March of the Widebeams

[David Mack]

48 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

The Rochdale and the Leeds Liverpool may very well be wide in theory,

Several of the locks on the Rochdale have come in since the canal was abandoned, and narrow boats cannot share them. So we are never going to see 14ft wide boats on the canal again. And anything over 7ft wide has to prebook the removal of the floating towpath under the M62.

Edited September 14, 2021 by David Mack

[TheBiscuits]

5 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Several of the locks on the Rochdale have come in since the canal was abandoned, and narrow boats cannot share them. So we are never going to see 14ft wide boats on the canal again. And anything over 7ft wide has to prebook the removal of the floating towpath under the M62.

 

Someone took a 12 footer across from Manchester last time we were there, which did cause a flurry of concern in the North West office, but they got through.  I agree you couldn't do it in a 14 footer and a 10'6 would be much easier.

 

There are a few fatties near Hebden but they don't go down the western side.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

 

I understand the point you are trying to make, but I disagree - there are plenty of modern widebeams using the north-west canals every day.  Admittedly I do recommend 57'x12'6" as being a much more sensible size for ease of navigation than 60'x14' but that's mainly due to lock gates not fully opening.

 

As I said above, a lot of modern widebeams actually draw less than narrowboats which can make them more suitable for shallow or poorly dredged canals.  There's a lot of them can and do get into moorings my narrow boat can't get near.

 

Conversely, I helped @DRP bringing L&L Short Boat Ribble up Wigan flight last week, and she still fits (mostly!)  It's a lot easier when she's not carrying 30 tons though! 

 

No dispute that there is more space on the big north-east waterways, but big boats up there are half as wide again as a widebeam, and three times as long!

 

What about the Rochdale? its wide as well but is it wide? I mean it was designed for wide boats and still takes wide boats but is it wide? 🤣

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, peterboat said:

What about the Rochdale? its wide as well but is it wide? I mean it was designed for wide boats and still takes wide boats but is it wide? 🤣

DeanS, formerly of this parish, took his wideboat from Manchester at least as far as Littleborough, but I can't remember now how fat it is.

I imagine the section through Newton Heath where funding restrictions meant they only dredged a narrow channel through the infill could be a problem in a fatty.

[dmr]

3 hours ago, David Mack said:

DeanS, formerly of this parish, took his wideboat from Manchester at least as far as Littleborough, but I can't remember now how fat it is.

I imagine the section through Newton Heath where funding restrictions meant they only dredged a narrow channel through the infill could be a problem in a fatty.

 

I believe the underground lock on the Rochdale 9 has narrowed the channel due to a concrete post? I don't know what the width is here but this is the absolute and imoveable restriction. At least one of the subsided locks are passable with paired narrowboats as long as one is less than full length. We've been through one of them  paired with a 50 footer.

"Hillberry" (aka the Hillbillies 😀) went up and down a couple of times last year and made it look easy but I think they are only ten foot or so,

[Jon57]

6 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

I believe the underground lock on the Rochdale 9 has narrowed the channel due to a concrete post? I don't know what the width is here but this is the absolute and imoveable restriction. At least one of the subsided locks are passable with paired narrowboats as long as one is less than full length. We've been through one of them  paired with a 50 footer.

"Hillberry" (aka the Hillbillies 😀) went up and down a couple of times last year and made it look easy but I think they are only ten foot or so,

No problem for them now they are in Ireland. Fed up with CRT so fancied a change 

[dmr]

16 minutes ago, Jon57 said:

No problem for them now they are in Ireland. Fed up with CRT so fancied a change 

 

Ireland and then Europe was the plan I believe, Ireland looks really good but they don't do 70 footers.

 

I think they went to Ireland because they had to leave the Calder Valley, getting involved with bad people and drinking too much 😀 (I half remember falling over in Todmorden after a little session).

[Jon57]

10 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Ireland and then Europe was the plan I believe, Ireland looks really good but they don't do 70 footers.

 

I think they went to Ireland because they had to leave the Calder Valley, getting involved with bad people and drinking too much 😀 (I half remember falling over in Todmorden after a little session).

Sound about right. Taught him well.😜

[Hudds Lad]

Taken from the Book of Face this morning, Bridge 24 at Stockton blocked for the time being it says. 
 

 

[roland elsdon]

Angle grinder and gas axe available in the dock. Should be cleared soon.

Quite surprised they got that thing through top of stockton

[matty40s]

Did warn him, its on the way to Knowle.!!

Hideous boat with the usual awful Collingwood finishes.

Edited November 2, 2021 by matty40s

[frangar]

9 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Taken from the Book of Face this morning, Bridge 24 at Stockton blocked for the time being it says. 
 

 

I really hope like when a truck strikes a bridge when it’s too high CRT charge for being oversize for the navigation…both as a fine and for damage to infrastructure as well as inconvenience to other users. That skip also should be fined for offending the eye! 

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Did warn him, its on the way to Knowle.!!

Hideous boat with the usual awful Collingwood finishes.

 

 

Do Collingwood build all of them out of focus like this nowadays? 

 

[roland elsdon]

That vertical weld makes it look like they widened a narrowboat. Maybe wfb can cut the extension off.

[matty40s]

Who put the exhaust in the wrong place...

[frangar]

4 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Who put the exhaust in the wrong place...

Is another one with the rubbing strakes just tack welded so they start rusting as soon as it out the shed? 

14 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

Do Collingwood build all of them out of focus like this nowadays? 

 

It’s a poor attempt by collingwood to try to make them look better! 

[matty40s]

15 minutes ago, frangar said:

Is another one with the rubbing strakes just tack welded so they start rusting as soon as it out the shed? 

It’s a poor attempt by collingwood to try to make them look better! 

The bowthruster tube has had a head start,  full of weld spatter along with no blacking.

Edited November 2, 2021 by matty40s

[mark99]

 

In focus would be too hard on the senses.

 

 

21 minutes ago, matty40s said:

The bowthruster tube has had a head start,  full of weld spatter along with no blacking.

 

 

That's not spatter - they are mini anodes.

Edited November 2, 2021 by mark99

[Guest]

I am not a Collingwood fan at all, Johnathan built my widebeam with features that make it look nicer, proper gunnels, tumblehome and curves. The problem as he says is curves cost money so budget builders avoid those 

[ditchcrawler]

I wonder what will happen when it gets to the Blue Lias bridge

[matty40s]

7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I wonder what will happen when it gets to the Blue Lias bridge

It's made it past that, WFB concrete is the next one down.

[ditchcrawler]

37 minutes ago, matty40s said:

It's made it past that, WFB concrete is the next one down.

Ta, I thought that one was slightly wider, Is that the one with all the tie irons holding it all together and back to the bank?

 

[MtB]

What eventually happened to that last oversized fatty that got stuck there for a week or two? 

 

Did it get lifted out? Or the bridge modified, or what?

 

And how wide are these boats that expect to fit through, but don't? 

 

 

 

[Dave123]

Apparently they dropped the level of the whole pound to fit through the previous low bridge! Possibly they tried the same here and have gone aground as a consequence? They look to be at a slight slant?😂🤦‍♂️

[BD3Bill]

Fat boat now freed by Steve Powell and his team, navigation now clear at WFB . 

I asked Steve how he’d done it, “it’s a gift! “ he replied 🤣👍