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DandV

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16 hours ago, PeterScott said:

They are very similar shapes. Wiki says the draintrain is a British Rail Class 487 and there were twelve built in 1940 for the drain, which had no rail connection to any other railway. Ryde pier had old tubetrains for many years. Described here.

 

 

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The drain cars had minimal windows as shown on your photo. The scenery through them was always minimal, rather then tube stock which some running provided some views.

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On 15/05/2020 at 08:07, Scholar Gypsy said:

Socially distanced boating. Anchored on the Wash, June 2019

On this day in 2012 ...

L1871_20120526_0210.JPG.49730ba3b4bbb65d0b71ac8d8ff1426a.JPG

we are keeping a fair distance apart ?

on the SPCC cruise to Barking Creek and back - part of the preparations and build-up to the Queen's Jubilee Pageant that year

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36 minutes ago, PeterScott said:

On this day in 2012 ...

 

we are keeping a fair distance apart ?

on the SPCC cruise to Barking Creek and back - part of the preparations and build-up to the Queen's Jubilee Pageant that year

Thank you. I don't think I have seen that one before, hope it is OK to add to my collection.

 

River Great Ouse, last week.

 

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9 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I think CRT should have student lockies in place of the crusties

They would probably be more decorative - and we have usually found them willing and efficient. The stumbling block would be that, unlike ours who are volunteers, the students do lock work as a vacation job, enabling them to earn some money for beer books and tuition fees.

 

These wages are augmented (as are those of the full-time staff) by a pleasing bit of French diplomacy. When you're leaving the lock, you leave a coin on the last bollard. When you've left the lock and are on your way, the éclusier pockets the coin. It's a sort of financial distancing. When we first boated in France (on the Nivernais, 1994) it was a franc. Now it's a euro. That's inflation for you.

 

During that 1994 cruise we were told that German hire-boaters did not take this subtle route: they flicked a coin up for the lock-keeper to catch. Typically, the lock-keeper did so, spat on the coin and threw in into the water. Old memories evidently died hard in that part of France.

Edited by Athy
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11 hours ago, DandV said:

The drain cars had minimal windows as shown on your photo. The scenery through them was always minimal, rather then tube stock which some running provided some views.

 

Once when travelling on the Drain, just before it closed for modifications to accept London Underground rolling stock, the driver gave a running commentary, including:

 

"If you look out of the right hand side windows you will see... a black wall".

 

"If you look out of the left hand side windows you will see... another black wall".

 

"We are now cruising at an altitude of 60 feet below river level and passing directly under Old FatherThames".

 

"Thank you for travelling on British Rail Southern Region, you custom has been very much appreciated".

 

His efforts were very much appreciated by the passengers, who gave him a round of applause. 

 

Never heard anything like it since, probably the driver's freedom to comment freestyle has been regulated out of existance. ?

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12 minutes ago, PeterScott said:

On this day in 2012

River Thames. Cable car from Greenwich to Royal Docks branded Emirates Air Line

Always an irritation to forget your sandwiches  More

And I am rather proud of this photo that I took early that day. This was used  as evidence to the Planning Inspector recently, to support the (successful) arguments against the construction of more pontoons in Limehouse Basin (see July Waterways World, page 23).

 

DSCF0288.JPG.4d03d195ac95220008283bf785f9a26f.JPG

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

ADSCF0288.JPG.4d03d195ac95220008283bf785f9a26f.JPGnd I am rather proud of this photo that I took early that day. This was used  as evidence to the Planning Inspector recently, to support the (successful) arguments against the construction of more pontoons in Limehouse Basin (see July Waterways World, page 23).

 

 

 

L1871_20120526_0001a.jpg.a83ece16e511f5ddc3f77cad1f2ddab2.jpgYes, my WW just dropped through the letterbox and I was reading that bit in the news. Excellent stuff. My version of the pic was at 0644, was from just a bit of social distancing to your right. Your has an extra boat in the nearest clump, so maybe eaven earlier ? Nine boats breasted was fun.

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22 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

to support the (successful) arguments against the construction of more pontoons in Limehouse Basin

 

That looks like a very good argument for needing more pontoons - just make sure they are free visitor moorings rather than letting the marina charge for them.

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6 hours ago, Athy said:

They would probably be more decorative - and we have usually found them willing and efficient. The stumbling block would be that, unlike ours who are volunteers, the students do lock work as a vacation job, enabling them to earn some money for beer books and tuition fees.

 

These wages are augmented (as are those of the full-time staff) by a pleasing bit of French diplomacy. When you're leaving the lock, you leave a coin on the last bollard. When you've left the lock and are on your way, the éclusier pockets the coin. It's a sort of financial distancing. When we first boated in France (on the Nivernais, 1994) it was a franc. Now it's a euro. That's inflation for you.

