Solvay 43

Solvay 43, registration NY2608F, was one of two Solvays built at Speyer, the other was Solvay 44.  She was originally bought by their Sarralbe factory and then sold to the Dombasle factory in 1921.  All information on this page is sourced from Vagus-Vagrant.fr unless otherwise stated. 

It became a Panama barge in the 1960s. The small Solvay barges assigned to the Dombasle-Sarralbe service and the return trip carrying coal from the Saar to Dombasle were called the "Panamas". These boats didn't have a permanent crew. Their drivers were employees of the CGTVN (Compagnie Générale de Transports du Nord), the electric loco barge towing company, and later of Bargest. They would swap boats mid-journey when they met another one coming from the opposite direction, as did the locos. The control centre for this traffic had its office in Dombasle near the Pierre Escuras bridge. The first person in charge was Alfred Piant, whose sister ran the Spar grocery store at lock 22 in Dombasle. Two or three large Solvay barges ended their careers this way. Often, after years as Panama barges, they were scrapped in the dead end of the Dombasle port.

Solvay 43 in the 1950s at the Carrieres /Poissy lock on the Seine:

Here's Solvay 43 on a postcard from Dombasle, at the rear on the right as can be seen in the close ups: 

In Paris with the Solvay apprentices:

This one's from Liverdun:

This one is from the late 1940s (note the cabin porthole on the side):

Emerging from a lock in the 1950s: