Drove back into Lockport today to take a cruise on the Erie Canal. We
were warned before we got on the boat that the steps leading up to the
top deck were narrow and that we should use the handrails, how then
did I still manage to fall up the step? We started out just down
stream from the upside bridge which apparently the rail road company
built this way to carry extra weight so they could compete with the
barges taking goods along the canal. Another story is that it was
built this way so that the taller loads would not be able to pass
along the canal and would have to be transported on the railroad. The
barges however never had tall loads, just wide loads so the upside
down bridge did not hinder the movement of goods along the canal like
the railroad company hoped.
After passing under the upside down bridge we came to Locks 34 and 35
which are an engineering marvel. The canal was hand dug between 1817
and 1825 and these locks allowed boats to be raised and lowered 49
feet to overcome the elevation of the Niagara Escarpment. These locks
were enlarged in the early 1900’s but they still work the same way as
they originally did. We drove in through a door which shut behind us.
In front of us was another door that was 25 feet high. Once the door
was closed water is allowed into the lock and this raised us up level
with the water on the otherside of the door in front of us. When the
water was equal the door was opened and we went into another lock and
the same thing happened all over. While we were going up the canal
there were other boats in the locks with us that were going the
opposite direction. It was pretty cool to watch, we could see the
water level rising by watching the ladders that were attached to the
inside of the locks, each rung was a foot from the next. The whole
process took less than 20 minutes.
Afterwards we rode up the canal for a while, passing under the widest
bridge in the States, before turning around (we didn’t want to end up
at Niagara Falls) and heading back through the locks. We also passed
under 2 lift bridges that did not open from the middle like a regular
bridge but rather lifted straight up so that people can still walk
over them while the barges are passing below. The whole trip took
about 2 hours, and it was a nice way to pass the afternoon.

Mike: "15 miles on the Erie Canal" I'm singing, can you tell?