 

During that 1994 cruise we were told that German hire-boaters did not take this subtle route: they flicked a coin up for the lock-keeper to catch. Typically, the lock-keeper did so, spat on the coin and threw in into the water. Old memories evidently died hard in that part of France.

So many issues here it might need another thread!

 

Which is better:

 

1. A keeper at every lock

2. Travelling keepers you have to wait for

3, Do-it-yourself locking, as in the UK(The French have looked at this and been appalled)

4. Remote controlled locks (from an office with cameras somewhere else.

5. Automatic locks (with emergency attendance when it goes wrong)

 

The Nivernais has choice 2, with 1 at busy times of year. We find this agreeable, and the student keepers excellent (also, in my observation devoid of any anti-German feeling, or similar). We never tip with cash, nor have I seen it expected, though we do sometimes offer a drink, and take a fair share of working gates and sluices - as in the photo.

 

 

Screen Shot 2020-05-26 at 15.02.24.png

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Fascinating, especially coming from a working boat captain as I believe you are. Our experience has been, of course, simply as hirers. We were told on that first trip 26 years ago to leave a franc on the bollard as we left, we've always done so since and have often had a "Merci" called after us, so they don't seem to mind! We've never been asked to help with the locks as far as I remember, except once on the Canal de Garonne two years ago - there was some special reason but I can't remember what it was. Indeed we have been told to keep away, though again this may be different with commercial crews, perhaps because the lock-keepers trust you to know what you're doing. 

   As for waiting for the roving éclusiers, more often than not we've left them finishing the lock, and by the time we reach the next one they've already arrived, parked their bike or fourgonnette and are setting the lock. This didn't really apply on the C. de Garonne where a sort of saucisson hangs down from a wire maybe a hundred yards before the lock, you grab it and give it a half-turn as you approach, and that sets the mechanism in motion.  A peculiarity of this system is that on some lock approaches the landing stage is 30 or 40 yards before the saucisson, fine if you're going downhill but fiddly if you're going up and have to land a crew member to push the electric button once you're in the lock. 

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In the summer the Nivernais is busy enough to have a keeper on every lock unless they are close together like the Sardy flight then usually 2 people travel with you. On the Yonne side of the Burgundy there is little traffic so a traveling keeper will come with you. On the climb to the summit we have had 1 man on a moped do 21 locks. On that occasion we did tip cash but usually a cold drink or coffee. We always do one side of the lock. Most seasons we would do in excess of 500 locks although not all are manual so 1 euro a lock is not on I’m afraid. I like the auto locks as then you are in control and nobody’s going to B off and leave you stranded at midday.

EC456A65-7320-4AA9-AC69-006C37D80AD9.jpeg

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8 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

 I like the auto locks as then you are in control and nobody’s going to B off and leave you stranded at midday.

EC456A65-7320-4AA9-AC69-006C37D80AD9.jpeg

I guess the ones I described on the Canal de Garonne are what you'd call auto locks? Well, they do close from 12 till 1, and at 7 (I think) in the evening until 9 the next morning!

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On this day in 2012spacer.png

 

Moored to buoys at Kew as part of the rehearsal for the Queen's Jubilee Pageant

 

L1871_20120526_0678a.jpg.3982b5961ef1a62d9f45b1ac315cb2d1.jpg

 

L1871_20120526_0671a.jpg.d3a66d966cc84ed02516bbbca6d71794.jpgAttaching to one of thousands of buoys deployed for the Jubilee is not a normal activity for a narrowboat, and Fulbourne's high front deck is not a convenient place to manipulate a rope through the ring-on-the-buoy. Lassooing the whole thing turned out to be a quick way of attaching, and other boats tied to us to make the clump

 

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Edited by PeterScott
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19 minutes ago, Athy said:

I guess the ones I described on the Canal de Garonne are what you'd call auto locks? Well, they do close from 12 till 1, and at 7 (I think) in the evening until 9 the next morning!

On most of the canals with autos they don’t close for lunch but pleasure boat hours are 9 to 7 in summer with commercials starting at 7 but they have to log in. There is no standard system with each region doing their own thing. The system you describe of pulling or twisting a pole or rope hanging down over the canal in quite common and often replaced the early system or radar detection. Lately the automation of the locks have boats being issued with a transmitter which is aimed at a box about 200m from the lock. The timing has been set for commercials who are approaching very slowly so often pleasure boats have to drift around whilst the lock sets itself. On the Sambre canal they tried a system that used a device like a hand held computer which automatically talked to the lock, told you which lock and when you left told you how far to the next one and how long it would take and then shut down. Turned out to be a bit to clever.

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18 hours ago, John Liley said:

In normal times (remember those?) the Nivernais management employs students to operate the locks in the tourist season, giving them serious instruction beforehand. And in my observation it works very well.

Apart from the one who waved us into the second chamber of a 2 lock staircase without enough water to get over the cill but that was a long time ago

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