Ranger Headquarters

Ranger Headquarters
Big Pine National Forest, Knotty Pine
Showing posts with label riverboat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label riverboat. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

RB032 The Floating Death Trap

  RANGER BILL for Tuesday, June 23, 2026 , RB032

The Floating Death Trap

Riverboats carry freight and passengers between Knotty Pine and Mirror Lake and Kings Islands. Andy Coogan and Jim Gunderson are fierce competitors for the tourists visiting the Mirror Lake region. Bill will not give Andy a passengers license because his boat is dangerous. His stacks leak. Deck planks need to be replaced. The boiler is a threat to human life.
Andy says Bill is hurting him to help Gunderson. Andy asks several of Knotty Pine's influential citizens to pressure Bill to change his decision.
Will Andy do the right thing and fix his riverboat or will Bill give in to pressure and let Andy stay on the river? Will Andy continue to run his boat or will it break down and end the debate?


OTRR #193

Thursday, August 28, 2025

RB032 The Floating Death Trap

  RANGER BILL for Monday evening, Aug. 25, 2025 , RB032

The Floating Death Trap

Riverboats carry freight and passengers between Knotty Pine and Mirror Lake and Kings Islands. Andy Coogan and Jim Gunderson are fierce competitors for the tourists visiting the Mirror Lake region. Bill will not give Andy a passengers license because his boat is dangerous. His stacks leak. Deck planks need to be replaced. The boiler is a threat to human life.
Andy says Bill is hurting him to help Gunderson. Andy asks several of Knotty Pine's influential citizens to pressure Bill to change his decision.
Will Andy do the right thing and fix his riverboat or will Bill give in to pressure and let Andy stay on the river? Will Andy continue to run his boat or will it break down and end the debate?


OTRR #193

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

RB032 The Floating Death Trap

  RANGER BILL for Monday evening, Nov. 4, 2024 , RB032

The Floating Death Trap

Riverboats carry freight and passengers between Knotty Pine and Mirror Lake and Kings Islands. Andy Coogan and Jim Gunderson are fierce competitors for the tourists visiting the Mirror Lake region. Bill will not give Andy a passengers license because his boat is dangerous. His stacks leak. Deck planks need to be replaced. The boiler is a threat to human life.
Andy says Bill is hurting him to help Gunderson. Andy asks several of Knotty Pine's influential citizens to pressure Bill to change his decision.
Will Andy do the right thing and fix his riverboat or will Bill give in to pressure and let Andy stay on the river? Will Andy continue to run his boat or will it break down and end the debate?


OTRR #193

Saturday, September 28, 2024

RB032 The Floating Death Trap

  RANGER BILL for early Saturday morning, Sept. 28, 2024 ,

The Floating Death Trap

Riverboats carry freight and passengers between Knotty Pine and Mirror Lake and Kings Islands. Andy Coogan and Jim Gunderson are fierce competitors for the tourists visiting the Mirror Lake region. Bill will not give Andy a passengers license because his boat is dangerous. His stacks leak. Deck planks need to be replaced. The boiler is a threat to human life.
Andy says Bill is hurting him to help Gunderson. Andy asks several of Knotty Pine's influential citizens to pressure Bill to change his decision.
Will Andy do the right thing and fix his riverboat or will Bill give in to pressure and let Andy stay on the river? Will Andy continue to run his boat or will it break down and end the debate?

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Floating Death Trap - RB032

  RANGER BILL for Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 ,

The Floating Death Trap

Riverboats carry freight and passengers between Knotty Pine and Mirror Lake and Kings Islands. Andy Coogan and Jim Gunderson are fierce competitors for the tourists visiting the Mirror Lake region. Bill will not give Andy a passengers license because his boat is dangerous. His stacks leak. Deck planks need to be replaced. The boiler is a threat to human life.
Andy says Bill is hurting him to help Gunderson. Andy asks several of Knotty Pine's influential citizens to pressure Bill to change his decision.
Will Andy do the right thing and fix his riverboat or will Bill give in to pressure and let Andy stay on the river? Will Andy continue to run his boat or will it break down and end the debate?

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Floating Death Trap - RB032

 RANGER BILL for Wednesday, February 2, 2022 ,

The Floating Death Trap

Riverboats carry freight and passengers between Knotty Pine and Mirror Lake and Kings Islands. Andy Coogan and Jim Gunderson are fierce competitors for the tourists visiting the Mirror Lake region. Bill will not give Andy a passengers license because his boat is dangerous. His stacks leak. Deck planks need to be replaced. The boiler is a threat to human life.
Andy says Bill is hurting him to help Gunderson. Andy asks several of Knotty Pine's influential citizens to pressure Bill to change his decision.
Will Andy do the right thing and fix his riverboat or will Bill give in to pressure and let Andy stay on the river? Will Andy continue to run his boat or will it break down and end the debate?

