Four missionary couples were on this cruise. Clockwise from front, Bennetts, Slacks, Jameses and Cattanis. The boat had an enclosed lower deck for bad weather and an upper deck where we chose to sit because the day was reasonably warm and not too windy.
The Erie Canal was built first with modest dimensions to carry small "packet boats" of passengers and freight towed by mules who walked along the paths no faster than four miles an hour. The original canal had numerous small, stone-lined locks. Within a few years the traffic outgrew the canal and it was enlarged. Larger, longer locks were built. The canal was converted to a "barge canal" after World War I, was re-routed, and concrete and steel locks were installed. These pictures are of the stone-lined original locks installed in around 1824 and longer ones done in the 1870s.
The granite stairways of the old locks have lasted through the severe winters with minimal damage. Note what the winters have done to the concrete stairs built in the 20th century.
"Low bridge, everybody down!" was the cry on the original canal. This is still the case with tour boats today, where tall people on the upper deck must sit to pass below a bridge.
Sections of the old canal still break off from the barge canal and provide water frontage to picturesque old homes and farms. The old canal tends to be on the south of the present-day canal, to the right in this picture.
We are coming out of a westbound lock where the boat rises some sixteen feet. As gravity equalizes the flow of the water, the gates are opened for the boat to sail out into the canal.
The original canal did not utilize local rivers. Instead, the canal was lifted over streams, rivers, and was artificially leveled. These are original abutments for an aqueduct which lifted the canal over "Mud Creek" west of Palmyra.
Part of this original aqueduct still carries a road and hiking trail as it crosses "Mud Creek." This area has very complex streamflow, as Mud Creek flows into the canal. The portions of the canal with locks are drained between November and May to prevent ice damage to the works. Water must still bypass these sections to allow the river to flow normally and handle rainfall.
This is the streamflow bypass point for the lock on the west end of Palmyra. There is also a surviving "change bridge" in this park over which mules were moved from one side of the canal to the other as the tow path had to move to avoid natural obstacles. When the canal was widened, the bridge was sold to a farmer who used it to cross "Mud Creek." A flood brought down the bridge, and it lived in the mud until it was rescued and restored. This park is worth a visit, because the aqueduct and abutments, bypass, lock and change bridge are all only a short distance apart.
The Erie Canal is now solely used for pleasure and recreational craft. It is part of the New York State Thruway system. Boat users pay tolls for use of the locks, for dockage and other services. Visitors can rent boats and can cruise New York State's outstanding system of nearly 400 miles of canals during the summer months, sleeping on their boats, touring the beautiful, green countryside, and boating in the Finger Lakes area, where several outstanding lakes are connected via a canal. This canal passes through the village of Waterloo near the Peter Whitmer Farm, where we live.
Four missionary couples were on this cruise. Clockwise from front, Bennetts, Slacks, Jameses and Cattanis. The boat had an enclosed lower deck for bad weather and an upper deck where we chose to sit because the day was reasonably warm and not too windy.
The Erie Canal was built first with modest dimensions to carry small "packet boats" of passengers and freight towed by mules who walked along the paths no faster than four miles an hour. The original canal had numerous small, stone-lined locks. Within a few years the traffic outgrew the canal and it was enlarged. Larger, longer locks were built. The canal was converted to a "barge canal" after World War I, was re-routed, and concrete and steel locks were installed. These pictures are of the stone-lined original locks installed in around 1824 and longer ones done in the 1870s.
The granite stairways of the old locks have lasted through the severe winters with minimal damage. Note what the winters have done to the concrete stairs built in the 20th century.
"Low bridge, everybody down!" was the cry on the original canal. This is still the case with tour boats today, where tall people on the upper deck must sit to pass below a bridge.
Sections of the old canal still break off from the barge canal and provide water frontage to picturesque old homes and farms. The old canal tends to be on the south of the present-day canal, to the right in this picture.
We are coming out of a westbound lock where the boat rises some sixteen feet. As gravity equalizes the flow of the water, the gates are opened for the boat to sail out into the canal.
The original canal did not utilize local rivers. Instead, the canal was lifted over streams, rivers, and was artificially leveled. These are original abutments for an aqueduct which lifted the canal over "Mud Creek" west of Palmyra. 
Part of this original aqueduct still carries a road and hiking trail as it crosses "Mud Creek." This area has very complex streamflow, as Mud Creek flows into the canal. The portions of the canal with locks are drained between November and May to prevent ice damage to the works. Water must still bypass these sections to allow the river to flow normally and handle rainfall.
This is the streamflow bypass point for the lock on the west end of Palmyra. There is also a surviving "change bridge" in this park over which mules were moved from one side of the canal to the other as the tow path had to move to avoid natural obstacles. When the canal was widened, the bridge was sold to a farmer who used it to cross "Mud Creek." A flood brought down the bridge, and it lived in the mud until it was rescued and restored. This park is worth a visit, because the aqueduct and abutments, bypass, lock and change bridge are all only a short distance apart.
The Erie Canal is now solely used for pleasure and recreational craft. It is part of the New York State Thruway system. Boat users pay tolls for use of the locks, for dockage and other services. Visitors can rent boats and can cruise New York State's outstanding system of nearly 400 miles of canals during the summer months, sleeping on their boats, touring the beautiful, green countryside, and boating in the Finger Lakes area, where several outstanding lakes are connected via a canal. This canal passes through the village of Waterloo near the Peter Whitmer Farm, where we live.
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