Spectacular!
Niagara Trip - Page 2
Spectacular!
Four of the teacher chaperones
Four of the student trippers.
There's more to the Niagara Falls than the falls ... oh yeah!
Still, in spite of the manmade rivals, the Falls are mesmorizing.
One last look and it's time to board the bus for the Welland Canal.
The lift bridge is up .... we might be lucky enough to see a freighter
lock through.
Yup ... there's one heading upriver.
The man who was behind the building of the Welland Canal. Did
you read the plaque?
Wayne, the driver of Bus 128. He
was a great tour guide too.
There's a freighter ready to lock
through. It's a Canadian Steamship Lines freighter.
It's definitely our lucky day!
The freighter is 76 feet wide (to fit in the 80 foot-wide lock.
It's 730 feet in length, again to accommodate the 766 feet of
the lock and allow for the gates.
See the water line? At this low point, there's just one foot of
water under that boat.
The sailors wave to us.
The water will rise to the top of that water line.
It's almost in now so the lines are tied off.
The downriver gates are closing.
Going up as 91 million litres (21 million gallons) of water pour
in. Soon the freighter will tower above us.
Looking back at the freighter. See how high it looks now that
it's up one lock!
Notice how the back gate (black wall) of the lock keeps the water
in.
See the Niagara Escarpment in the distance?
That freighter will step up through more locks until it is over
the escarpment and floating in Lake Erie.
The trip home is always quieter. What a great day!