Semi-darkness cloaks the wreck, but the explosion hole created during the 1914 salvage operation becomes a doorway into the past.

The designated route initially reveals the way to the 1st class dining area.Once elegant and ornate little remains of  former dining splendor. Time simply decays so much in the water.  Only table bases and brass posts cling to the deck. Superb meals for the privileged had been prepared in the spotless 1st class pantry.

 The solid bronze serving tables have survived the assault of time.  Most materials succumb to the effects of salt water and usually corrode or rot.  The distinct checkerboard flooring remains clearly visible after 80 years submerged.   
(Serving Table Video Clip) (From the video "Empress of Ireland - Lost Not Forgotten" by SeaView Imaging.  To buy this video click here.)   (Computer Animation provided by Moving Graphics)

The comfortable 1st class cabins have not fared so well. The sturdy dressers and beds seem to have disappeared.   Emptiness reigns.  ---  The trappings of elegance have fallen from the walls leaving the framework of the hull exposed.
 
 

Loose wires and cables are deadly garrets for the careless explorer. Amongst the rubble, the remnants of a stateroom dresser shelter an intact porcelain sink.
 
 
 

The ships' cheerful nursery no longer exists.  The remains cradled somewhere in the darkness.  Only the spirits of children peer thru its porthole at the St. Lawrence flowing by.  (Porthole Video Clip)  (From the video "Empress of Ireland - Lost Not Forgotten" by SeaView Imaging.  To buy this video click here.)
Tired chairs cower beneath layers of ghostly silt.  The disturbed sediment swirls amid the destruction.

The magnificent grand staircase, crafted to endure, also has collapsed.

The bottom step and corner post stubbornly resist obscurity.
  (Grandstaircase Video Clip)  (From the video "Empress of Ireland - Lost Not Forgotten" by SeaView Imaging.  To buy this video click here.)
 

The third class dining room was not so elaborately built.  Located in the lower confines of the liner, modest but sufficient provisions were served.
A hatchway to this area is entered cautiously. ---  Even experienced divers may hesitate .  Those who have studied the ships plans still find it easy to become disoriented.
Lights illuminate the blackness.  When their lights failed, third class passengers had little chance of escape.  Water rushed through open bulkhead doors.  The hallways and stairways were unfamiliar.  These people were doomed.
 

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