Saturday, July 24, 2021

Knotty Pine Gazette - Riverboat Races on the Shady River

 Residents of Knotty Pine and others up and down the Shady River are in for a real treat this summer. Knotty Pine will host riverboat races on the Shady River. These races will pit the River Queen, owned by Andy Coogan, against the Mountain Streak, owned by Jim Gunderson. Stern-wheel boatmen Coogan and Gunderson have been long-time competitors and bitter rivals until recent events nearly destroyed Coogan's ship. Both Gunderson and Coogan have taken freight and passengers from Knotty Pine to Mirror Lake and the King's Islands. Chief Ranger Bill Jefferson refused Coogan's passenger license earlier this year for poor maintenance (see RB032 Floating Death Trap). Not long after, Coogan's boat caught fire moving freight on Mirror Lake. Mr. Coogan tells the GAZETTE that the boat fire along with much support from Ranger Bill and his rangers made a major change in Coogan's life. "I was not satisfied with cutting corners to make a profit," stated Coogan. "My attitude about God and my relationship with the Almighty changed for the better. I decided to quit cutting corners and live a God-pleasin' life. Me and Jim Gunderson patched things up between us, and now we're good friends. And I didn't just get the River Queen repaired. I got her fixed up good. Now she looks and works like a brand new boat." Andy's River Queen is now one of the most powerful and fastest ships on the Shady River. The new and improved River Queen got Jim Gunderson to make a few changes of his own. "I decided the Mountain Streak needed some improvements like the River Queen if I was gunna stay in competition with Coogan," commented Gunderson. "So I got my engine fixed up like Andy did, so I could keep up with the River Queen." Soon the two friendly competitors were having fun racing their ships. Folks along the Shady River started rooting on the two ships as they raced (with Ranger Bill's written permission) from Knotty Pine to Mirror Lake. There will be one race each weekend for at least the next four weeks between the two ships. Other ship owners along the river have gotten word of the Ranger Races, as they are unofficially called, and want to add races of their own. Ranger Bill says that permission for the races should be no problem. City officials say that radio and TV stations from around the state have been flooding city hall with requests for further information on the Ranger Races. The mayor expects a large increase in visitor traffic for the races.

RB032 The Floating Death Trap

 RANGER BILL for late Saturday morning July 24, 2021 ,

The Floating Death Trap

Riverboats carry freight and passengers between Knotty Pine and Mirror Lake and Kings Islands. Andy Coogan and Jim Gunderson are fierce competitors for the tourists visiting the Mirror Lake region. Bill will not give Andy a passengers license because his boat is dangerous. His stacks leak. Deck planks need to be replaced. The boiler is a threat to human life.
Andy says Bill is hurting him to help Gunderson. Andy asks several of Knotty Pine's influential citizens to pressure Bill to change his decision.
Will Andy do the right thing and fix his riverboat or will Bill give in to pressure and let Andy stay on the river? Will Andy continue to run his boat or will it break down and end the debate?

Chat about  the adventures of Bill, Stumpy, Henry and Gray Wolf on our Facebook page (click on the link in the right column). Email me if you are looking for CDs. or mp3 files.

Saturday, May 29, 2021

RB032 The Floating Death Trap

RANGER BILL for early Saturday morning May 29, 2021 ,

The Floating Death Trap

Riverboats carry freight and passengers between Knotty Pine and Mirror Lake and Kings Islands. Andy Coogan and Jim Gunderson are fierce competitors for the tourists visiting the Mirror Lake region. Bill will not give Andy a passengers license because his boat is dangerous. His stacks leak. Deck planks need to be replaced. The boiler is a threat to human life.
Andy says Bill is hurting him to help Gunderson. Andy asks several of Knotty Pine's influential citizens to pressure Bill to change his decision.
Will Andy do the right thing and fix his riverboat or will Bill give in to pressure and let Andy stay on the river? Will Andy continue to run his boat or will it break down and end the debate?

Chat about  the adventures of Bill, Stumpy, Henry and Gray Wolf on our Facebook page (click on the link in the right column). Email me if you are looking for CDs. or mp3 files.