At the base of the 1st funnel, and probably the other two as well, there's a small hatch towards the bow. I tried it one time, and it opened to the maze of structural supports as shown in your pic. Last time I was onboard, I tried to open it again, but it's now locked. Too many like me, I guess. The original funnels collapsed due to rust on the pier when they were removed to access the boilers. Heard they were standing merely due to the number of coats of paint. Remnants of her 1st funnel are in the heap of debris in the lower left. Her new aluminum funnels, while not vintage, are certainly spot-on for the originals. Phil

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
That image of QM being rebuilt in the late 1960s could have just as easily been taken at a scrapyard had she not been saved.

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lasuvidaboy is 100% spot on to "what could of been".
These boards may of even had a Queen Mary rememberance topic, and she would of been nothing more then a distance memory.

Almost like in her Grey Ghost days, here's QM stripped of paint and down to one funnel during the conversion. Several decks below this solitary funnel is the new "museum" room, just forward of the Cabin Class lounge. The former airshaft space was decked over, and is now the starting place for onboard tours, and shows a collection of QM's artifacts and historic pieces. A rather creative use of an otherwise wasted space.

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Originally posted by Phil in LA:
[QB]I doubt many saw the insides of the original funnels, since I don't think the ship was open to the public prior to her conversion.
QB]

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Sorry. I should have said crew. Could the crew go up or was the space taken up with exsaust pipes?
Here are some more showing what happened to her funnels.


[IMG]http://www.sterling.rmplc.co.uk/visions/funnel12.jp g[/IMG]

LeBarryboat do you have any pictures from the top?

[ 01-17-2007: Message edited by: Cunard Fan ]

The Queen Mary conversion could have been handled MUCH differently if they had simply built the Maritime Museum offshore in the guise of the Ship's Pier Terminal alongside the ship. The pier terminal could have housed the Museum while leaving the Queen Mary intact. Perhaps, even rebuilding her back to its original 1936 configuration. This wuld have been the cheapest option for the ship.

I only wish that Long Beach would have looked at other viable proposals for the Museum instead of approving on the business model which was a total disaster from start to finish.

However, I do believe that everything that was done to the Queen Mary can be reverse to the idea that I suggested on another forum. That's my view on the QM. I do agree that the QM is so much popular now than it was when it served as an oceanliner. Thus, like the SS Great Britain, it survives to this day by default.

Two very important ships that would have otherwise been scrapped long ago were it not by a miracle. Let's hope that same can be applied to the SS Norway, SS United States, and the MV Augustus.

[ 01-17-2007: Message edited by: Redlinekid2 ]

Go figure: US track gauge, 4-feet 8 1/2 inches. Mainline AAR "Plate B" clearance, between lines 10-feet 6 inches. Intertrack spacing, eight feet!

Mighty WIDE funnels, I should think. Or mighty tight clearances!

[ 01-18-2007: Message edited by: Cambodge ]

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Originally posted by Cambodge:
I know that the drawing has been posted before, and that someone will post it here. The superlatives re the size of Queen's funnels were a bit overdone in a contemporary drawing of three US steam locomotives, abreast, charging through them.

Go figure: US track gauge, 4-feet 8 1/2 inches. Mainline AAR "Plate B" clearance, between lines 10-feet 6 inches. Intertrack spacing, eight feet!

Mighty WIDE funnels, I should think. Or mighty tight clearances!

[ 01-18-2007: Message edited by: Cambodge ]

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This is not the classic image of the locomotives going through the funnels in the mid-1930s, but I found this different image in a nifty little post-War Cunard pamphlet called "The World's Wonder Ships":

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Originally posted by Cambodge:
I know that the drawing has been posted before, and that someone will post it here. The superlatives re the size of Queen's funnels were a bit overdone in a contemporary drawing of three US steam locomotives, abreast, charging through them.

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This one?