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Author Topic: Welland Canal  (Read 7058 times)

oldiron

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Welland Canal
« on: November 18, 2011, 03:32:34 am »

For those who may not be familiar with it, the Welland Canal runs through the southern portion of Ontario, Canada, parallel to the Niagara River. It is the means of getting vessels to and from the upper Great Lakes over the Niagara Escarpment. This video shows, in time lapse, a trip through the canal from lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The vessel is traveling north as per the compass, but downstream as per the river:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U15Fwo9tbJ4

John
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richald

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2011, 08:58:49 am »

Fascinating Video,  John.

Just one question .... what are the booms that momentarily drop
down ahead of the bows of the ship as it enters each lock for ?

Richard
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nemesis

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2011, 09:17:14 am »

Possibly to gauge the position of the vessel &/or to start the pumps, Nemesis
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oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2011, 11:47:42 am »

Fascinating Video,  John.

Just one question .... what are the booms that momentarily drop
down ahead of the bows of the ship as it enters each lock for ?

Richard

  The booms pick up and sets a heavy steel cable. If you look closely at the boom before it lowers, you'll notice there's no black line on the lowered part of the boom. When the boom is raised there is a black line. This is the safety cable that prevents the vessel from contacting the lock doors as the vessel enters the lock. You'll notice the boom lifting the cable out of the way after the vessel is secured.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2011, 12:10:00 pm »

I you look through the web site: http://www.wellandcanal.com/   it gives all sorts of information on the canal including an up to the minute map showing all commercial vessels on the seaway. Click on a specific vessel and it gives the details of the vessel. An interesting site for those interested in the canal.

John
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richald

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2011, 04:50:43 pm »

Thanks for the answer to my question John,

It is a lot clearer when you know what to look for !

Richard
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2011, 06:23:12 pm »

Yes, a very interesting video.
 I also wondering about the yellow crane / boom things too.

 1. Anyone know what ship she is?
 2. Why are the cargo hold hatches being doused with eater?

 Here's another video of her unloading...  http://youtu.be/_0UPPqI5yPM

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oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2011, 07:07:27 pm »

Martin:

  I can't say for sure what its carrying, but Superior Midwest Energy, where the off loading is being shown, is a coal handling and blending company. The vessel may be hauling down bound to Rochester, New york for power plant use. I would suspect the water is to keep the hold cool on a hot summer day.

John
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dave301bounty

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #8 on: November 18, 2011, 07:58:26 pm »

Sailed up and down that canal in the 70s,sailed on the Stagline ,Newcastle outfit ,,I would sail up on the Photinia ,as far as Duluth then join the Gloxinia and sail down to Ontario ,all in aid of getting the steam winches ready for the Australia run that followed ,was a good money earner ,and the scenery was great up the Lakes ,plus of course the Canal ,a true feat of Engineering .
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irishcarguy

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #9 on: December 02, 2011, 08:03:28 pm »

Hi John, it looks like a visit to the canal would be a much better trip to do than to the falls. I have been to the falls but not the canal. It's just a 2500 mile trip one way from my home in Calgary, pretty big country compared to living in Europe. John it looked like on a couple of occasions that the ship hit the sides, do you know if that is the case & if so how do they protect the canal walls from damage ?. Mick B (THANKS)
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Mick B.

oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #10 on: December 02, 2011, 08:41:06 pm »

Hi John, it looks like a visit to the canal would be a much better trip to do than to the falls. I have been to the falls but not the canal. It's just a 2500 mile trip one way from my home in Calgary, pretty big country compared to living in Europe. John it looked like on a couple of occasions that the ship hit the sides, do you know if that is the case & if so how do they protect the canal walls from damage ?. Mick B (THANKS)

Mick:

 For us boat types, a trip to the canal  is a much better choice. Yes, the vessels do hit the wall. They are actually supposed to put the bow against the rubbing boards on the angled docking that leads into a lock. This guides the vessel into the lock. Once in the lock a seaway sized vessel will only have about 24" or less on each side it and the wall. The vessels do travel slowly so there is no damage and the dock side has large rubbing timbers to take the wear.
  If you're ever out this way, let me know we may be able to share a pint or two and talk boats and things. The falls is only about a half hour from the canal.

