Maid of the Mist
There has been numerous copies of this little Tug / Ferry / Tour Boat over the years.
Here is a quick overview;
Maid of the Mist I
Years of service: 1846–54
Type: double-stack steamboat ferry
Engine: 1 sidewheel steam
A second Maid of the Mist I was built in 1854
Years of service: 1854–60
Length: 72 feet (22 m)
Type: single-stack steamer
Engine: paddle boat
While on his 1860 tour of Canada, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), rode on Maid of the Mist.[2] With business dwindling and the resulting financial pressures, the ships were sold. The impending American Civil War contributed to the issue[citation needed] and the final boat was sold to a Montreal firm in 1860. Service was not restored until 1895, when two new boats were constructed and launched under a new partnership, Maid of the Mist Steamboat Company.
Stereoscopic view of Maid of the Mist II, c. 1896–1906
Maid of the Mist I, this one sailed closer to Horseshoe Falls than any had previously.
Years of service: 1885–1955
Type: steam boat
Engine: N/A
Maid of the Mist II
Years of service: 1892–1955
Type: white oak steam boat
Length: 89 feet (27 m)
Engine: 2 engine steam
These boats sailed the lower river until April 22, 1955, when they burned in a pre-season accident. Later that year, they were replaced by two new ships. The type and style of the boats is still seen today; they were made of steel and powered by diesel engines.
Maid of the Mist I
Years of service: 1955–90
Length: 66 feet (20 m)
Engine: 200 horsepower (150 kW) diesel engines
Passengers: 101
Maid of the Mist II
Years of service: 1956–83
Type: all-steel boat, twin of I
Engine: 200 horsepower (150 kW) diesel engines
Passengers: 101
Maid of the Mist is well known for her role in the 9 July 1960, rescue of Roger Woodward, a seven-year-old boy who became the first person to survive a plunge over the Horseshoe Falls with nothing but a life jacket. The boat involved in the rescue (Maid of the Mist II) was retired from service in 1983 and relocated to the Amazon River, where she served as a missionary ship for some years.[1]
Access to the river-level attraction on the Canadian side was provided by the Maid of the Mist Incline Railway, a funicular railway, between 1894 and 1990, to travel between street level and the boat dock.[3] As this service proved increasingly inadequate in transporting the growing passenger base of the 1990s, four high-speed elevators replaced the railway by the start of the 1991 tourist season. The same year, The Prince and Princess of Wales, and their two young sons, Princes William and Harry, rode on Maid of the Mist.[4] On the American side, the dock is reached by four elevators enclosed in the observation tower.[5]
Maid of the Mist III
Years of service: 1972–97
Length: 65 feet (20 m)
Gross tonnage: 75[6]
Engine: single 250 horsepower (190 kW) diesel
Passengers: 210
Maid of the Mist IV
Years of service: 1976–2013
Length: 72 feet (22 m)
Gross tonnage: 75[7]
Engine: two 250 horsepower (190 kW) diesel
Passengers: 300
Maid of the Mist V
Years of service: 1983–2013
Length: 72 feet (22 m)
Gross tonnage: 74[8]
Engine: two 355 horsepower (265 kW) diesel
Passengers: 300
Maid of the Mist VI
Years of service: 1990–present
Length: 74 feet (23 m)
Breadth: 30 feet (9.1 m)
Depth: 10 feet (3.0 m)
Gross tonnage: 155[9]
Engine: two 355 horsepower (265 kW) diesel
Passengers: 600
Alexisonfire's 2009 "Young Cardinals" music video was shot on Maid of the Mist VI
Maid of the Mist VII
Years of service: 1997–present;
Length: 80 feet (24 m)
Breadth: 30 feet (9.1 m)
Depth: 10 feet (3.0 m)
Gross tonnage: 155[10]
Engine: two 350 horsepower (260 kW) diesel
Passengers: 600
Tug Hercules
Fireman Rick
