Day 93: Merrickville to Smiths Falls, Ontario
Day 93: Sunday, July 17th: We arose early this morning and Ruth went back into town to buy some pastries. It was raining off and on. This is Integrity in her cozy, quiet berth:
We locked through the Merrickville lock and seven others for a total of eight for the day; the trip total so far is 56 locks. Along the way, the channels are well marked with buoys. When the channel twists or turns, you get the effect you see in the picture below. The red markers are supposed to be on our right. Hmmm!
As we have mentioned, many of the locks have a bridge over them. They are usually swing bridges that are operated manually. They rotate on steel wheels on a turntable; here's some detail:
As we progressed today we saw shallow, weedy masses of grass. They really clog the waters. Look closely and you will see the lily pad flowers:
We arrived at our destination city, Smiths Falls, about midday and decided to play tourist. We were told we should go to the Railway Museum, so we did:
The museum is housed in what used to be the Smiths Falls railroad station. It has been restored:
They have actual railroad equipment on display. This is a steam locomotive that has been prettied a bit, but doesn't run any more:
Brakeman Bill on the diesel locomotive:
One of the things that fascinated Bill, a former model railroader, were the scale model train layouts which members of the museum support group have set up here:
There were several layouts; some were very large:
Outside there was a variety of freight and passenger cars:
Another fascinating display was a Cadillac Limousine rail car that belonged to the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian National Railroad. This thing weighs seven tons and really ran on the tracks like a train. It was housed inside a building so getting a good picture was tough:
They had a baggage wagon complete with period baggage:
There were various artifacts on display in the restored waiting room:
All in all it was a fun visit.
We deeded some provisions and decided to go to the grocery store and WalMart (yes, the town is big enough to have one). Sadly, the grocery was closing (5:00 pm). Later we tried to find a restaurant open at about 8:45 pm and none were still open (yes, the town is that small!)
After WalMart we went back to the boat and noticed this little bitty tug boat in the harbor. Don't get distracted by the big boat; look to the right of it:
This was fascinating! We couldn't decide if it was radio controlled or if there was someone aboard. Our curiosity was satisfied when we saw this:
This was the cutest thing you ever saw. It played happy calypso music as it cruised around the harbor:
Stuck down inside was the fellow who built and owns the little boat. His name is Rolly, and he is a lot of fun!
Here is Rolly and his wife Sandy. This picture was taken at the annual Tulip Festival held each May in Ottawa. Rolly takes the Tug in the Flotilla on Dow's Lake. All the boats have to be decorated with a tulip theme:
This is what the boat looks like up-close on its trailer. Rolly and Sandy take it all over the area and play with it, entertaining folks:
It is powered by a five horsepower outboard motor:
Position tonight: N44 53.779 W076 01.377
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