Our first day heading back through the Trent-Severn pretty much duplicated the trip west, our stopover point, Swift Rapids Lock 43. The highlight of that leg of course, is the Big Chute marine railway. We were the last boat loaded, and just fit with our stern hanging over the end of the platform a bit. No worries, the operators are very good, and since the platform actually supports the weight of the boat along the full keel, it’s actually quite stable. There are straps similar to those on a travel lift with the significance that the straps on the marine railway don’t actually carry the weight of the boat, but serve to support and balance it. The whole marine railway experience is quite unique, it’s remarkably smooth, and really isn’t much more involved than a conventional lock when all’s said and done! Another ride on the rails!
Our overnight stay at Swift Rapids was chilly, but the mosquitos have gone into hiding. We were able to walk across the hydro dam and back the rugged service road, a crew had been working during the day to remove one of the turbines from the plant, it was loaded onto a truck and the crane as well as the truck were preparing to move out the road as we walked. The turbine was interesting to see, we were told it had some wear issues and needed to be serviced. They were very careful securing the load for the ride out on the bumpy service road! An interesting observation was the installation of the power line poles that serve the hydro generating plant; a number of them seem to run across large sections of granite, it occurred to me that they were installed in the rock, and upon closer investigation, discovered they are in fact, drilled into the rock! Fascinating!
