "She needs to be running or she needs to be sunk." Why is the possibility of turning her into a giant mall/museum such a terrible idea?

The people who seem to know about such matters report that she's a shell inside--in other words, nothing to preserve inside.
And, as anyone who has ever put a restaurant inside a parked railroad car will tell you, there are far more practical methods to create shopping or museum space than working within the confines of an old hulk of rust, toxic waste, and the like.

Link to multi-part Exploring SS United States series on YouTube, the first episode leads you to the subsequent videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0obAXTS93ck

PC