A Peek Behind The Curtain

[HostDave]

Sep 7, 2012
By Greg Brown, Executive Vice President

Did you ever notice how popular some of those cable TV shows have become that tell you how things are made? They show you how candy is made, baseball bats are carved, ladders are put together and even how tubas are crafted. It seems like there’s nothing they won’t show. Some are absolutely fascinating and, admittedly, some not so much. It turns out that the manufacture of paperclips does not make for riveting primetime viewing.

However, what those programs do show is our fascination with the story behind the story. We love to get behind the scenes and see how things come together. Look at something fantastic and we can’t help but wonder how it came to be. As you can imagine, one of the most interesting subjects is how the American Queen returned to service. She had been laid-up for years and we were certainly worried a bit about her condition when we first hatched the idea of starting a company and returning her to the river.

Fortunately for us, she had been properly climate-controlled during her multi-year lay-up so our fears that she might be filled with mold and mildew while sitting in the hot Texas sun in Beaumont were unfounded. What we did find, however, is that she needed some updating, fresh paint, cleaning and a new paddlewheel.

It sounds minor but it was anything but. Especially those first few days before we got the generators working to blow cool air into the boat. We all lived and worked aboard and other than mosquitoes so big they could carry off a cat, it was just like a picnic…but with more sweating and swearing!

Eventually, we moved her to a shipyard in Sulphur, Louisiana which, as far as heat was concerned, was equivalent to moving from the frying pan into the fryer. There was something a bit disturbing about the fact that until we got the galley up and running, the easiest way to make breakfast was to fry an egg on deck!

But things quickly got moving and we were reupholstering, overhauling the engines and painting like mad men and women. Did I mention that a steamboat well over a football field long takes a lot of paint? I mean a whole lot of paint? But we didn’t just add a coat of new paint. Instead, we restored her to her original paint scheme when she was first built in 1995. Matching colors wasn’t easy, but we’re thrilled with the outcome.

We also had to build a new paddlewheel. The old one was serviceable but, unused for a few years, not structurally sound enough to propel the American Queen along the rivers. By the time we got the new lumber delivered and started the assembly process, the shipyard looked as if a giant had scattered enormous toothpicks across the landscape.

We also restored the calliope and the sounds of an authentic steam-powered piano once again echoed off the hills. And I do mean echoed off the hills. I love the calliope dearly but that thing is loud! If you don’t know the American Queen is coming around the bend, then you’re not paying attention!

One of our least favorite tasks was scraping the hull clean and giving it a new coat of anti-fouling paint. During her lay-up, the American Queen’s hull had grown a fare number of barnacles and we had to scrape the layer off just as you would if you were restoring an older house and scraping a popcorn ceiling. It’s just as messy, but smells a whole lot worse!

The results of all that hard labor are what you see today on the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. The American Queen is the belle of the ball wherever she goes and every time I see her, it reminds me of those long hours last year. But it was truly a labor of love for all of us. We are honored to be her caretaker and continue to work to make sure she stays just as grand as ever.

Once we got the American Queen back in service, we discovered that she also needs plenty of maintenance. Other than cleaning and painting, scraping rust and oiling machinery, she also undergoes a series of cosmetic improvements every day. One day we might be cleaning and replacing grout in a bathroom, the next day adding new carpet in a suite. Wallpaper gets replaced, scratched furniture polished and chairs covered with new fabric when they first start to show signs of wear and tear.

Maintaining and operating the American Queen is a bit like the folks who paint the Golden Gate Bridge. Supposedly, it takes two years to paint the entire bridge and once the painters get to end, it’s time to start all over again. We’re always doing work on the boat to make sure she’s up to our guests’ high standards. And I have to admit, we’re pretty proud of the results!