Liberty Square River Boat Refurb

yensidtlaw1969

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
Wow, I keep getting an Image of the boat being pulled across the entrance to MK and then a rope snapping or them going to fast and the boat tipping over . . . how awful would that be! I'm sure they have some way to secure it so they're sure that won't happen, but if it did that would be one sight to see, and one waste of a boat! Let's hope they're very careful with my Liberty Bell -- I want her back!


Yensid "Ever the optimist:rolleyes: " tlaw1969
 
Chape19714

Chape19714

Well-Known Member
Just hope and pray we don't have a Joe Fowler repeat episode.

And I'm with Marni1971, answers to those rech. questions would be much appriciated.
 
yensidtlaw1969

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
Chape19714 said:
Just hope and pray we don't have a Joe Fowler repeat episode.

And I'm with Marni1971, answers to those rech. questions would be much appriciated.
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What exactly happened with the Joe Fowler? I know it's been out of commission for a while, I just don't know what happened to it. It's a shame really, I personally think it was a much nicer looking boat than the Liberty Belle. Seemed to be to the Liberty Belle like the Dauntless was to the Interceptor in POTC -- The Dauntless was the power of the waters and was much larger and more regal, while the Interceptor was smaller and less regal (although in the ROA they went the same speed). Does that make sense?

Yensid "Everyone, stay calm. We're Taking over the Ship" tlaw1969
 
Chape19714

Chape19714

Well-Known Member
yensidtlaw1969 said:
What exactly happened with the Joe Fowler? I know it's been out of commission for a while, I just don't know what happened to it. It's a shame really, I personally think it was a much nicer looking boat than the Liberty Belle. Seemed to be to the Liberty Belle like the Dauntless was to the Interceptor in POTC -- The Dauntless was the power of the waters and was much larger and more regal, while the Interceptor was smaller and less regal (although in the ROA they went the same speed). Does that make sense?

Yensid "Everyone, stay calm. We're Taking over the Ship" tlaw1969
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Well...The Joe Fowler's Hull pretty much snapped in half, destroying the ship while in dry dock several years ago. That's the story I've heard....There's also some rumors about the life vest of the previous Joe Fowler being onboard the current Joe Fowler that runs from the TTC to the MK. I can't confrim/deny that though. It's a pretty interesting story...I'll see if I can find a site on it I remember visiting...I'll post it here if/when I find it.
 
eclipseSD

eclipseSD

Member
Outside of the Mississippi or Ohio Rivers, where else can you board and ride a paddlewheel boat?!!
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Disneyland

50th_mark_twain.jpg


The original Mark Twain is still king of all Disney waters IMO.
 
Horizons78

Horizons78

Grade "A" Funny...
Chape19714 said:
Well...The Joe Fowler's Hull pretty much snapped in half, destroying the ship while in dry dock several years ago. That's the story I've heard.....
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Yeppers.....she was dropped by accident causing terminal damage to the hull. Supposedly, her remains are at the bottom of Bay Lake.

Chape19714 said:
Just hope and pray we don't have a Joe Fowler repeat episode.....
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Well....if they do.....lol.....all outta boats! :lol: Let's hope for the best.
 
S

sherbertlemons

New Member
Chape19714 said:
Well...The Joe Fowler's Hull pretty much snapped in half, destroying the ship while in dry dock several years ago. That's the story I've heard....There's also some rumors about the life vest of the previous Joe Fowler being onboard the current Joe Fowler that runs from the TTC to the MK. I can't confrim/deny that though. It's a pretty interesting story...I'll see if I can find a site on it I remember visiting...I'll post it here if/when I find it.
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Congratulations. You've finally gotten me to de-lurk.

I'm a former riverboat cast member, and I know for a fact that one of the life rings from the Richard F. Irvine used to lie inside the Liberty Belle. It actually disappeared shortly before the rehab, and the cast members were all very sad about it. Part of that is because the hull of the Belle is actually the hull off the Irvine. Maybe that was what you were remembering.

Incidentally, there's a picture hanging in the captain's quarters- or was, at least- of that same life ring and the last four cast members trained on the Irvine. It's a really neat sentimental little detail for all the Boat's cast members.
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
sherbertlemons said:
Congratulations. You've finally gotten me to de-lurk.

I'm a former riverboat cast member, and I know for a fact that one of the life rings from the Richard F. Irvine used to lie inside the Liberty Belle. It actually disappeared shortly before the rehab, and the cast members were all very sad about it. Part of that is because the hull of the Belle is actually the hull off the Irvine. Maybe that was what you were remembering.

Incidentally, there's a picture hanging in the captain's quarters- or was, at least- of that same life ring and the last four cast members trained on the Irvine. It's a really neat sentimental little detail for all the Boat's cast members.
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Neat, thanks for the info.

BTW - Welcome :wave:
 
Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
Also, is the RoA water pumped out? If so where to and where is the pumping station? This particularly highlights the forward thinking when Phase One was constructed! I'd also assume that to refill the river, the pumps are reversed, rather than opening the lock gates slightly? Or are they used as a sluice gate?
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The water level in the RoA is kept slightly higher than the Bay Lake level. This is the reason for a full two-gate lock between the two, rather than just a simple gate. You need the full lock to transfer boats between the two.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no holding tank or reservoir backstage for all that water, so my guess is that they'll just pump it all out into Bay Lake and then reverse the process when it comes time to re-fill.
And to those wanting to go for the draining, it's most likely a multi-day project, so you'll have to break out your time-lapse cameras. :) (Though I'd think "pulling the drain plug" and just watching it all drain away would be cool to watch. ;-)

And lastly, for the person wondering about the steering of the Plaza Swan Boats, there's one website with quite a lot of information about them. It says that originally they had an electric guidance system, but it failed fairly early in their lifespan. After that the boats were piloted with two water jets underneath, making the boats capable of even spinning in circles.
More info can be found at Widen Your World:
http://home.cfl.rr.com/omniluxe/psb.htm

-Rob
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
I bet it was fun keeping within the underwater rails - unless these were just to protect the castle? I thought the Swan Boats stopped in 1980 - Widen Your World is normally very accuarate, however the boats are listed neither in the 1981 vacation guidebook or the 1981/2 WDW: The first Decade book.
 
T

Tracks N Slabs

New Member
The Liberty Belle is fired on a Low Sulphur Diesel #2 that is stored in tanks located in the hull. It is pumped into the firebox via a computer controlled fire-eye. That heats and boils the water in the boiler to create the steam that is then piped to the twin engines at the rear to turn the paddle wheel.

So is it diesel or steam? Yes
 
Bill Smugs

Bill Smugs

New Member
So it burns diesil to boil water to make steam just like the steam trains. It would be steam powered in that cas, but if it just burns the diesil to power the engines then it is diesil powered.
 
T

Tracks N Slabs

New Member
Bill Smugs said:
So it burns diesil to boil water to make steam just like the steam trains. It would be steam powered in that cas, but if it just burns the diesil to power the engines then it is diesil powered.
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You got it, the only real difference between the boat and trains firing, is that onboard the boat the fire is controlled by the computerized fire-eye, and on the trains it is maintained by the CM in the fireman role.
 

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