Solvay 45

Solvay 45, registration NY2775F, was built at Choisy-le-Roi in 1924. It was the first of a series of Solvays to be built at that shipyard. The information on this page is taken from Vagus-Vagrant.fr unless otherwise stated.

It ended its career as a Panama barge in the early 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.

Two postcards (and one close up) of Solvay 45 on the Dunkerque-Escaut canal at Meurchin:

This is Solvay 45 in Dombasle before 1950 with the penultimate captain of Solvay 107:

This postcard was written in 1966; it is titled "Meurchin (P.-de-C.) - The Bridge". It was published by CIM, like the first two in this series (see above), and it bears the number 279, compared to 277 for the other two. And everything matches up: the photos were taken at the same time, so it is the bow of Solvay 45 that we see on the right.

Another postcard, this time from Dombasle. Solvay 45 is second boat up on the left. In front of her is Solvay 12 and behind her is Solvay 43 then 34:

Here she is in closeup: 

Here she is fully laden but a little blurry with no date nor location:

Waiting to pass through the tunnel at Bray on the canal de la Somme:

Another undated one without a location but the registration number can be read:

From Sylviane Parent showing R. Parent, his stepfather J. Laumonier and his brother in law Paul:

Another one from Sylviane:

And finally Solvay 45 was involved in the strike of 1936. Here she is fourth from the right at Conflans:

A view of several Solvay boats moored with her: