A few minutes ago the House passed the Coast Guard Appropriations bill--which contained an amendment granting the Delta Queen steamboat and exemption from the Safety Of Ships At Sea law (which never should have applied to the Rivers!)and now restoration will begin to bring her back into service! It has Taken ten years and lots of educating government folks about her--in spite of the American Cruise Lines CEO spending a half-million dollars on a lobbyist to try to prevent the bill from passing by spreading misinformation. The underdog won this one!!
The Delta Queen was built in 1927, so there's sort-of a T relationship.
Picture of the Delta Queen docking at Memphis on her last (to now) public cruise Oct 31,2008.The yellow banner on the top railing is my "Save the Delta Queen" banner; the next-to-last cabin door on the top deck is "our" cabin--about the size of a small closet; when you take a shower, you have to step out of the shower to turn around.

Good news. I know you were wanting this to happen for a long time.

Wonderful!

I have seen that ole girl up and down the Tennessee River from my house many times. What a Beautiful Boat, playing her organ as she goes by. About time those morons in Washington get something right. It was probably in a stack of papers and they didn't see what it really was.

ALL THE BEST,

Hank in Tin-A-See

Have also seen her on the Tennessee River many times in my life. My Mom had 8mm movies of her going up the river at Savannah TN in the 60's. Great news. Been a long time coming.

David, you have worked very hard for this and I congratulate you. I expect to see her docking in St. Louis again one of these days.

Didn't she and the Belle of Louisville have a number of epic races on the Ohio River? We were on the Belle for her 100th birthday a few years back. Fun time!

The New Moses will be pleased.

Great news David! About time they come to their senses.
A group I belong to up here continues to educate the national/international "powers that be" about historical (pressure vessels) boilers and the workings there-in.
They focus on traction engines but with a lot of luck and some wishing, it trickles around to other significant boilers like the Delta Queen!

And they said a hundred years ago that steam was dead. NOT! Nor will it ever be.
Haha! Side note/question for those that don't know: What powers the (now) jet fighters that whoosh off the decks of the ships they live on?
Springs?? No.
Steam.
Simple steam.

Duey, You might not know that the new Catapults will use EMALS which is an Electromagnetic launch system in place of steam.

When I was in the Navy I worked on the Arresting Gear and Catapults. The steam launching system in use then were very powerful but high maintenance and also required warm up time. The working area was too HOT for me so I enjoyed the flight deck and aircraft recovery till I left the ship.

William, Yes she did, and I was there when "we" turned over the antlers to the Belle for safe-keeping until the DQ returns.
Steve, I wonder how many understand your reference? BTW, the picture is on the Sacramento River and I believe the DQ & DK's predecessor, the Sutter is on the far right. If you look closely you can tell the boats don't really have two stacks! California boats usually had a single center stack.
Gene; say it ain't so!! Originally steam was used also because there was lots of steam generated for the propulsion engines.

Dave, Earlier catapults used Hydraulic under pressure. As aircraft got heavier they found out the steam cats could develop much more power. It was a no brainer to convert to Steam and very successful it was!

Very cool ship and thanks for posting

That IS good news.

D.D., is that boat steel construction? Dave in Bellingham, WA

DAvid S, It is a composite, steel hull (double hull now)and some steel structure above the first deck, and supporting the pilot house. It's estimated that the boat is now less than 40% wood. however all but the first deck cabins open to the open decks, and the first deck cabins have large windows onto the deck that can be used for escape, if needed. She runs in waters that aren't as deep as the boat is tall, and is never more than 5 minutes from land (designed to be beached for docking with a "gangplank" (in steamboating it's called a "stage") to reach the shore easily (you can see it in that picture). In addition she has a military grade sprinkler system and fire/heat detection system. There is a watch person who roams the boat, tagging in at stations all around the boat 24 hours. I feel safer on board than I do at home--and safer than when I'm flying somewhere to board her. Her 85 plus year safety record speaks for itself.

David, thank you for posting this. One of my life-long dreams is to ride the Delta Queen. EOL may catch up to me before she sails again but I feel better knowing that she's not going to be scrapped. BTW, thank you again for coaching me through removing the gas tank on my '29 Briggs-bodied fordor years ago.

When I went to Bettendorf, Iowa in 1952 and worked for J.I. Case I saw one of the boats going either up or down the river and it docked for a few days in Davenport, Iowa. That was a people drawer to say the least. The steam whistle and the organ playing, and again a crowd that was happy to see her.

Bruce,
First sailings are planned for 2020! Don't wait! I waited some 35 years, and don't regret a day on the boat!!
I assume you got the tank out and back in again? Glad you asked back then as I've forgotten now--ooh, squirrel!! Boy that's been a long time ago!

Great news!!!

That's great news, I grew up on the Ohio River in Evansville,IN and then I was transferred to Louisville, Ky I remember the Queen well and the Belle as well they had a race every year during derby week, I have some movies of this event, the Belle was much lighter and didn't hold as many people but the Queen was more powerful and could catch the Belle in the long straights but the Belle was shorter and could turn around quicker.
We spent many summers in my boat surfing behind the Queen, it would develop huge rollers from the paddle wheel, it took some skill to slip in and out between the rollers.
Great times! it was tied up im Chattanooga for several years before being towed to New Orleans for a total refit.

Rick

That would have the makings of a great Model T tour. Drive or trailer the Ts to point A on the river. Take a chartered bus to Point B. Sail back on the DQ. Resume the T tour.

What was the major issue? Wood construction? The boiler? Most steam locomotives have to undergo a steam boiler inspection every so often. I think in Britain it's every 10 years. Not sure about here though. This does seem to be a reasonable requirement.

John,
The SOLAS (Safety Of Ships At Sea law prohibits any vessel with wood construction from carrying more than 50 persons overnight; it didn't differentiate between ocean going ships or river bound ships. The Delta Queens superstructure contains a lot of wood. Congress recognized that she is never more than 5 minutes from shore, is taller than the rivers are deep, and is designed to be beached to "dock" at the riverbanks. This is unlike any Ocean-going ships. The owners also added state-of-the-art detection systems and every "stateroom" (we call them cabins) opens onto the open decks, or has windows that open onto the open decks; no endless hallways to get lost in. Recognizing this, an exemption was given multiple times until 2008.
Sad to say in 2008 she was used as a pawn in a Seafarer's Union squabble, and the head of the transportation committee would not let the exemption bill out of committee. (that's how congress works, one person with power can ignore the needs of the many, or few). Safety is not, nor ever has been an issue on board the Delta Queen--over 85 years with a nearly spotless record.

I used to cruise the Sacramento Delta on my sail boat. I would travel from Santa Cruz and made it so far as to tie up at the dock in Sacramento once. The Delta Queen and the sister ship, the Delta King, were originally used for transportation from San Francisco to Sacramento and Stockton. At one time there were lots of these stern wheelers plying the Sacramento and San joaquin Rivers. occasionally the boilers would explode killing a few passengers. The captains would tie the safety valves down during races.

There are a 1,000 miles of waterway in the Sacramento Delta. It was once one great inland sea but levees were built to make islands for farming. The land is below the level of the water on the other side of the levees. After floods, several stern wheelers were used to pump water out of the islands by running the boat into a break in the levee and using the paddle to push the water out of the island. After the job was done, the boat would just stay there to rot away. Eventually the engines would be hauled away for scrap.

The Delta Queen is a surviver. Let all the rest rust in pieces.