ZR-1 Road Trip to Newfoundland & Labrador Canada

[QB93Z]

After visiting the Zoo, we drove east to Peterborough, Ontario to see the Peterborough Lift Lock. The Lift Lock is a very special lock on the Trent-Severn waterway that runs through Eastern Canada.





The lock was built about 100 years ago to raise and lower boats 65 feet to allow the building a canal past Peterborough. The lock consists of two basins that are moved vertically by large hydraulic rams in the ground under each basin.




Here is a view of the top of the lift lock:




While we were visiting the lock, we were thrilled to see the lock in action to convey a pleasure boat down to the lower canal:




Once the boat was in the upper basin a door is shut sealing the basin containing the water and boat. Then the weight of the upper basin is transferred to the lower basin through two hydraulic rams. One goes down and the other goes up:







to be continued...

[QB93Z]

After the lift completes the movement, the door on the lower basin is opened and the boat can sail out. The transfer took about 5 minutes.



The Lift Lock is used by pleasure boats and tour boats about 20 times a day in the summer. In the winter, the lower canal is used as a ice skating rink.

Just down stream from the Lift Lock is the next obstacle to travel on the waterway. A large swing bridge:








The swing bridge is a railroad bridge and we got to watch a train cross the bridge while the boat waited and then the bridge was operated to allow the boat to continue down stream.








to be continued....

[QB93Z]

After the train cleared the bridge, the crew used a very large wrench to manually disengage the locks that aligned the rails at each end of the bridge:







Then a relatively small electric drill was placed on a shaft in the center of the bridge to turn it:





Once the bridge was clear, the boat proceeded:




Thursday was a good day on the road. The weather was pleasant and we got to see some interesting things.

Jim

[Roadster]

Great pics, looks to be a very enjoyable trip. Have fun and safe travels....

[ZR-1 Franz]

Thank you for posting these great pictures.
Have a good trip,

Franz

[Fully Vetted]

I feel like I'm watching as episode of How It Works

[QB93Z]

Originally Posted by Fully Vetted

I feel like I'm watching as episode of How It Works

That is one of my favorite shows. I just like explaining things. It is what I do.

Jim

[QB93Z]

On Day 4 of our trip, we left Peterborough and drove east to Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. The entire route was on Ontario Route 7, a rural 2-lane through numerous small cities and farmland. It was a pleasant drive, no too much traffic and plenty of beautiful scenery.

As you probably know, I like trains. So, in Havelock, ON we found a yellow CP Caboose on display:




We were not really sure about this sign, so we waited a while to see if there was any cross traffic:



Some parts of the route suffered from the shifting economy and faster modes of transportation. This Esso Gas Station had been abandoned for some time:




When we got to Ottawa, we parked at City Hall to see an art exhibit on display in the lobby. In front of City Hall RibFest was in full swing so we had some ribs and a beer.






Ottawa is a beautiful city. We enjoyed walking to all the downtown sights we had scheduled and it is easy to get around. We found the US Embassy:




to be continued.......

[QB93Z]

Here is the Ministry of Defense Building, the equivalent of the Pentagon in Washington:




We went to the National Gallery of Canada:



The National Gallery is a very nice art gallery. The permanent collection
is impressive. We enjoyed the Canadian Artists of the 1910 to 1930's.

After the art gallery, we walked over to see the Canadian Parliament Building. It is very impressive, situated on a hill on the Ottawa River so there is nothing in view behind the building:




We even found some more locks:




These locks are on the Rideau Waterway that connects the Ottawa River with city of Kingston, ON on Lake Ontario. The locks are fairly small and are manually operated:





Jim

[QB93Z]

Day 5 of our trip continued our easterly trip across Canada. We drove from Ottawa to Montreal. The day was a little cooler and the sky was clear and blue. It was a nice drive. Southeastern Ontario has a lot of prosperous farms.

In Montreal we visited the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts:




We specifically wanted to see the exhibit of Toulouse Lautrec's lithographs, and we were not disappointed. We also got to see an original of one of Lyndi's favorite posters, Chat Noir by Steinlen:



I liked a painting by Bouguereau:




There is a beautiful blown glass sculpture by Chuhuly in front of the building:




We visited the Old Toronto section of the city. The traffic wasn't as bad as we had experienced in Toronto, but we did get passed by a horse and carriage:



Jim