John
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irishcarguy

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #11 on: December 03, 2011, 10:01:30 pm »

Thanks John, I can some beer been spilt. Mick B.
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Mick B.

oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2011, 06:11:17 pm »

I'm doing some scanning of slides I've taken over the years and came across some of these i took on the Welland Canal.



Private yacht heading into the flight locks.



Misner Shipping Ralph Misner down bound leaving the lower flight lock. The raised bridge is the CNR mainline to Niagara Falls.



Canada Steamship Lines Saguenay settling into lock three down bound.



FedNav's Federal Ottawa down bound below lock 3

John
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irishcarguy

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2011, 07:55:32 am »

John I never realised that there were such large ships on the great lakes.This raises the question for me, where are they built ? How do they get there?. My first experience was when the Edmond Fitzgerald sank with all hands & I heard Gordon Lightfoot's song & it made me curious.There must be a large industry somewhere on the lakes to build & maintain these monsters.Mick B. 
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Mick B.

oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2011, 11:08:08 am »

John I never realised that there were such large ships on the great lakes.This raises the question for me, where are they built ? How do they get there?. My first experience was when the Edmond Fitzgerald sank with all hands & I heard Gordon Lightfoot's song & it made me curious.There must be a large industry somewhere on the lakes to build & maintain these monsters.Mick B. 

  There used to be a large industry building ships on the lakes, not so much any more. At the north end of the canal is the Port Weller Dry docks that can build and does maintain any sort of commercial vessel. Here's a link showing the current building repair outfits on the lakes: http://www.greatmind.ca/  .  The business's are only a fraction of what they used to be relative to boat construction.
  I don't think there are any commercial lake carrier specific vessels built any more. During the sixties outfits like Canada Steamship Lines started building vessels that were salt water capable. This way they could be successfully used on the seas during the winter then return t the lakes in the summer (the lakes to freeze in the winter). Lake specific vessels dropped rapidly in numbers during the eighties. We lost most of the up and down steamers at that time. The turbine jobs started to disappear in the nineties. I'm not sure if any are still running the lakes or not. Many of the vessels on the lakes are from all over the world and designed for sea running. This has brought on the problem of bringing unwanted species into the great lakes. The Zebra muscle, for example, is proliferating in the lakes since the eighties since being dumped with the ballast water from some seagoing vessel. Its making a mess of the lakes Eco system.
  As to the Fitzgerald, it was a Seaway sized vessel at about 730 feet. There were many then, and a few left, running the lakes. The Saguenay and the Ralph Misner in my pictures were the same size vessels. The largest are a few 1000 footers on the upper lakes, such as the Cort and the Tregurtha. They're too long to come down through the Welland canal so stay in the upper lakes.
  You may find this site of interest : http://www.boatnerd.com/

John
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oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #15 on: December 17, 2011, 11:12:39 am »

  Here's another photo of a ship on the canal. This one was built as a lakes vessel that could do salt water service. The shot shows "Canadian Progress" up bound with lock three in the back ground.




John
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irishcarguy

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2011, 08:23:02 pm »

Hi John, I can see you are a history buff as well as a boat/ship man.Thank you, you never fail to answer a question. Mick B.
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Mick B.

oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #17 on: December 18, 2011, 09:39:29 pm »

Hi John, I can see you are a history buff as well as a boat/ship man.Thank you, you never fail to answer a question. Mick B.

Glad to help where I can Mick.

John
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Norseman

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #18 on: December 19, 2011, 01:03:33 am »

Hi

I enjoyed the video - thought it was interesting and wondered if there are any for other areas?

Dave
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oldiron

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Re: Welland Canal
« Reply #19 on: December 19, 2011, 01:08:09 am »

Hi

I enjoyed the video - thought it was interesting and wondered if there are any for other areas?

Dave

There are more videos of the canal and seaway system on Youtube.

John
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