Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/07/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]"Since the advent of rail..." Would that be in the decades after the Civil War? > I've heard it described as cruising in a moving hallway. The British > canal boats are a bit more than six feet wide. If you stand in the middle > of the boat and stretch out your arms, you can touch both sides. In our > Erie canal, boats are a foot or two wider, say about eight feet. > Incidentally the Erie Canal was responsible for developing New York City > as a major port. The canal, stretching from the Buffalo area runs the > length of New York State to the Hudson River. When completed in 1826 it > permitted a direct water route from the Midwest to NYC. Passengers and > agricultural produce could make the trip to New York in a bit more than a > week. Overland the trip took twice as long and, for bulk cargos, was ten > times more expensive. The current canal, now known as the New York Barge > Canal, is a monumental piece of engineering, rivaling the Panama Canal. > It has 52 locks, some with 40 foot lifts, and climbs over the small > mountains in the middle of the state. Since the advent of rail, barge > traffic has dropped off and the canal is being transformed into a 350 > mile long recreational park. > > To put a photographic perspective on all this meandering, the Erie Canal > passes through miles of some of the prettiest and most bucolic landscape > in the USA. Side canals head to the Fingerlakes. glacially carved crystal > clear lakes 40 miles long and 4 miles wide with one of the best wine > grape growing areas in the US nestled between. If you like GeeBee's > photos of the English countryside, you will find it all here (except for > the churches). > > Larry Z > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >