Delta Queen

[Murray Whaler]

My wife and I have just completed 10 days on the Delta Queen from Pittsburg to Nashville.    We had a great time with great people.    It is my view that the Delta queen will stop running at the end of Oct. even if Concress give it a concession.   All the Majestic boats are for sale.  Lets hope the Delta Queen gets a new owner who keeps it steaming.    I would like to see some of those rivers and freshwater in Australia.

[Roderick Smith]

I made three attempts to ride Delta Queen this year; the stumbling block was the operator (Majestic Line) and its Australian agent.
Responses were slow and unhelpful.  I abandoned the effort.

The final cruise, to New Orleans, was set for October: it may have happened, but it may be over these coming days.

Googling on Delta Queen brings up a lot of calls for action, and a lot of discussion, but little hope that the USA government decision will be rescinded.

If the boat is saved, I hope that it gets a better operator.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[herrmill]

Unless a letter writing campaign can prevent this, it looks as though Delta Queen may become another hotel like her sister in Sacramento:

The Save the Delta Queen Campaign
335 W. Fifth Street #401 • Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 • Tel:  (513) 381-3571 • Email:  vjw@olypen.com
www.save-the-delta-queen.org
                                                                                           
                                                                                        NEWS
 
For immediate release
Date: January 6, 2009
 
Contact:  Vicki Webster (513) 381-3571
             Donald E. Clare, Jr. (859) 586-6431
             Allen Casey, President, River City Resort (423) 266-0804
             Joseph McCarthy, Ambassadors International, Inc. (949) 300-1785; (949) 759-5951
 
Chattanooga Resort Owner on the Brink of Destroying the Delta Queen
 
CINCINNATI – The Save the Delta Queen Campaign has just learned from a reliable source that Allen Casey, President of the River City Resort in Chattanooga, is attempting to lease the Delta Queen from Ambassadors International, tie her up, and turn her into a hotel.
 
Of necessity, the process would entail gutting the interior of the National Historic Landmark to enlarge the staterooms, as well as kitchen and sanitation facilities and install elevators and other amenities.
 
Vicki Webster, leader of the grassroots Save the Delta Queen Campaign, said, “Mr. Casey must be stopped. If he is allowed to go through with his plan it will be an act of pure evil. And Chattanooga will be forever known as the city that killed the Queen. I urge everyone who cares about this riverboat and about our country’s heritage to contact Mr. Casey, the city of Chattanooga, and Ambassadors International and implore them to halt their negotiations immediately.”
 
The Delta Queen is the last traditional steamboat carrying overnight passengers on America’s inland waterways. For that reason, she has been designated a National Historic Landmark. In 1966, she was inadvertently caught in the technical provisions of the Safety of Life at Sea Act—a law that was intended to cover ocean-going ships, not riverboats. Recognizing the difference between boats that operate on rivers, within yards of the shore, and ships that sail the high seas, Congress established an exemption for the Delta Queen in 1968. Since then, the exemption has been renewed nine times, in virtually every case by near-unanimous votes in both the House and the Senate. The current exemption expired in November.
 
Just last Monday, Kentucky preservationist Donald E. Clare, Jr. nominated the Delta Queen for inclusion on the National Trust for Preservation’s 2009 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The nomination is being enthusiastically seconded by preservationists throughout the country, and the Trust has responded favorably. In 1970, when the Queen was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Trust issued this statement:
 
The Delta Queen is the last survivor of a once thriving fleet of steam paddleboats plying the inland waters of the United States, and deserves to, indeed, must survive as a living reminder of an important era of American history. . . . The loss of the Delta Queen as an operating vessel carrying overnight passengers on the Mississippi and its tributaries would be an irreplaceable one and would remove the last remaining link with the steam-boating tradition of nineteenth and early twentieth century America.
 

[herrmill]

Here's an update I received today on MAL's Queens.  None of this is good news.

Delta Queen is leaving NOLA around Jan 29 for Chattanooga where she is being leased to a yet unnamed party.

American Queen has been at the Todd Shipyard dock on the west bank. They've removed some of the lower bucket boards to reduce drag as she crosses the Gulf headed to Beaumont, Texas to the MARAD storage fleet there. As I understood it last year, once MARAD takes ownership, they have to wait 6 months before they can accept any bids. If that is true, it makes sense to store her somewhere where docking fees aren't involved. Her move is imminent.

Mississippi Queen reported going to Madison. Many river people doubt that this will happen. MQ has been stripped down more than reported. Permits required to place at Madison would be a nightmare & would cost millions to maintain.