Tunnel Light

[the grinch]

So BW bylaws use yards (IMHO the correct unit of measure!) for tunnels, but their "signage" is in Meters.

Doh!

do you have to put a pound in for 1/2 hours light at the end of the tunnel?

 

noted...the thought of strapping Chris to my crotch was enough to ensure my horn is in full working order,,,

think you may want to edit that!

 

Isn't a working light at the front a BSS requirement?

 

 

if it was then most butties would fail

[Chrish01]

Just checking...took ours out on a wide walkway a couple of months back and have not got around to fixing it...

 

BSS cert not due for a while yet so all OK...

 

PS - How might not having a working horn kill one? - I thought we needed one of them too....

 

Went through Harecastle 2 weeks ago and the tunnel keeper wanted to see out light on and hear the horn. Don't know what he would have done if they weren't working.

[bottle]

Simple, not allowed you to enter the tunnel until working.

[mykaskin]

Simple, not allowed you to enter the tunnel until working.

 

They will give you an air horn to borrow through the tunnel - part of the safety requirements of this tunnel due to it's length and ventilation issues I guess (and that there are staff to hear the signal if there is a problem).

 

We've been through the tunnel with a table lamp, but we also had a hand torch for the steerer. I guess that's because of the variations in the height.

 

Mike

[alan_fincher]

Went through Harecastle 2 weeks ago and the tunnel keeper wanted to see out light on and hear the horn. Don't know what he would have done if they weren't working.

I can confirm Hasrecastle tunnel keepers will not allow you in if you can't confirm your light working on entry. It happened to the boat that should have been next in after us last summer, and they had to wait until the next day as a result.

 

However they can't mitigate about a failure once you are in, which is what I guess happened to the boat that came out without one when we went through at Easter. It eventually emerged maybe half an hour later than to plan, coated in loads of lurid orange lime-stone "goo" where it had repeatedly cannoned off the walls. They had not apparently even had the wit to turn on any other available lighting.......

Edited May 30, 2012 by alan_fincher

[NB Alnwick]

The boat moored behind us at Crick has a traditional tunnel lamp - its an oil lamp - but the notice at the tunnel entrance requires all naked flames to be extinguished - how would that work?

[Paul C]

Slightly off topic, but what about boats with 2 headlamps? Does that confuse oncomers, who are expecting one bright light on a boat?

[alan_fincher]

The boat moored behind us at Crick has a traditional tunnel lamp - its an oil lamp - but the notice at the tunnel entrance requires all naked flames to be extinguished - how would that work?

Do you damp down a range or solid fuel before entering a tunnel ?

 

Or turn off that gas fridge or Morco, (which, even if balanced flue, still presents a naked flame to the outside world) ?

 

Slightly off topic, but what about boats with 2 headlamps? Does that confuse oncomers, who are expecting one bright light on a boat?

Well I don't like them, personally. Two on opposite corners of the cabin confuses me more than those with one at the front, and a further one on the roof some short way forward of the steerer, (I can at least understand why some steerers find something shone along the boat roof useful!).

 

But worse still, IMO, is an increasing trend to have quite a powerful white lamp point backwards on the rear of the boat. I'm not talking about cabin lights on, subdued lighting on a semi trad stern, or anything like that. I really do mean something that actually casts quite a strong beam backwards - typically mounted on the back off a "Taff Rail".

 

Why ? That's all really! Why ?.....

[bizzard]

Get a cat and let it steer,you wouldn't need a headlight then.

[NB Alnwick]

Do you damp down a range or solid fuel before entering a tunnel ?

 

Or turn off that gas fridge or Morco, (which, even if balanced flue, still presents a naked flame to the outside world) ?.

 

No we do not - do you think that might explain the question that another boater asked at Braunston Locks - after admiring our engine, she said what fuel do you burn, coal or wood? She looked most perplexed when I replied "oil" . . .

[bizzard]

Slightly off topic, but what about boats with 2 headlamps? Does that confuse oncomers, who are expecting one bright light on a boat?

They might think it was a car or two motor bikes coming the other way.

[NB Alnwick]

Slightly off topic, but what about boats with 2 headlamps? Does that confuse oncomers, who are expecting one bright light on a boat?

 

Most likely, this is an indication that the boater or boat builder has misunderstood the requirement. The main purpose of a tunnel lamp is to warn approaching craft - therefore one lamp is adequate and two would be confusing. It is also true that on inland waterways, it is not sensible to display a single light to the rear because this may be confused with the tunnel lamp of an approaching boat - it is much better to have the cabin light on so that following boats can see the silhouette of the steerer . . .

 

It is also helpful if the tunnel lamp is not to bright - a bright light with a narrow beam serves little purpose and will dazzle the steerer of an oncoming boat. Far better is a lamp that can be seen without dazzling and that throws out a wide spread of light . . .

[Dominic M]

I've got a disco ball on the front of mine.

[haggis]

Slightly off topic, but what about boats with 2 headlamps? Does that confuse oncomers, who are expecting one bright light on a boat?

 

Yes

[bizzard]

I've got a disco ball on the front of mine.

Grahame r has a dirty great brass fire engines 160 watt search light on his.

A candle in a jam jar is very nice too.

[Keeping Up]

Slightly off topic, but what about boats with 2 headlamps? Does that confuse oncomers, who are expecting one bright light on a boat?

 

I find it confusing because there used to be a convention on the London tunnels that one forward light meant a narrowboat and two meant a widebeam, so whenever I see two lights I tend to panic.

[Maffi]

I've got a disco ball on the front of mine.

 

 

Now why would that surprise me?

[alan_fincher]

I've got a disco ball on the front of mine.

Maybe, but I bet you haven't got a complete dance floor to go with it, like "Sickle" has.......

[bizzard]

If they painted the interiors of tunnels with luminous paint,headlamps wouldn't really be needed,just the tunnel cleaning regularly.

[Speedwheel]

just the tunnel cleaning regularly.

 

There used to be special boats with circular brushes on to clean tunnels.