Farewell to a Queen
After 82 years, Congress may ban historic Mississippi riverboat from operation.
Oct. 25, 2008 — -- On the river the calliope -- sounding as bright and bouncy as a circus parade -- heralds the arrival of royalty: The Delta Queen, graceful as ever, is gliding along the Ohio River just as steamboats have done since Mark Twain's earliest memories.
On this voyage, her majesty is tinged with melancholy. The last of the great stern-wheelers is steaming toward its final berth.
"It's a terrible heartbreak," says Bill Wiemuth, the ship historian who also fills in as a piano player and lecturer onboard the Delta Queen. But this year Congress refused to exempt the Delta Queen from a 1966 law that bans wooden boats from carrying more than 50 passengers on overnight trips. The Delta Queen can no longer carry passengers after Oct. 31.
Its giant red wheel has been turning for 82 years. Built at enormous expense -- nearly $1 million at the time -- to lure travelers from Pullman cars and early automobiles, the Delta Queen first steamed between San Francisco and Sacramento. During World War II, it was pressed into service as a troop transport and hospital ferry. Ever since, it has cruised Middle America along the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.
It's still in fine form, fitted with crystal chandeliers, grand staircases of rich mahogany, Tiffany lamps and teak railings. Life onboard hasn't changed much, from the Southern hospitality to the staff's enthusiastic embrace of another era, including the nightly entertainment of banjo music and burlesque acts.
"We're not just employees," Wiemuth says of the Delta Queen crew. "We are helping to preserve an American treasure. We are curators of a museum."
Many of the passengers are repeat customers who revel in the rhythm of cruising at a measured pace of 8 to 10 miles an hour. In her comfortable quarters, they play cards or chess. On the decks, passengers relax in rocking chairs and just watch the river go by.
"It's like stepping back in time where the world slows down just a little," according to Kathleen Horgan. The St. Louis woman and her husband, Larry, are on their 22nd Delta Queen cruise. Says Larry,
"This is the stuff of Tom Sawyer that Mark Twain has written about," says Larry Horgan. "And here we are, in the 21st century, living that same life."
Related Stories
ABC News Live