Lift Lock and Marine Railway
When we are finished with the Trent Severn Waterways 44 locks we will have done a total of 110 lock on our Great Loop. The Tent has offered some very unique ways of lifting and lowering boats. As you read earlier we went throught the Largest Lift Lock in the World at Peterborough. However, we also went through another Lift Lock which had only a 45 foot elevation, but it was unique in that is lifted the boats over a road. This is crazy stuff. It is surprising how fast the pan drops once started down. We were lucky. When we went down, they informed us that they were going to be stopping along the way to grease some parts. It was nice to savor the moment.
Here are a few photos of some things we saw along the way.
THE BIG CHUTE!
The Big Chute I have to say was most interesting of all the locks we went in. It is actually not a lock but a Marine Railway. Boats are loaded onto a rail car that slings the boats in place then cables pull it railroad tracks up and over land 60 feet down to the water on the other side. We tied up to go watch the process before we tried it ourselves. The guys and gals on the car make this a simple job. They were very organized and knew exactly what to tell people. They were great! That took our fear of the process away. Here a few fun facts: The car can carry 100 short tons in weight. The original car was replaced with a bigger badder one. They actually started to build a lock at this site but due to post war depression there was no money for it. When the decision needed to be made about what to do next, the Sea Lamprey was discovered in the lower water. If they put a lock in it would spread them to Lake Couchichin and Lake Simpcoe. So No lock. They put a new, larger marine railway.
Both of these locks were exciting, but the marine railway takes the cake for being our best of the 110 locks we went through.
Thanks for reading,
Karen and Scott
Unique Random Photo of The Day: