[Jon Tschiggfrie]

Since there's been some renewed interest in calliopes aboard the Streckfus steamers lately, I thought I'd put up more items from my years of collecting documents/artifacts for my research (this before I knew I would be doing the research in college).

Here is a video of Capt. Gabriel Chengery playing "Avalon" at the American Queen's calliope in late summer of 1999, southbound out of Lock 11 at Dubuque: YouTube - American Queen steam calliope 2. The first two photos below are also from this occasion.

The second video at YouTube - Belle of Louisville steam calliope 2 details Travis playing "Margie" on board the Belle sometime in the summer of 2005. Note just how windy it was that day - the 70 lbs of pressure barely had the strength to push that steam up until the gusts caught it ashore!

Finally, YouTube - Delta Queen steam calliope 2 reproduces the tail end of an interview Travis gave us for public access television in Dubuque that same summer. Here, he tickles the ivories of the famed Delta Queen steam calliope with his rendition of "Play a Simple Melody." The last image below is of the first time I was allowed back on the roof sometime before 2000. Note the shape of the manifold, the double-chromatic arrangement of the whistles which in recent years has been reversed, the bright metallic sheen of each bell which also seems to have been neglected of late, and the original white (NOT RED) paint job on the gingerbread decorations.